Audio Review: Fever Crumb by Philip Reeves

Title: Fever Crumb [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Philip Reeve [Website|Twitter]
Standing: First book in the Hungry City Chronicles prequel trilogy.
Genre: Young Adult, Futuristic, Sci-Fi
Published: March 1st, 2011 by Scholastic Inc.
Format: Audiobook; 7 hours. Read by Philip Reeve.
Source: Borrowed from my local library.

Fever Crumb is a girl who has been adopted and raised by Dr. Crumb, a member of the order of Engineers, where she serves as apprentice. In a time and place where women are not seen as reasonable creatures, Fever is an anomaly, the only female to serve in the order.

Soon though, she must say goodbye to Dr. Crumb - nearly the only person she's ever known - to assist archeologist Kit Solent on a top-secret project. As her work begins, Fever is plagued by memories that are not her own and Kit seems to have a particular interest in finding out what they are. Fever has also been singled out by city-dwellers who declare her part Scriven.

The Scriveners, not human, ruled the city some years ago but were hunted down and killed in a victorious uprising by the people. If there are any remaining Scriven, they are to be eliminated.

All Fever knows is what she's been told: that she is an orphan. Is Fever a Scriven? Whose memories does she hold? Is the mystery of Fever, adopted daughter of Dr. Crumb, the key to the secret that lies at the heart of London?

Haunting, arresting, and astonishingly original, Fever Crumb will delight and surprise readers at every fast-paced, breathless turn.

Philip Reeve has created a most intriguing world in Fever Crumb, the first installment of a trilogy preempting his Hungry City Chronicles (also called the Mortal Engines series--the prequel trilogy was written after).  Now, I haven’t read the Hungry City Chronicles, so I can’t really speak to that effect, but I will say that Fever Crumb was a delightful, quirky, futuristic steampunk-like read.  Fever Crumb appears to be set in our own world, but so far in the future that electronics and such are referred to as creations of the ancients.  While I would argue that Fever Crumb is not technically steampunk, and is rather just straight up sci-fi, it does have a very steampunk-like quality in that the world has a Victorian feel, and thus it will appeal to fans of that genre.

I picked up Fever Crumb on audio after seeing it on YALSA’s Best Fiction for Young Adults list.  The title alone grabbed me, and when I read the premise I was drawn in.  The audiobook is read by the author, Philip Reeve, and I am almost always a fan of audiobooks read by their authors (see Libba Bray’s Beauty Queens).  I’m happy to say that Fever Crumb did not disappoint!  Philip Reeve’s narrative was excellent, and with an accent matching Jim Dale’s it was easy to be charmed into enjoying the audio of Fever Crumb.  His futuristic London held some laugh out loud quirks for me, like the use of the term ‘blogger’ as an insult, or instead of Hari Krishna cults on the street there were cults chanting ‘Harry Potter’.  In fact, my initial reaction shortly into listening was ‘why haven’t more people I know read this book?!’  I’m sad to say, however, that my initial interest in Philip Reeve’s London waned by the end.  I did enjoy Fever Crumb, but it turns out I liked the entire storyline significantly less than I liked the idea up front.

Fever Crumb is also one of those books that, at least for me, sits on the precipice between Middle Grade and Young Adult.  It is technically categorized as Young Adult, but reads very much like a Middle Grade book.  I’d put it on the brink with books like Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy, or C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia.  I enjoy this age range, though I find it difficult to peg down at times, but sadly Fever Crumb didn’t grab me in near the same way as the other series mentioned.

The character I most enjoyed in Fever Crumb was, no surprise, Fever Crumb.  Fever is practical and logical to a fault; so much so that she seems almost robotic like.  She won’t drink hot tea (because the transportation of tea is impractical), she shaves her head every other day (hair is an unnecessary vestige of our ancestors, and creates a home for lice), and she certainly doesn’t go in for things like fairy tales or fun.  I think this is why the beginning of the book was so much more enjoyable to me than the end.  I loved seeing Fever’s reactions to things, and observing her thought process.  As the story goes on, she inevitably learns that it is okay to feel, and honestly I found her less interesting when she became more personable. 

