Graceling

My latest book review. Sadly, this story was disappointing.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

What I want is epic. You know? EPIC! However, what am I getting? Meh. You know you just aren't that into a book when it takes you three weeks to complete it. You put it down after two or three chapters because, well, you sort of just feel a little bored by it. You don't pick it up for a few days because you don't feel excited to find out what happens next.

A few days ago I wished for 250,000 dollars. I could pay off my student loan debt and get started with my life. My brother laughed and said, "As long as you are wishing, why not wish big...why not wish for millions? It is a wish, right?" That it is! So why not go big?

That is just one of many things I found disappointing about this story. It isn't big. And as long as we are talking about a fictional story, why not make it epic? WHY NOT? Epic like Lord of the Rings. Epic like Harry Potter. Epic like The Odyssey or The Iliad.

So Katsa is this young woman who is "graced"...that is, gifted with a special ability. The ability to fight and to kill. Anyone. Or even everyone. Even an army, if she must. There are other gracelings in her kingdom and in the surrounding kingdoms. Each of them, however, are graced with something unique, for example mind-reading. Katsa, like almost all gracelings, is being used by her king for her skills. And she is beginning to resent it. You can imagine what happens next.

So here is what I think.

1. More of that whole telling instead of showing going on. It wasn't as frustrating as it was in Clockwork Angel. But it was still happening far too much.

2. The actions scenes were dull, at least most of the time. Here is where the epic part comes in. You know that scene in Lord of the Rings when the Fellowship of the Ring passes through the Mines of Moria. Tolkien describes not only the massiveness of the mines and of the actual kingdom carved under the mountain, but when the orcs come out, well, they come out in hoards. It's an enormous swarm of scary and violent creatures. Then the Balrog makes its appearance, and it feels creepy/scary and such. That is what makes Tolkien's story so compelling. The battles, and not just the battle in Moria but ALL of his battles, are massive and impossible and intense. The kingdoms feel like they are larger than life. Again, it's fiction. So why not make it big?

But here? Here we get undeveloped moments...moments where a few bad guys come out and chase people for a few days or weeks. Yawn. Katsa passes over a mountain range in the winter. But it takes what feels like a few days and nothing really all that exciting happens, save a fight with a mountain lion which is, at best, an anticlimactic fight. And then there is the so-called climax. It was so...so...small. Disappointing. Even predictable.

3. Things felt far too convenient. When a character has a skill or a talent that is superhuman, the skill or talent must be kept within boundaries. I think a lot of young adult fantasy fiction falls short of great or even good because there are no rules for these characters who have supernatural abilities. No real conflict can occur because the antagonist will always fail against the protagonist's omnipotence. Always.

And I suppose that goes to the whole epic problem. If Katsa can be beat by absolutely no one, even if that no one comes in the form of an enormous army, then what is the point of a conflict? There can't be any real conflict. Hello...even Achilles had his heal.

If you want a good conflict, one that feels like an honest fight, the hero has to have at least a modicum of vulnerability, and not just in an "Oh, people use me for my superhuman ability to kill others. I feel like a barbarian. I can't make friends, and no one will like me. Even though I do have lots of friends who really care about me" sort of way. It's so unauthentic. Harry Potter really is up against an enemy whose skills are far superior and much more frightening. Frodo really is outmatched and over his head. What makes them compelling? Courage. We relate to these characters because in real life people face obstacles and challenges that they have to overcome. Obstacles that seem bigger than us and even impossible at times.

4. The feminist themes were forced. I don't mind that Katsa didn't want to be married or have children. I didn't really even mind that she decided to be Po's lover and not his wife, even if I morally disagree. What I did mind? The idea that if you are married, you are trapped. Ridiculous. Untrue. Or that "open" relationships work just fine for people. Please. Human beings are JEALOUS! If either Po or Katsa were to decide to take a "lover" and then come back to each other, they would never, ever make it. Who do writers think they are fooling with this drivel? People have been watching too much Sex and the City (don't get me started on the idiocy that is that show). Infidelity in any form maims any sense of trust. And is that really what feminism stands for? Really? That a committed, trusting relationship holds a woman back? But that is just one more thing that makes these particular characters flat and uncompelling. There is nothing human or real about them. They conveniently fit the author's agenda instead of feeling like real live human beings with honest emotions. In fact, most of the women in the novel felt like forced feminist stereotypes.

Conclusion? Give me a strong protagonist, male or female. One that has honest emotion. One that must face difficult odds and real challenges. One that has to actually put up a real fight to succeed. Then you might have a four or even five star book.

Sadly, just one more book that had potential but fell flat.

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