The Tiger Saga- Book Series Review

For Otherworld Saturday (Otherworld to us means anything other than Whedon and Harry Potter, fyi), I’d like to review the YA book series The Tiger Saga by Colleen Houck.  I was directed to this series by a couple of my 8^th graders last year, and it’s right in my wheelhouse.  I love these fantasy stories- but only when the authors pull it off.  I also appreciate originality, which is a rare find in today’s Young Adult genre.  There are four books in this series and I just finished the fourth and final book yesterday.  The books include Tiger’s Curse, Tiger’s Quest, Tiger’s Voyage, and Tiger’s Destiny.  The final book was released a couple of weeks ago. 

Basic Summary- (Light spoilers, nothing you couldn't get from the backs of the books, other than book one.) 

This is a contemporary story about a girl, Kelsey, who inadvertently stumbles upon a cursed tiger.  She is older than most heroines in the genre at 20, so I automatically appreciate this.  Our leading lady isn’t giving up school or abandoning her future for a guy at any point in this series. Kelsey is ready for adventure.   Kelsey, “through a series of strange circumstances” (thanks WDW Beauty & the Beast show for that shortcut statement), finds herself the savior of not one, but two ancient Indian princes who’ve been cursed to live their lives as immortal tigers.  They can spend a small part of their day as a human, which connected me with the Polar Bear King story.  For some reason I’ve always loved that story. (Check out my reviews of East and  Ice, two stories retelling the Polar Bear King legend.) The Tiger books are stories big on adventure, as Kelsey and her tigers must complete a series of tasks to try to defeat a powerful villain and break the curse.

A modern style retelling of
The Polar Bear King

A very classic, fairy tale
version of The Polar Bear King

My Review-

I enjoyed these books.  They are not my favorite that I’ve ever read, but they make an interesting read.  I don’t hate Kelsey, and I enjoy that for the most part she’s the savior, not the damsel in distress.  I thought book one, Tiger’s Curse, was great.  I do believe it’s the high point of the series.  The set up was fantastic, and the characters were vivid.  I got a little lost in the second and third books.  That generally means I started skimming.  I have a tendency to do that in books where the plots are less than captivating.  I did not really care about the tasks set up in these books, since I knew the general outcome.  They had to be mostly successful in order to make it to the next task, so there was minimal anticipation.  These books were also featuring my main problem with this series, which I’ll get into in my rant in a moment.

Lord of the Rings, giving me my well
deserved, detailed conclusion.
Thank you.

I did get back into the series with the fourth book, because I was intrigued by the many possibilities that could conclude the adventure.  As anyone who knows me will tell you, I judge a book (and many other things) by its ending. I want a decisive ending with lots of details.  Endings should be proportionate to the story. If you spend 90 minutes on a story, give me a 3-5 minute ending.  If you spent hours and hours on a story, I want a drawn out ending (think Lord of the Rings here).  To conclude on that point, I was extremely satisfied by the ending of the book.

The writing is good.  Not spectacularly amazing, but good.  I am done looking at terrible writing in YA novels.  I have high expectations, and this one was fairly successful.  At no point was there anything stated in the book that was distractingly bad or completely ridiculous.  I believe that there was a great deal of research done on religion and mythology throughout the story, and I appreciate that.  With casual references to Shakespeare and William Blake littering the pages, I can’t help but appreciate the homage to classic literature.  It automatically makes you appreciate the author’s good taste, and it gives me hope that teens reading it are just maybe becoming familiar with something I love.

My Rant-

My true issue with these books is prominent in the second and third book, while dragging into the fourth. Fortunately the fourth book has other interesting things happening, so it wasn’t as annoying.  Why must Kelsey love two men?  Why is this an okay thing?  A teenage girl would never tolerate a book series where the boy was blatantly in love with two likeable girls. That would label him a player, or at the least not boyfriend material.  That has all the makings of a tragedy, and that is not what this book is aiming for.  For unknown reasons, it is perfectly acceptable to readers that this girl loves both of these boys, and the boys must both patiently adore her while she wavers back and forth, otherwise they’ll be labeled the bad guy.  She literally imagines herself with one while she’s with another.  It’s sad, and I hate that such an otherwise enjoyable book condones such behavior.  It’s basically teaching that emotionally cheating on the person you are with is fine.  No worries.  I completely blame Twilight for this.  This ridiculous “one girl, two guys” theme has flooded our culture and I am over it.  I know that occasionally that may be the plot, but I’m finding it over and over and over and over… and never with genders reversed.  Does this not bother anyone else?

