Book Review - The Grimoire: Lichgates by S. M. Boyce

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12900806-the-grimoire

Hello Everyone,

Another book read, and time for another review. The book is The Grimoire: Lichgates, by author S. M. Boyce. Here's a description from the book's page on goodreads.com.

"The Grimoire turns its own pages and can answer any question asked of it, and Kara Magari is its next target. She has no idea what she's getting herself into when she stumbles across the old book while hiking a hidden trail. Once she opens it, she's thrown into Ourea: a beautiful world full of terrifying things that all want the Grimoire's secrets. Everyone in this new world is trying to find her, and most want to control her.

Braeden Drakonin grew up in Ourea, and all he’s ever known of life is lying. The Grimoire is his one chance at redemption, and it lands in his lap when Kara Magari comes into his life. He has one question to ask the book – one question that can fix everything in his broken life – and he’s not letting Kara out of his sight until he gets an answer.

There’s no escaping Ourea. There’s no going back now."

Ok. So here's what I think of the book. It left me feeling a bit bipolar, so bear with me cause it will get better. 

The title and genre got me excited. I love fantasy books about magic and medieval stuff, different worlds, all of that is great. I was incredibly let down by the beginning of the book. To be completely honest, if I was not reading this book to give the author a review, I don't believe I would have gotten through the beginning. For me, it was that bad. It took no time whatsoever for Kara to find herself in the midst of all the action. I'll admit that sometimes action happening right away in a story is good, and that could have happened here, too, if the author had expanded on Kara's background more. Here was someone who was obviously the main character of the story, and before I could create any bond with her, she fell through the lichgate and into the new world of Ourea, and became the Vagabond. On top of that the author's descriptives in the story were just kind of 'blah' and not really polished. What I really wanted was to know more about her troubled past and how it affected her. I never got a real sense of that in the beginning of the book, and it left me not wanting to root for her right away. Another way I can describe it is by the movie Labyrinth, starring Jennifer Connelly and David Bowie. I love Jim Henson stuff and I expect it to not get too crazy into a plot line. Connelly is thrown into the mix right away as a result, which works for the movie, but not in a book. At least not for me, anyway.


So leave that aside, because I did continue on. As the book went forward the world of Ourea opened up to me. I liked a lot of it, and it was enough that I was able to ignore the author's use of descriptives and sometimes cheesy dialogue (kind of like what you would hear on Hercules or Xena). The blood loyalty within the races of Yakona was something I found fascinating. A lot can be done with that, and my mind wandered as I explored all the possibilities. Along the way the author finally expanded on Kara's background and how the loss of her mother affected her. If more had been done on that at the beginning of the book, I would have liked it. So now I get to know her more, and now i want to root for her. 

The Drenowith, or Muses, were a fairly cool addition to the world as well, and their importance in the story is evident from the moment they were introduced. That being said, I felt there were some other areas that could have been stronger. The story lacked some minor details in the lands where Kara visited. All of them had a decent start to help my imagination out, but a little more time on it could have made it a lot better. Her storyline of the impending war was great for me, and I have to admit the book began to grow on me without me realizing it. I even noticed as I was reading towards the end of the book that the writing style I did not like in the beginning had changed into something stronger. It was slight, but it was there, and I can say now that I will read the next book in the series. It's almost as if I was witnessing the author mature as a writer with each chapter. I am glad I stuck it out to the end.

Despite the book's four star ending, the beginning nearly ruined the whole thing for me. I cannot in good conscience give this book even three and a half stars. It has to be three stars, which is 'ok' in my book. I do want to give it a little plus beyond the three - a kind of footnote that reads, "I believe this series is going to be way better than my rating of this first book would indicate." 

So there you have it, 3+ (the plus is not a half a star) stars for The Grimoire: Lichgates. S. M. Boyce, towards the end of the book you showed a lot more focus and it pulled me in. I have a positive feeling in my gut that you will not disappoint in the upcoming sequel. I will be waiting.

Click the captioned link under the picture above to find the book's page on Goodreads.com. From there you should be able to find out how to obtain your own copy. Happy reading everyone!

Until next time, 

R. M.

Fraser Reviews The Frog?