The overall story of London, humans, and the scriveners was most assuredly an interesting set up, but I am uncertain that I was caught up enough to carry on.  Philip Reeve does have a unique and charming way of putting a Victorian style on Science Fiction that is different from the steampunk genre in which we normally see this union. 

Likelihood that I'll be back for more:  I did enjoy Fever Crumb, especially in its audiobook format.  However, since my library doesn’t have the rest of the series on audio, and I don’t feel invested enough in the series to purchase it on audio, I do not know that I will be continuing on.

Recommended for:  Those who enjoy older MG/younger YA books, steampunkers.

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Review: Magic Burns by Ilona Andrews

Title: Magic Burns [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Ilona Andrews [Website|Twitter|Facebook] 
Standing: Book two in the Kate Daniels series, following Magic Bites.
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published: April 1st, 2008 by Ace
Format: Paperback; 260 pages.
Source: Borrowed from my local library.
Spoilers!: This review contains spoilers for the first book in the series, Magic Bites, (reviewed here), so go read that first. 

Down in Atlanta, tempers — and temperatures — are about to flare…

As a mercenary who cleans up after magic gone wrong, Kate Daniels has seen her share of occupational hazards. Normally, waves of paranormal energy ebb and flow across Atlanta like a tide. But once every seven years, a flare comes, a time when magic runs rampant. Now Kate’s going to have to deal with problems on a much bigger scale: a divine one.

When Kate sets out to retrieve a set of stolen maps for the Pack, Atlanta’s paramilitary clan of shapeshifters, she quickly realizes much more at stake. During a flare, gods and goddesses can manifest — and battle for power. The stolen maps are only the opening gambit in an epic tug-of-war between two gods hoping for rebirth. And if Kate can’t stop the cataclysmic showdown, the city may not survive…

There’s something really gratifying to me about picking up a book that I know will be a solid read.  I know I’m not going to fall head over heals, but at the same time, I know it’s going to be fast paced, thrilling, intriguing, and downright fun.  That was my expectation picking up Magic Burns, the second installment to Ilona Andrews’s Kate Daniels series, and that’s exactly what I got.  Color me a satisfied reader.

One of the things I am loving most about this series is its pacing.  It’s like one of those good T.V. series.  You know the kind.  The ones that have an overarching plot that you’re totally invested in, but at the same time, each individual episode has a completely enthralling story that you love diving into and having nicely wrapped up by the end.  For me, that’s kind of what it’s like reading Kate Daniels.  I’m kind of a sucker for delayed gratification...sucker or masochist, but let’s not draw those lines.  I am loving the small tidbits of Kate’s past and family history that we’re getting each book, along with the almost painfully slow development of her inevitable relationship with Curran.

I love Kate more and more with every page.  She’s pigheaded, she never gives in, she does incredibly stupid things that will often end terribly for herself in order to get the job done, and I love it.  She sees herself as someone who gets paid to get the job done right, and while that’s true, the story of Magic Burns gave us some deeper insight into Kate’s hidden underbelly.  Once she takes responsibility for something and someone, and in this case it is a girl, she will do everything in her power to follow through.  Part of me was like, ‘screw this Kate!’, because she was doing it all based on a fairly small favor she owed to a pretty horrible teenaged boy, but I’ll give the woman credit, she goes above and beyond.  

And so do her friends.  In Magic Burns we get to meet Andrea, her gun-happy coworker who shares a lot of Kate’s code, while completely being her own mysterious mess.  I was instantly a fan, and am so excited to know that Ilona Andrews’s forthcoming book, Gunmetal Magic, will be starring this woman.  Of course, Andrea’s not the only one, Derek also goes out of his way to protect Kate.  He’s kind of that annoying self-appointed side-kick.  You can’t help but love him, even when he’s being a bit of a lap dog (no pun intended)(okay, pun intended a little).  And then of course, there’s Curran.  Talk about a love/hate relationship.  Both Curran and Kate are incredibly stubborn and sharp tongued no matter the situation.  They’re either going to end up killing each other or tearing each others clothes off, which makes them a volatile pairing I just can’t wait to see ignite.  

Favorite scene ever?  Kate’s panties exposed in the hospital wing with a nice little bow on them, and Curran noticing.  All in all, I thought Magic Burns was a solid follow-up to Magic Bites.  I enjoyed the different mythology weaved into the story, and am quickly becomming more and more invested in this series.

