Current Theme Song (aka what's playing on my ipod right now): Breathe Easy by Mree.
The
idea of Monday's Muse is to introduce you to unknown, forgotten, or
overlooked fiction that has been lost from regular radar. I am
WriterGirl. I am in the business of saving lives, one book at a time.
What
I do is go to one of several places, narrow it down to a YA field and
type in a random word, any word that comes to mind. I then take a
sampling of some I have never heard of before, or only vaguely heard of
(and hopefully you as well). No infringement is intended for any
description I take for the books. It's purely for promotional reasons. I
will try and cover as many genres as possible that are fitting for the
random word. Simple but it really uncovers some incredible gems. I will
be doing this every other Monday. If there are any words you want to
prompt me with, go ahead and fire away.
Today's random word:
Deserts
Vessel by Sarah Beth Durst.
Liyana is a vessel, the chosen one, nurtured, trained, and offered up by
her clan for a great honor: giving her life so their goddess, Bayla,
may return to earth to inhabit her body. But the goddess does not
return. At the end of her day of sacrifice, Liyana is still alive, her
clan having left her alone, disgraced, and in grave danger in the
desert. Vessel is the read-alike for your Hunger Games–obsessed teens.
From the quest to find the other clans’ spurned vessels, to the two
attractive love interests, to the intelligent, independent young
heroine, this folkloric fantasy, while harkening to that ever-popular
novel and movie, is unique in its own web of clever, complex characters
and attention-absorbing adventure. Its setting alone is so vital that it
becomes another character, a part of the action. Readers will feel the
desert heat, the earth-numbing droughts, the vicious sandstorms and
resulting sandwolves, and the bizarre sensations of a goddess living
within the body of its human vessel. Brilliantly riveting, Vessel’s only
disappointment is its single volume, a fate that relegates Liyana, her
lovers, and her friends to their own vessel, a single book.
--Bradburn,
Frances, Booklist (October 1, 2012. Vol 109, number 3, pg. 54).
The Girl of Fire and Thorns Trilogy by Rae Carson.
This compelling first book in a medieval fantasy trilogy features Elisa,
a 16-year-old princess, as she grows from an inexperienced girl who is
forced to marry a weak king for political reasons into a confident and
capable young woman, destined to be a respected leader in her own right.
Shortly after her birth, Elisa received a magical Godstone in her
navel, a sign bestowed every 100 years on a chosen one. Despite this,
she feels inadequate when compared to her older, more beautiful sister
so she eats to compensate for it. She's also very clever, particularly
in the strategies of war, but all that most people see is her ample
size. The only person who respects her is young Lord Hector, her
husband's personal guard. Shortly after her wedding, she's kidnapped and
forced to endure an arduous journey through the desert that toughens
her. One of her kidnappers is a young man who falls for her and she for
him. His people hope that she, as the Godstone bearer, can save them
from their constant war against a neighboring enemy. This fast-moving
and exciting novel is rife with political conspiracies and machinations.
Elisa's maturation and physical transformation echo Catherine Gilbert
Murdock's Princess Ben (Houghton Harcourt, 2008). Fans of Tamora
Pierce's "Beka Cooper" series (Random) will find a kindred spirit in
Elisa as she experiences great adversity and heart-wrenching
loss.—Sharon Rawlins, New Jersey State Library, Trenton
--Sharon
Rawlins, School Library Journal (August 1, 2011. Vol 57, issue
8, pg. 98).
The Girl with Borrowed Wings by Rinsai Rossetti.
Frenenqer—a name meaning restraint—was born inside her father’s
imagination and sculpted into his vision of the perfect daughter. She
has felt his invisible finger between her shoulder blades her whole
life, forcing her meek, obedient, and modest actions. To compound the
oppression, Frenenqer lives in a blazingly hot oasis in a Middle Eastern
desert, marked by dirty white buildings, an unforgiving landscape, and
no place to go, save to school and back home again. In an act of
defiance, Frenenqer saves a black cat from certain death at the animal
souk and brings him home. The cat is a shape-shifter, a Free person whom
Frenenqer names Sangris. He has no constraints, no family, no rules to
follow. Sangris, often taking the form of a boy, sprouts wings, and
Frenenqer flies with him at night to places both real and magical. It’s
this juxtaposition of subjugation and freedom that propels Rossetti’s
spellbinding debut, as a girl owned by her father begins to experience
life outside of narrowly defined spaces. With taut, lush writing (“the
wind shut my eyes for me and rioted in my hair”), a stunningly imagined
setting, and a premise that’s unique among the stacks of paranormal
romances, this one—written when Rossetti was a teenager—feels like a
breeze in the desert.
--Kelley, Ann, Booklist (September 15, 2012. Vol 109, number 2, pg. 74).
Jim Henson's Tale of Sand by Ramon Perez.
