The Alchemist by Paolo Bacigalupi

I just finished this short little book and it was an interesting read. My friend recommended I read "The Alchemist" because it was "amazing." So I go to the library and look it up and find it on the shelf and am surprised by how small it is. I figure any great book has got to be longer than 95 pages, but I check it out anyway. Only now when I looked up an image for this blog do I realize that I'm pretty sure she was recommending I read "The Alchemist" by Paolo Coelho. How was I to know the difference? Shoot, they have the same title and are even both written by Paolo's. What are the odds?

Regardless, this was an interesting little story. Quite short, so difficult to get a whole lot of character or story development, but worthwhile. It's about a man, an alchemist (go figure), who is searching for a way to fight back a dangerous plant, bramble, that is taking over his city. Bramble grows in response to magic, so whenever anyone performs any small or large bit of magic, it grows and takes over crops and homes. Oh, and it's poisonous and can easily kill you if it touches skin. So he creates a machine that can fight the bramble and takes it to the mayor and head magic guy, hoping to get a nice payout for saving the city. Problem is, the mayor and magic guy are evil and use his invention to hunt down anyone who uses magic and kills them. They lock him up for 2 years and make him create more cool inventions for them under the threat of killing his daughter and lady-friend.

I think this could be a really excellent story if it were developed more. The magic world our hero lives in is intriguing; I wish it had more background. The characters were good but I feel like I hardly got to know them. Also the ending felt rushed, I wish there was more detail.

Overall, interesting book but probably not "The Alchemist" everyone is raving about.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Rapunzel's Revenge and Calamity Jack by Shannon and Dean Hale, Illustrated by Nathan Hale

 I've never read any graphic novels before and I've always been a little skeptical of them. When I think of graphic novels I think of nerdy, comic book obsessed, acne ridden teen boys, hiding out in their dark and dusty bedrooms. I'll admit I was mildly embarrassed to be browsing the graphic novel section of the library (after I was able to find it). But I must say, these were two of the most fun books I have ever read. I picked these up, of course, because they are written by Shannon Hale, whose books I have reviewed on this blog many times. I love her stories and was certainly not disappointed with these gems. Co-written by her husband with detailed and beautiful illustrations by Nathan Hale (not related), these short stories were captivating and full of action, humor, and a touch of romance.

Rapunzel's Revenge is the story of Rapunzel (obviously) and really gets going once her "mother" (at least, the one who calls herself her mother) puts Rapunzel in a tower for being disobedient. Mother Gothel has powerful magic and can make things grow but uses her magic to enslave the people. Her tower is actually a very, very tall tree. Food grows magically and somehow Rapunzel's hair is affected by the magic and grows super long. She escapes by using her hair as a lasso and soon runs into Jack. Together, Jack (of Jack and the Beanstalk) and Rapunzel go on an adventure to stop Mother Gothel's reign of terror, with the help of her trusty hair, and help people along the way, becoming heroes of the west. 

Calamity Jack picks up where Rapunzel's Revenge leaves off and is told from Jack's perspective. The pair heads east to Jack's hometown, where Jack is hoping to reunite with his mother and rebuild her house, since the first was destroyed by a giant beanstalk. When they arrive, they find themselves in a war zone and the city under attack by huge ant people and protected by giants. Jack and Rapunzel discover the giants are behind the ant people threat and fight to expose them to the city. In addition to the adventure, Jack goes through a personal journey of proving to his mother, Rapunzel and himself that he is a "good guy," despite having a shady background of scheming to get what he wanted.

Adjusting to reading a book that depends on the pictures to tell most of the story took a little time, but once I figured it out, the pictures were actually really fun to interpret and added so much to the story. I wish each book was about 3 times as long and I hope they write more sequels, though I haven't heard any reports for more books. I loved these books; they were so funny and easy to read. The pictures were so beautiful and detailed and expressive. Character development was also surprisingly good. Fun, fun stories I would absolutely recommend to everyone! Even those opposed to graphic novels, like I used to be. 

5 out of 5 stars