Likelihood that I'll be back for more:  Oh goodness yes!  I’m dying for Magic Strikes to come in for me at the library.  I see it in the catalog just sitting on another library’s shelf and them not sending it to me.  I’m about to drive myself over to said library and get it myself, forget waiting on inter-libary loan!

Recommended for:  Any urban fantasy fans looking for a butt kicking protagonist with a heart of gold.  

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Review: Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Title: Magic Bites [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Ilona Andrews [Website|Twitter|Facebook]
Standing: Kate Daniels #1
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Published: March 27th, 2007 by Ace Books
Format: Paperback; 260 pages.  
Source: Borrowed from my local library.

When the magic is up, rogue mages cast their spells and monsters appear, while guns refuse to fire and cars fail to start. But then technology returns, and the magic recedes as unpredictably as it arose, leaving all kinds of paranormal problems in its wake.

Kate Daniels is a down-on-her-luck mercenary who makes her living cleaning up these magical problems. But when Kate's guardian is murdered, her quest for justice draws her into a power struggle between two strong factions within Atlanta's magic circles.

The Masters of the Dead, necromancers who can control vampires, and the Pack, a paramilitary clan of shapechangers, blame each other for a series of bizarre killings-- and the death of Kate's guardian may be part of the same mystery. Pressured by both sides to find the killer, Kate realizes she's way out of her league- but she wouldn't have it any other way.

I’d been hearing great things about Ilona Andrews’s urban fantasy series for some time, when I was finally pushed into reading Kate Daniels for several reasons.  First, Ilona Andrews released Magic Gifts, a Kate Daniels short, giving it away free to fans as a Christmas present.  I adore authors who do this sort of thing for their fans.  I know short stories as additions to series are gaining popularity, and I think this is a great trend.  It’s even better when it’s done in such a fun way, and this got me to start reading Ilona Andrews’ blog posts.  That was the second thing that got me to pick up Magic Bites.  Ilona Andrews has some thoughts about writing that I can get behind (for example, she has a great stance on review drama), and any time I come to respect an author personally I also find myself very much wanting to promote them professionally.  

So enter Magic Bites, starring Kate Daniels: Badass.  Now, I’m not quite head over heals with this series yet, but I did like Kate, Curran, and the world enough to keep going.  Also I hear it gets really good come Magic Strikes (#3).  Anyway...

The urban fantasy world created by Andrews is, for lack of a better term, awesome.  Kate Daniels is a mercenary in futuristic Atlanta, where a balance is constantly shifting between magic and technology.  When magic is high, tech fails.  Your phone won’t work, your car won’t work, and you better have some good magic guarding your house because not much else will keep the creepos out.  Kate can control a great deal of magic herself, which helps with the whole mercenary gig, but she bristles under authority and dislikes working through official channels.  Much to her chagrin, she finds herself knee deep in official business, and stuck between the Pack and The Masters of the Dead in a mystery that’s more personal than business.

I loved the interesting set up of this world.  The Pack, a group of shapechangers including not only werewolves, but those who change freely into other creatures as well (KITTY!), has its own interesting structure and customs that Kate maneuvers or metaphorically kicks in the balls as she sees fit.  Vampires are animalistic creatures controlled and branded by Masters of the Dead, and Kate knows all of the lowest of the low to squeeze for info when needed:

When in doubt and in need of information, find a snitch and squeeze him.  That was one of the very few investigative techniques I was aware of.  As a matter of fact, that and the “annoy principals involved until the guilty party decides to kill you” pretty much summed it up for me.  Move over, Sherlock.

I hadn’t really read classic urban fantasy like this before.  Most urban fantasy I’d read was YA, which tends to have a different feel.  It kind of clicked for me part way in, that this is a lot like reading modern crime fiction.  Now, I never really got much into that genre, but throw in the fantasy elements, and I was pretty much sold on the whole concept.  I can see why people are such fans of this and the The Edge series, and I can see myself lining up for both of them.

Likelihood that I'll be back for more:  Magic Burns is sitting on my end table just waiting to be picked up!

Recommended for:  Fans of serial crime fiction who are open to fantasy elements, and urban fantasy fans.  People who love a strong female protagonist who is far from dainty.