Hello again everyone! This blog may be a bit earlier than I expected, but it's just gonna have to do. Why am I reviewing the Frog? Well, because he asked me to. That, and the fact that as most of us CODAs will readily admit our extreme love for music. If I'm mistaken in this, all of you CODAs can tell me. I'm a big boy. I can take it, just please, please, put those floggers down. Here's the review;

I am very excited to give my review of the Frog's third album, entitled "T3RD". The Frog himself asked me if I would review the album for him, and I figured, 'why not?' So, after listening to it, I then listened to the Frog's two previous albums, Transformation Complete and Motivation to Procrastinate. Little does he know, until reading this, that is, that I am so enamored with the albums, I am going to review all three! How does that old Folger's ad go? "We secretly replaced the review of T3RD with a review of all three of the Frog's albums. Will he notice the difference? Let's find out…  

The Frog puts his music in the genre of alternative folk/indie. I'm not so well-versed in musical genres specifically, but it seems like this should fit - sometimes. The truth is, the Frog's music is all over the place, which is what makes it so fun and unique. Some songs are existential, some seem to have deep meaning, and most just feel overall silly, yet, no matter how you define the lyrics, they are all superimposed onto a musical backdrop that is catchy and fun. Sometimes I just don't know if the music is more aloof than the lyrics, and that just adds to its character. Throw in that all songs are created from the Frog and his cigar-box ukulele, which are heard in every track if I am not mistaken, and maybe you can begin to see the picture. If not, just give it a listen. Even if it's not your style of music, there's something to be deeply appreciated in it. For now, I think I may need to go through these albums in order.

The first album, Transformation Complete, consists of eight stripped down tracks - just the Frog and his ukulele, with accompanying tambourine on the tracks Vote For Me and Where Would I Be?, and a bass drum in Tie Me Tight. It's as basic as you can get, and in my opinion, the best. I'm a sucker for the raw energy in it, but that's just me. What I really hear in this album is someone with all the talent and creativity that any great musician has. Yea, ok, so what? A lot of musicians have that, right? Of course. But do they put it all out there and go for it? Here's that raw energy I was speaking of. The lyrics are brutally honest, and the Frog shows his bravery, putting all his issues and feelings out there, regardless of repercussions or skewed perceptions. The music is in its most basic form, and the vocals are as unpolished as an old set of silver from your grandmother's china cabinet. You know, the ones that look perfect in its surroundings despite its tarnish? Never mind that the rest of the songs just have that knack of getting in your head all day, and you still love it. If you don't believe me, listen to Little Rich LaFave. Yea, that is Transformation Complete.

Motivation to Procrastinate is the second installment of the Frog. The music is a bit more polished, adding in more instruments (we'll call them the unknown band for now), but the energy and silliness are the same (listen to Veggies and Moustache Baby to see what I mean). The addition of the horn section takes it to another level musically, beyond that of the unknown band itself. Lyrically, it's still all out there for everyone to witness, and still gives it a hint of that "raw" feeling. Something else is happening here too though. "I'm gonna kill zombies, zombies"? "I saw a ghost in my apartment once, it was so scary, so scary"? Could this turn into a theme? On to the third album for confirmation.

The third album, T3RD, is the evolution of what the Frog has become. Super powers of hypnotization, tornado attacks, freeze breath, fireball power, x-ray vision, super speed, invincibility, invisibility, and it all boils down to this. The zombies and anyone else who get in his way are pretty well screwed. Kermit was never badass like this. The unknown band got a bit more involved in T3RD, and it all rounds out now. The Frog gets a little more experimental with different styles of music in the tracks Tornado Guy (crazy hyper rock), Hop (club?) and Change the World (a little Froggified rap, featuring JJF). The glue to this album is definitely the musical variety, the ridiculousness, and the Frog's ability to put everything out there in his lyrics.

There you are, Mr. Froggy Dillinger. All three albums reviewed. All I have left to say concerns all three albums, and that is this - when you listen to all the albums, you will identify the spark of insanity that the Frog embraces and runs with, leaving all issues and truths out there for everyone to criticize, or relate to.  It's the serious in the not-so-serious, the fun in the hysteria, and the truth in the madness. So give the Frog a listen and see if you can find it yourself.

P.S. There is a picture at the bottom of this page that will link you to the Frog's website, where you can listen to all the albums and tracks. The picture is T3RD's album cover art. Macho Man likes it, too.

R. M.