Click here to read a blog from Literary Obsession that has a similar rant and warning list of YA novels featuring these "Love Triangles of Doom," as she puts it. 

True Blood 

Vampire Diaries

Final Words-

This series was NOT a series that I couldn’t put down.  More than once I walked away and didn’t come back for a day or two.  What is rare is that I came back at all.  Usually if I put a book down for more than an hour I’m unlikely to be coming back. The characters were well written and the premise itself was fun and exciting.  If I can look past the clichéd romantic plot, I call this a pretty good series.  By the way, it isn’t just for girls.  I’ve had twice as many 8^th grade boys check this book out as girls.  I think it’s because of excellent cover art, which appears to be designed by Katrina Damkoehler. 

If you enjoy a good paranormal adventure/romance story, this is a much better pick than most things on the YA shelf today.

Stay Shiny!
Kristin

Book vs. Movie - Sorcerer's Stone

For the next few Potterverse Tuesdays, I want to do comparison posts. By comparing the Harry Potter books to the movies, I hope to show that just sticking to one medium doesn't allow a full experience of the Harry Potter fandom; I think of the movies as almost companion pieces to the books. 

So... let's start with: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. 

The Book

The book that started it all. 

Sorcerer's Stone (or SS) has gotten some flack over the years - many say that it is not as good or as interesting as the companion books that follow. I believe that SS does tend to fly below the radar in that respect. It's not the book I'm going back to for an HP fix; however, it is the book that started it all. It will always hold a special place in my heart because of its ability to set up the world so perfectly that I want to read the next installment. 

SS, while not Rowling's best work, is certainly a wonderful way to start the series and is on level for the age group that should begin reading the series. She also sets things up from the beginning that come into play later, so a reread of SS can be a lot of fun. When you know who Sirius Black is, it is fun to hear him mentioned in Chapter 1 and knowing that Ron gets Dumbledore's deluminator makes Dumbledore's first moments even more awesome. Even knowing Snape's story makes you care more about his attitude toward Harry. 

And... some of my favorite moments from the series are in SS: the sorting hat is a favorite, learning about Voldemort and Harry for the first time, and the Dursleys (they're just so freakin' awful). And you have to admit the twist at the end with Quirrell being the bad guy was pretty good for a book meant for 11 year olds! 

The Movie

It has been a little while since I have sat down and watched the entire first movie from start to finish. Every time it's on ABC family, I do have to stop what I'm doing and put it on, so I've seen it all in bits and pieces multiple times over the last few months. 

The thing I always remember about SS is that we were all so nervous about them messing up the world. I was 15 when the movie came out and I just knew that Steve Kloves and Christopher Columbus were going to do something I wouldn't like with MY story. I mean, it's a lot of pressure on this movie - it sets up the entire wizarding world and Hogwarts. You want it to look like it does in our heads. 

There was a point I realized it would be ok though - they played a clip from SS - the one where Harry visits Ollivanders and gets his wand. The dialogue was perfect, Harry and Hagrid looked just like the book's description, and the scene was awe inspiring and creepy. I loved it. I knew they could do the book justice. 

The movie does a great job of taking scenes from your head and making them real. I though the invisibility cloak was fantastic in the movie - I loved seeing it work instead of just imagining it. Actually seeing Harry sit in front of the Mirror of Erised and being glum at Christmas brought those moments alive for me. 

Issues

Plot: Not much was left out of the first movie (the book was under 500 pages this time - that helps!), but I did feel like the kids solving the mystery was done very quickly. It was like... And now we know the answer to the whole puzzle! It took us two seconds to figure it out! A little silly in my thoughts. 

The acting: I know, they were so young, but some of the acting really sucks in the first movie. 