Real life repercussions of reading this book:  I feel even more lazy and out of shape than normal.  Train to be a badass?  Heck, I need to work on running around the neighborhood without using my inhaler.
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Review: Starters by Lissa Price

Title: Starters[Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Lissa Price [Website|Twitter|Facebook]
Standing: First in what I believe will be a duology.
Genre: Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Post-Apocalyptic
Published: March 13th, 2012 by Delacorte Books for Young Readers
Format: Kindle edition.
Source: ARC from publisher via NetGalley.
Challenge: Debut Author Challenge

Callie and her younger brother have been living as squatters on the street since losing their parents to a genocide virus.  Unlike the lucky kids, they have no grandparents to take care of them.  When her brother is sick, and they are evicted from a building holding all of their meager belongings, Callie feels she’s reached the end of her rope.  She decides to sign on at Prime Destinations.  Three rentals, and she’ll be free, with an astronomical paycheck.  The thought of an Ender renting her body for fun disgusts Callie, but not as much as letting her brother die.  Callie is in for more than the contract, however, when she realizes that the woman renting her body has more in mind than being young and having fun.  Who is she supposed to turn to, and what is she supposed to do with so little control?

So here’s where I get sheepish, because just last week I faulted Partials for being too similar to Battlestar Gallactica.  Well, if that bothered me, I only loved Starters all the more for basically being the novelized YA version of Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse.  I’ll just go ahead and pin that “Hypocrite” badge to my chest now, thank you!

I was sold on Starters from the moment I picked it up.  Not only does the cover give you that totally eerie feeling of being watched, but the story grabs you and doesn’t let you go till the closing page.  Imagine a future where the United States has been ripped apart in a war.  The country has suffered the release of a virus engineered for destruction, but luckily they had a vaccination...just not enough for everyone.  I could totally buy this circumstance--the elderly and children being the most vulnerable were the ones to receive the cure, unfortunately, the adults weren’t immune either and perished.  This left countless children, “Starters” because they’re at the start of their lives, at the mercy of the “Enders”, who are at the end of theirs.  The Starters can’t vote, work, or fend for themselves in any way that isn’t scraping and surviving on the streets.  Only Starters with surviving grandparents to claim them have any semblance of ‘normalcy’, though even those kids have struggled with the situation of a country torn and parents lost.  I was shocked at the implication that the elderly of this nation would just abandon so many of the young, but as the story unfolded, the situation became more believable.  There weren’t enough Enders with grandchildren or benevolent hearts to provide for the mass numbers of Starters, but that doesn’t mean that all Enders were bad, or that the government didn’t attempt to provide solutions (however terrible).  

I would like to get a bit more of the back story of the Spore Wars, and the circumstances leading up to Starters.  I appreciate that there were no info-dumps, but it would be nice to uncover more.  After all, who doesn’t want to learn more about our country becoming such a mess that Mexico would build a wall to keep us out?  I have high hopes that my questions will be answered in Enders.  Also, there is a prequel short, Portrait of a Starter, but I haven’t read it.  The tragedy of Starters was the children--they became the greatest victims of a war they had no part in.  Isn’t this always the case with war?  Certainly, but in Starters, it is in your face and more apparent than ever.

I loved that Callie’s experience slightly paralleled Cinderella’s.  This girl from the streets, no better than trash, is given the opportunity to glam up and turn it all around.  For a time.  Like every Cinderella story, there’s a deadline, and there’s more to the story than can be seen on the surface.  Oh!  And there’s even a total Newsies scene!  Love it!  

Starters was action-packed in a way that had my heart pumping and my brain locked in.  The last time I can pin-point this exact sensation while reading would be during James Dashner’s The Maze Runner.  Both post-apocalyptic books will have you on the edge of your seat, and literally nauseated with the twists and turns that humanity takes.  That, for me, was the best and most powerful thing about Starters.  Despite its similarities to Dollhouse, I had no freaking idea where this book was going.  I don’t dare reveal much of the plot lest it be ruined for others, but as someone who appreciates the unpredictable greatly, I will say that Starters had my jaw dropping and my head exploding by the end.

Likelihood that I'll be back for more:  Absofreakinlutely.  Starters earned a place on my favorites of 2012 shelf, and I can’t wait to get my hands on Enders towards the end of this year.  