Based on an unproduced feature-length screenplay by legendary visionary
Henson and Juhl, this graphic novel follows its hapless protagonist as
he is cast out into the desert by the cheerful Sheriff Tate for reasons
as baffling to the unnamed hero as the reader. The scruffy hero is a
pawn in a game whose rules are concealed from him, pursued across a
surrealistic southwest U.S. by an implacable hunter and hindered by the
eccentric, bizarre inhabitants of the great desolation. The prize
waiting for him at the end of the chase, should he survive to reach the
end, is one he will never guess at. While best known as the creator of
the Muppets, Henson was a man of multiple gifts. More than two decades
after his untimely death, Pérez has brought to life a little-known side
of Henson’s storytelling skill. The story eschews extensive dialogue,
making events dependent on Pérez’s ability to convey Henson’s vision.
Instead of trying to merely make a movie storyboard, Pérez chooses to
make this pure comics, using an animated style somewhat reminiscent of
Darwyn Cooke and stunning coloring that uses different palettes—muted
pastels or striking duotone—to tell the story. An eccentric oddity,
lovingly rendered into a haunting story.
--Publisher's Weekly
(February 13, 2012. Vol 259, issue 07).
The Golden Dream of Carlo Chuchio by Lloyd Alexander.
This posthumously published novel from Alexander, who died this spring,
is an exuberant and compassionate tale of adventure. Kicked out of his
merchant uncle’s house, inveterate daydreamer Carlo leaves the island of
Magenta (not far from Campania, the mythical setting of The Rope Trick )
to head east on the Road ofGoldenDreams. He travels through Sidya,
Marakand and Keshavar (the evocative names are vintage Alexander, subtly
blending cartography and legend), all the way to Cathai, where he
expects to make his fortune, thanks to the treasure map he found tucked
into a book of fantastic tales given him by a mysterious bookseller.
Themes that call to mind Alexander’s landmark Prydain Chronicles
reappear here, telescoped into a single potent volume: Starting as a
callow youth, Carlo gains wisdom and the capacity to love deeply, thanks
to his adventures on the road and what he learns from his fellow
travelers. The buoyant fantasy is counterpointed by the war and
destruction that lurk beyond nearly every bend in the road; the
interplay between these elements will keep readers enthralled every step
of Alexander’s final literary journey.
--Publisher's Weekly (July 23, 2007. Vol 254, issue 29, pg. 66).
Deathwatch by Robb White.
The author of Up Periscope and Torpedo Run switches his locale to the
desert for some throat-parching suspense as the young hunting guide Ben
becomes human prey after witnessing his hard-boiled client Madec
accidentally shoot an old prospector. Instead of dispatching Ben
summarily, Madec releases his victim (naked, unarmed and without food or
water) -- giving him at least a "sporting" chance to escape being shot
and providing an excuse for Ben to stage a novel-length demonstration of
physical stamina, cunning and survival savvy. Of course when Ben
finally outwits Madec and makes his way back to town, there's still the
problem of convincing the sheriff that Madec, not he, is the guilty one,
but readers who have managed to undergo this test of endurance thus far
will have no doubt about the outcome.
--Kirkus (May 1, 1972).
Shaman Warrior. Vol 1. (series) by Chung-gi Pak.
Master wizard Yarong and his faithful servant Batu are sent to remote
desert wastelands on a grave mission from their king. These two
mysterious warriors have yet to realize that a whirlwind of political
movements and secret plots will change their lives forever. When Yarong
is mortally injured, Batu must fulfill his promise to leave Yarong's
side to protect his master's child. As Batu seeks to find and hide the
infant, Yarong reveals another secret to those who have tracked him down
to finish him off--the deadly, hidden power of a Shaman Warrior.
The Legend of the Wandering King by Laura Gallego Garcîa.
Before the days of Mohammed and Islam, Arabian prince Walid dreams of
being a poet. He organizes an annual contest but loses each year to a
humble carpet weaver, Hammad. Bitterly jealous, the prince punishes his
rival with impossible tasks, which Hammad miraculously accomplishes,
including weaving a carpet containing the entire history ofthe human
race. The enchanted rug drives its viewers to madness, though, and after
it is stolen, an older, repentant prince, fearful ofthe damage it
causes, sets out to find it. As he journeys through Bedouin lands and
distant cities, the prince continuously reinvents himself, falls in
love, and finds the soul and heart missing in his early poems. Spanish
author Garcia writes a captivating, magical tale--a combination of
original legend, philosophical meditation, romance, and
adventure--steeped in rich cultural specifics, defined in a note and a
glossary. Readers will enjoy the thoughtful ruminations on fate and
consequence as much as the thrilling, magical action, and they will
recognize Walids course of self-discovery: try many identities on for
size.
--Gillian Engberg, Booklist (October 15, 2005. Vol 102,
number 4, pg. 40).