My Big Whiny Complaint: 

I think the bigger over all issue with the movies compared to the books is the fact that some of the little touches Jo carefully puts in the books get lost in the movies.  She sets up these characters and games and ideas that happen in each book - Peeves is throughout the books causing trouble, wizard's chess is something the boys play almost constantly throughout the books, and they are always sitting around doing homework - in the movies we're lucky if there's a shot of them working at all. At least class seems to happen more in the 1st movie than many of the others. I think it's a problem the movies consistently had; they always left out these little things and it started with the first movie - case in point: Peeves was never brought in because he was never introduced. 

Anyway, that's my take. I do think that as a whole piece, SS the book is more rereadable than SS the movie is rewatchable. I think pieces and scenes will always be things I'll watch, but I'm far more likely to reread than to rewatch - the little touches and my imagination just had so much more to it as far as I'm concerned.

DFTBA!

Jana

Slytherin Pride!

I’m a Slytherin, apparently.  I think creating houses that people can align themselves with is the coolest thing J. K. Rowling did.  If you had asked me a year ago if I would ever have a Harry Potter related costume, I would have smiled benevolently and said ‘I’m not into it enough.’  Potterverse has never qualified as a major fandom for me.  I came into it late enough (after the fifth book) that I’ve always thought of it as belonging to someone else.  I can say without too many qualms that I haven’t had anyone else direct me into a fandom and guide me through it.  That doesn’t mean I can’t take a recommendation, but I can’t have someone who’s going to watch every bit of something with me or ahead of me.

Pottermore's Slytherin Welcome

Harry just always seemed to be for other people.  I want to live with the things I love, and if I already see them existing, or know too much about what happens ahead of time, then the thing doesn’t become real anymore.  It flattens back out into just a story, or movie, or television show.  (Side note- is that how “normal” people experience these amazing books, films, and series?)  If I’ve already seen pictures Lois & Clark’s first kiss on Smallville, how can I be as thrilled as if it was finally happening, right then, in that exact moment?  If I see a million people quoting “Don’t Blink!” on Pinterest before seeing the episode, how can it have a gripping, ominous feel, as though I am in danger from the weeping angels in that exact second?

As much as I can appreciate it and enjoy Harry Potter, I haven’t ever found a way that I can actually live in it.

My Slytherin outfit for
the Renaissance Festival

Then came Pottermore.com.  Just get sorted.  If it feels right, like you’ve found your people, then it’s done.  I proudly claim the Slytherin House. (Just for the record, I am SURROUNDED by Hufflepuffs.)  Now I have a seriously Slytherin inspired Ren Faire outfit.  It’s awesome.  I am able to see myself in the Potterverse, and it’s a fun place to be. I’m not living the existing stories; I’m living my own.  It’s still a bit of a challenge to have Slytherin pride while watching the films.  There isn’t a lot of gray area shown among the Slytherin characters on screen, but I’ve read the books. I know that there’s more to the Slytherins than being the House of Bad People.  There are so many admirable qualities, along with a couple of faults.  This is the case with all the houses.  Now, if you remain unsorted, and especially if you aren’t sold on loving Harry Potter, that is easy to fix!  Head to Pottermore and let J. K. Rowling find your home. 

Legen - Wait for it...

The anticipation. That's what made Harry Potter so amazing for me. I love so many things about HP - the characters, the way the story progresses, the symbolism, the fandom, and so on, but it was the anticipation between each book that made me love that series.

Anticipation is a funny thing - you love and hate it. Waiting for something you love is such a frustrating feeling;   you wait and wait and wait for this thing to happen and then it does. And all of a sudden you aren't anticipating anymore - the excitement and the nervousness and the wondering is gone. And most of the time, the anticipation is not worth it - more often than not, what we so desperately waited for doesn't live up to the hype.

Waiting for Harry - totally not like this. The anticipation factor (waiting to be disappointed) doesn't apply to Harry because the books live up the hype. You start reading with such excitement and joy and that feeling stays with you until the last word. You put down a Harry Potter book and you have a feeling of completion; the year came to a satisfying conclusion, the mystery has been solved, and Harry is safe for the time being. (John Granger (amazing, amazing, amazing Harry Potter critic) describes this as the "ring composition." He wrote a whole book on the topic and yes, of course I own it. A signed copy.)