Recommended for:  Dollhouse fans, those who enjoy post-apocolyptic/sci-fi YA ala The Maze Runner, body snatchers.

Real life repercussions of reading this book:  Well duh.  If you haven’t seen Dollhouse, you really ought to go watch it.  It’s only 2 seasons, and so effed up the entire time you’ll be thinking ‘how the heck did this ever get on tv?’.  Plus, it’s Joss Whedon!

Review: Cinder by Marissa Meyer

Title: Cinder [Amazon|GoodReads]
Author: Marissa Meyer [Website|Twitter|Facebook]
Standing: First in the new Lunar Chronicles quartet.
Genre: Young Adult, Sci Fi, Retelling
Published: January 3rd, 2012 by Feiwel and Friends
Format: Hardcover; 390 pages.  
Source: Borrowed from my local library.
Challenge: Debut author challenge.

Cinder has spent her years since becoming a cyborg (and an orphan, and a second-rate citizen) laboring to provide for her overbearing stepmother and stepsisters.  Her stepmother never wanted to accept Cinder into their home; she feels Cinder is to blame for her husband’s exposure to the plague that caused his death, and only keeps her around as a source of income.  Cinder is, after all, the most talented mechanic in all of New Beijing.  While working, Cinder finds herself approached by an ‘inconspicuous’ Prince Kai, asking her to fix an outdated android that holds some important information.  She’s happy to be of assistance, but helping the Prince becomes increasingly difficult when her younger stepsister, Peony, is infected with the plague and her stepmother opts to volunteer Cinder for treatment research.   

The cyborg draft had been started by some royal research team a year ago.  Every morning, a new ID number was drawn from the pool of so many thousand cyborgs who resided in the Eastern Commonwealth.  Subjects had been carted in from provinces as far-reaching as Mumbai and Singapore to act as guinea pigs for the antidote testing.  It was made out to be some sort of honor, giving your life for the good of humanity, but it was really just a reminder that cyborgs were not like everyone else.  Many of them had been given a second chance at life by the generous hand of scientists and therefore owed their very existence to those who had created them.  They were lucky to have lived this long, many thought.  It’s only right that they should be the first to give up their lives in search for the cure.

I have to admit that Cinder was so much more than I was expecting.  I feel books rarely live up to their hype, and to me, Cinder was one of the most hyped up YA titles of the new year.  So I lowered my expectations, but I have to say, for me this one totally lived up to the hype.  Cinder had all of the elements of a great retelling.  It was true to the structure of the well-known Cinderella, but managed to completely reimagine the details flowing into that structure to support it, and to do so in a way that was completely unique.  

Cinder lives in a future after WWIV, where the world has divided into large territories whose leaders work together regularly.  The moon, colonized hundreds of years previously, has become Earth’s biggest threat where Queen Levana sits the throne as a powerful and manipulative dictator hungering for more.  Prince Kai must deal with dangerous negotiations to maintain peace, while at the same time desperately searching for a cure for the plague, lumotosis, that has ravaged the Earth for around fifteen years.

Cinder made an excellent example of the issue of prejudice.  Cinder finds herself the victim of being considered less than human because of her cyborg status.  She struggles to be accepted into society, insistent on her humanity, while at the same time harboring incredible prejudice against Lunars (those people who inhabit the moon).

I also very much enjoyed the treatment of emotions in Cinder.  This was not an overly emotional book.  There’s no pining, no insta-love, but still the characters come across as very real.  I wish more books out there would realize you don't have to be melodramatic to be genuine! Prince Kai is very kind and down to earth, yet very aware of his duties and sense of responsibility to his people even (or especially) with the trying reality of plague in his own family.  Cinder is, quite frankly, the coolest mechanic since Kaylee of Firefly.  She’s a tough chick who has to wade through pools of crap, but doesn’t sit around moping or even sharing her hardships with those around her.  This definitely can be a fault when it comes to her friendship with Kai, but I still respect the girl for it. And the bad guys? Man...they are evil! You get not only your evil stepmother but also your evil queen, and both have my all encompassing hate in the best way possible.

