The Lizy Reviews: Fridays with the Wizards by Jessica Day George

Just to warn you, this is a brutally honest, spoilery, and negative review. 

Thankfully, Fridays with the Wizards picks up roughly where Thursdays with the Crown left off. The Glower children and company have returned from the other world with the griffins and the Castle has been set to rights. But nothing huge happens in Thursdays, apart from Wizard Arkwright escaping from confinement and terrorizing the castle inhabitants, but he lurks in the background more than anything. The solution seems to be to use a lockbox developed by Queen Selina to close off some of the castle's secret passageways and cut him off--you would think that would be a big deal, erasing parts of the castle forever, but none of the parts that matter are sacrificed in the end.

Via Amazon

To be honest, I'm not nearly as impressed with this installment of the Castle Glower series as with the previous episodes. There were a few things I did like, however: we get more character development for the Queen and Celie's brother Bran. Celie also is having character development and pre-teen ANGST as Lilah and Lulath get engaged and make preparations for marriage (which is understandable since I do not like them together). The more critical moments of the story are when Celie has to take initiative to fight Arkwright by herself.  However, Lulath still has cool moments.  And the griffins are as cool as ever, even without being in the spotlight as much in the story. Fridays with the Wizards ties together the series I wouldn't say neatly but comfortably.

The Lizy Reviews: The Mark of the Thief by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Jennifer A. Nielsen’s debut in the Ascendance trilogy was nothing short of brilliant. Now with The Mark of the Thief Nielsen has launched a new series that promises to be just as amazing, if not more. If you haven’t read The Mark of the Thief, you are missing out!

Nicolas Calva is a headstrong slave in the mines of ancient Rome. He is forced to descend into a cursed cave to retrieve a medallion (known as a bulla) that once belonged to Julius Caesar. He emerges with the bulla, a griffin, and a mark investing him with ancient and terrible magic. Nic and the griffin, Caela, are taken to the games in Rome for public entertainment, and Nic is immediately plunged into a web of conspiracy between powerful men who would use his power for their own purposes. And Nic wants nothing to do with them: he only wants freedom for himself and his sister and to get out of Rome, but of course that is easier said than done.  

Goodreads

The stakes are higher for Nic in this story than they were for Sage/Jaron in the Ascendance series: not even the people he wants to trust are on his side. And Nic, as I mentioned, has a sister and he has to work around his attachments as he’s fighting for his own survival. The big bad in this story is General Randulf. Only a few pages in, and Nic has already overheard his plot to take over the Roman Empire, and he spends the entire book trying to keep one step ahead of the sinister general.  Of course the Roman emperor Tacitus is mentioned frequently but (spoiler alert) he never makes an appearance. And then there’s a fascinating maze of secondary characters with different agendas, political or otherwise.

For the record, Caela is the most amazing griffin I have ever read about. She and Nic don’t have a pet-owner relationship just yet: Caela is still very wild. But Nic cares about her and Caela can sense that in him. And then there’s the plebeian girl Aurelia. Unlike the heroines in the Ascendance trilogy, Aurelia is a straight-up action hero. She’s got a bow and arrow and a knife and she knows how to use them and she’s freaking awesome. In addition to being sincerely afraid of Nic’s emerging powers she’s 100% done with him. There are hints that she could end up as the love interest in future installments of the series but, the way the book ends, she and Nic have a long way to go.

The setting and magic system of this story is unique. Nielsen did her homework bringing the brutal world of ancient Rome to life. Nic’s magic is not completely explained in this first volume. Most of the people he works with agree that his power came from the gods, but there’s no real proof that the gods exist in this world. Aside from Caela and a reference to another mythological creature there doesn’t seem to be much else fantastic going on in this world.  And the Romans in this setting don’t seem to think that the appearance of a griffin at one of the gladiator games is at all unusual. However, by the end of the story the reader’s appetite is whetted for finding out more about the mysterious magic that Nic must learn to control and that will either win him allies or foes. The second book in this series, The Rise of the Wolf, is already out and let me tell you I cannot wait to read it.

The Lizy Reviews: Thursdays With the Crown by Jessica Day George

You're probably wondering why I'm reviewing Thursdays with the Crown if Fridays with the Wizards just came out. The honest explanation is (a) I was waiting for the paperback of Thursdays with the Crown to come out and I waited too long (b) so I finally went to the library and checked out a copy (c) I'm not on top of the book news, so I need to get on it, but (d) rest assured Fridays is going on the hold list when it hits the library. But I just read Thursdays, so that's what we're reviewing. 

Via Goodreads

Something you should know about me: I love griffins much, much better than dragons. So I tweeted Jessica Day George after reading Wednesdays in the Tower that the book was “a griffin lover’s griffin fest.”  She told me when I ran into her at Salt Lake Comic Con 2014 that the sequel would be just the same.  She wasn’t kidding.

Also, my hand slipped:

Lord Griffin, by me.

Happy Griffin Family!

Personally, I wish I had re-read Wednesdays before I finally got my hands on a copy of Thursdays with the Crown, since a lot of the discussion between characters about what happened in the previous book.  Thursdays opens up with Celie, her griffin Rufus, her siblings Rolf and Lilah, and their friends Pogue and Prince Lulath, transported to the world where, supposedly, the Castle and the griffins originated, as well as the mess that led to the situation they currently find themselves in.  In short, the griffins are the best part.  I love how the author describes the griffins’ behavior with each other and around the humans.  

Also, this cover art looks sick.  Via Pinterest

Thursdays is the darkest and most action-packed book in the Castle Glower series thus far.  In fact, while written to a younger audience the entire series deals with some fairly serious material. With the number of characters in play it can be a little hard to keep track of where everyone is and what they’re doing. We do uncover a few things about the magic behind the castle. Not everything is spoiled or explained away, but even Celie, who loves the Castle and everything about it, starts to question what it’s really been up to all these years. These questions aren’t resolved, but the ending resolves pretty much everything else and sets up some possible adventures in the next book. Considering the bombshells dropped in Wednesdays and Thursdays, it could be something big.  And I get a feeling we’re not done with the Glorious Arkower or whatever it actually is yet. Book four, Fridays with the Wizards, just came out so stay tuned.