But ever so slowly, you get that anticipation feeling - the next book is coming, there is more to the story. And while you wait, you grow and you change. And the amazing thing is - the next book meets you there. The story has grown up and changed to meet you, the reader.

I've read the books so many times and that feeling of joy when I pick up a Harry Potter book is always there, but it's never quite like the first time I cracked open that book a little after midnight. I remember those moments vividly.

Reading Sorcerer's Stone babysitting and needing to read more, becoming addicted with Chamber of Secrets by the fireplace at Christmas, finishing Prisoner the night I forced my parents to buy it for me, cracking open Goblet of Fire in the car on the way home from camp because I'd already waited a week, begging my eyes to stay open past Chapter 7 of Order of the Phoenix and staying in my pajamas the next day until I was done, bemoaning the lack of electricity at camp when I was forced to stop reading Half Blood Prince, and literally staying up all night to finish Deathly Hallows.

It is a connection you feel with the characters and the story that J.K. Rowling has so beautifully written - even though it might take years to get the next book, the characters are the same flawed, familiar human beings and the story becomes more heart-wrenching and yet satisfying.

Anticipation for Harry is something I am so happy to have been a part of - others won't truly experience waiting the way we did for the next installment of Harry's adventure.

And just because I can't leave everyone hanging... I hope you're not lactose intolerate, dary.

DFTBA!
Jana

My Harry Potter Boycott

So Jana and I have decided to have themes for each day to guide our posts.  Of course a dominant theme will be Jana's number one fandom of Harry Potter and J. K. Rowling, so Tuesdays will be set aside for any and all conversations related to the world of Harry Potter. On the first official Dreamatorium Potterverse Tuesday, I’d like to talk about how I caved in late 2003 and finally dived into Harry Potter. It’s true that Jana gets the credit.

I adore YA (Young Adult) fantasy fiction.  It’s my genre.  99% of my reading material (of which there is an abundance) falls into this area, including my favorite author of all time.  This would be Tamora Pierce.  She writes fabulous fantasy novels set in realms different from ours, where magic is natural part of life, and gods interfere in the lives of mere mortals. Think King Arthur and Merlin meet Ancient Greece. Pierce’s novels usually center around a young female character who learns she is strong, special, and worthy of being a heroine.  The beauty of Tamora Pierce is how real her characters are. She’s created several different heroines, and they are all so different from one another, yet strong and powerful in their own right.  Any person could find themselves depicted somewhere in her worlds.

Anyway, this is my soapbox, and I’ve loved Tamora Pierce since I was saving my twelfth birthday money in 1997 to buy her books.  At some point, Tamora Pierce started ending up on these lists like “If you like Harry Potter, then you should read…”  I seriously resented this.  I took a stand, and refused to endorse Harry.  Love Alanna! Love Daine! Who needs Harry?

Then I met Jana in college, and she adored Harry. He was worth the attention.  We pretty much bargained it out- I’ll read Harry and she’ll read Tamora Pierce.  (Despite the length of HP books, it took longer for her to live up to her end, but she did end up watching seven seasons of Buffy, so it balanced out.)  I’ve now read all the Harry Potter books.  I read each in one day, but I always read good books in one day.  I read the first four right away, then took a break.  A while later I invested in the fifth, then the sixth and finally the seventh. I believe that the sixth book was coming out soon when I began the series, so the only time I was really waiting was for the seventh. 

Harry Potter is a wonderful adventure series.  Harry will never equal the awesomeness of Alanna in my mind, but it’s an amazing story of friendship and strength.  I do love the fact that as the characters grow, so does the difficulty and the content of the novels.  That is unique.  Through her use of Hogwarts and Houses, Rowling has created a world that people can place themselves in, whether or not they identify with the main characters.   I appreciate the world that J. K. Rowling has created that intrigues the mind of so many young people. 

(Read Tamora Pierce, too, though!)

Stay Shiny!

Kristin