Cinder's ‘major twist’ was predictable, but in a way that I appreciated.  I don’t feel as if readers were written down to in this case, we’re supposed to get it, and for once I wasn’t banging my head against the wall wondering when the characters were going to figure it out already.  I did have a slight problem with some of the dialog.  It occasionally felt a little off-kilter given the setting, but this was fairly minor.  Finally, some of the sci-fi aspects of the book seemed to be dipping over into fantasy a bit. As the story states, it is not magic, but the explanation still seemed a bit fanciful to me. This aspect didn't reduce my enjoyment though. Overall, I loved this book, and it’s certainly one of my favorites of 2012 thus far.

You can read the first 5 chapters of Cinder free!

Likelihood that I'll be back for more:  Absofreakinlutely!  This is the first book I’ve read this year that I closed and immediately starting bouncing my legs in ancy anticipation for the next installment.  

Recommended for:  Firefly fans. It's not just the Kaylee thing either, with its mixture of Chinese and English influences, Cinder could take place in a similar environment. Anyone who loves a good fairy tale retelling, and chicks that aren’t delicate and won’t apologize for it dammit!

Real life repercussions of reading this book: Omg I can’t decide which of Cinder’s awesome abilities I want most, can you?  I do really like the whole lie detector bit...At any rate, who didn't have this song in their head with all the Iko love?

Waiting on Wednesday: Shadows Cast by Stars by Catherine Knutsson

"Waiting On" Wednesday is a weekly event hosted at Breaking the Spine, that spotlights upcomign releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

Shadows Cast by Stars - Catherine Knutsson
June 5th, 2012 - Atheneum

Two hundred years from now, blood has become the most valuable commodity on the planet - especially the blood of aboriginal peoples, for it contains antibodies that protect them from the plague that is ravaging the rest of the world.

Sixteen-year-old Cassandra Mercredi might be immune to the plague, but that doesn't mean she's safe. Government forces are searching for those of aboriginal heritage to harvest their blood. When a search threatens Cass and her family, they flee to the Island, a mysterious and idyllic territory protected by the Band, a group of guerilla warriors, and by an enigmatic energy barrier that keeps outsiders out and the spirit world in. And though the village healer has taken Cass under her wing, and the tribal leader's son into his heart, the spirit world is angry, and it has chosen Cass to be its voice and instrument...

So when I signed up for GoodReads this summer, this was the FIRST book to go on my To Read list.  I love reading about various mythologies, and the idea of a futuristic story that ties in aboriginal mythologies is something I can't pass up.  Plus the cover is absolutely gorgeous!  

Shorts: Glitches by Marissa Meyer

Glitches by Marissa Meyer is available for FREE here.

If you’re debating whether or not the extremely hyped, Cinder, is for you, I suggest checking out Glitches!  Glitches is a short story that takes place approximately 5 years before Cinder.  It tells the tale of Cinder, and 11 year old orphan traveling to New Beijing to meet the family that has agreed to take her in.  Cinder’s parents have recently perished in a hover crash, and she herself is lucky to be alive.  After substantive surgeries, Cinder now exists as a cyborg, her most notable features being a new metal hand and leg.  Cinder must learn to adjust to her new ‘features’, like what does that orange light indicate, why can she no longer seem to cry, and what use might she be to the world?  Are the physical traits that alter her humanity glitches?  Knowing she is unwelcome, particularly by her new stepmother, Cinder works to find her place of belonging so far away from everything she has known.

You don’t need to read Glitches to enjoy Cinder, but it will give you a bit more information about Cinder’s backstory, and understanding of how she came to end up where we find her at the beginning of the novel.  Cinder definitely grows up a lot in five years!  My only complaint about Glitches is that while the art is awesomely beautiful (is that a cybornetic cherry tree?!), Cinder’s lost her left limbs, not her right.  But that’s just me being OCD.

Review: Daughter of the Centaurs by Kate Klimo

Title: Daughter of the Centaurs [Amazon|GoodReads]

Author: Kate Klimo [Website|Twitter|Facebook]

Standing: First in the new Centuriad series.

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Published: January 24th, 2012 by Random House Books for Young Readers

Format: Kindle edition; 384 pages.  

Source: ARC copy from publisher via NetGalley.
Challenge: YA/MG Fantasy Challenge

Malora was born with an affinity for horses, and desires nothing more than to follow in her father’s footsteps as a horse wrangler and hunter.  After leatherwings ravage her family’s settlement, destroying both men and horse, her mother sends her off into the plains with Sky--her father’s horse that was too big to be carried off--in order to secure her safety.  She begins a herd of her own, strong, black, fast horses, encountering no other being for three years.  When her herd, and Malora, are captured by a group of centaurs seeking horses to compete in an annual race, Malora finds herself surrounded by a completely foreign culture and way of life.  Malora determines the comforts of civilized living are worth losing her freedom, but she must determine how much she is willing to sacrifice.

So.  Okay.  I have to get this off my chest.  I like genre bending, but I’m quickly getting sick of books trying to pass off fantasy as science fiction in order to somehow jam it into trends that are currently more popular.  Daughter of the Centaurs was constructed like the opposite of Star Wars.  Instead of “A long long time ago in a galaxy far far away...” it supposedly is set “A long long time in the future right here on earth...”.  I cannot for the life of me understand why this was necessary.  There’s no explanation of the history of how centaurs and other creatures came about/if they were always there, and this would be fine if it weren’t supposed to be our world.  The only time this reality is even brought up within the story is through books, which I also had a huge issue with.  This is supposed to be so far in the future that humans are considered “living fossils” and yet our physical books have survived.  Not survived in that they were printed on high quality linen paper and preserved well in safe environments; survived in the sense that wealthy centaurs actually have our physical books like Dr. Seuss which was probably printed on highly acidic paper and they read them in their homes and what not.  Plus if Stephenie freaking Meyer is one of the “great” literary names that survives the test of time in a completely unironic way alongside the likes of Austen, Shakespeare, and Dickens, I WILL RISE FROM THE GRAVE AND CUT SOMEONE.  Honestly I really wish Daughter of the Centaurs had just embraced the fantasy label and either cut out the aspects that tied it to our current society, or provided stronger ties to make it more believable, as is, the story was weakened.

The narration of Daughter of the Centaurs is at times perfect.  It’s told in the present tense, making it very reminiscent of an oral tale one would hear spoken around the camp fire.  This works beautifully in the beginning of the story, while Malora is on her own save for her horses, but becomes slightly less effective as the story progresses.  The world and story that Klimo has constructed have a great base, but could use some trimming.  Daughter of the Centaurs could have made a good stand alone story, but I did not like most of the allusions towards future plots.  For example, Malora has visions of meeting a man in the future.  I loved that this story had no romance in it, as this is always refreshing, but the foreshadowing of a future romance to me seemed forced and irrelevant to the current story.  Again, this came across somewhat as an attempt to shove this book into a popular trend, and it would have been best left alone. There's a chance this is me just being a stick in the mud about preferring this story as a stand alone.

I did very much enjoy the featuring of centaurs as main characters.  I’ve never read a book where this was done before, and the society constructed with them was very interesting, if intentionally frivolous.  Malora comments at one point that she herself is more horse than the centaurs themselves, and for all intents and purposes, this is true.  Centaurs seem to be largely ashamed of their horse halves, attempting to cover any horselike scent, and going modestly clothed in order to minimize their animal half.  This aspect of the story was very well done, and created a nice counterpart between horse loving Malora and the horse shaming centaurs.  The power of olfactory stimulation from scents was very unique as well.  Orion, one of the centaurs to initially discover and befriend Malora, has a profession of creating scents--oils or perfumes that the centaurs use to disguise their horsey smells--and they have a powerful affect on Malora.  When Malora inhales the created scents, she is able to have visions associated with that smell, even if it is another’s memory.  Finally, the horse lore in Daughter of the Centaurs was fantastic.  Malora’s knowledge of and skill with horses is so well presented, her interactions with the animals easily became my favorite part of this story.    

Likelihood that I'll be back for more: Probably not, it was a very interesting premise, and it could have been a decent contained stand alone, but I’m not planning to continue with the series.

Recommended for:  Horse lovers, those interested in younger YA reads--Malora is 12-15, making this book older than middle grade, but more juvenile than most YA books out there.

Real life repercussions of reading this book: I miss riding!  I haven’t been for more than a decade, but I used to ride all the time as a kid.  Yeah...I did 4-H.  Check the awesome wrangling prowess (and highwaters):