Bitterblue - US Cover

Isn't this a gorgeous cover?  It belongs to Kristin Cashore’s upcoming new novel Bitterblue. This is of course the US cover and we've not yet seen the UK cover.  Personally, I don't care what the cover looks like (weird for fickle me, I know) I am just so excited about reading Bitterblue.  Kristin Cashore's writing is dreamy and gorgeous and rich and deep.  I loved Fire and I fell in love with Graceling and I just can't come up with enough words to describe how her writing blew me away.  I actually told a friend recently that when I grow up, I would love to be able to write like Kristin Cashore.

I digress, more about Ms. Cashore and Bitterblue:

Here is my review of Graceling. Here is my review of Fire.

I was over at Publishers Weekly and the article caught my eye, here's a bit of an excerpt:

“I was thrilled when I saw the keys and that they look a little like weapons,” Cashore told PW in a phone interview. “It’s absolutely the best icon for this book, although I better not say more about that. I love all the covers but this one is my favorite.”


Dial will publish Bitterblue, a companion to Cashore’s bestsellers Graceling (Harcourt, 2008) and Fire (Dial, 2009) on May 1, 2012 but this first look at the cover ought to tantalize her many fans.

The novel, which has an announced first printing of 200,000 copies and clocks in at a hefty 576 pages, picks up eight years after Graceling,with Bitterblue now 18 and the reigning queen of Monsea. Cashore says the story constitutes more of a companion than a strict sequel. Graceling fans, however, will likely be thrilled to learn that the heroine of that book – the different-colored-eyed Katsa – returns in Bitterblue, as does her lover, Po.

For Cashore, the completion of her third novel allows her to take a deep breath – of relief. “Fire was such an emotionally hard book for me to write that when I started Bitterblue I vowed to write something light and fun,” Cashore said. “I was well into it before I had the realization that if light and fun is what you’re after you probably shouldn’t have a main character whose father murdered her mother.”


Indeed, nothing about the process of completing Bitterblue turned out to be light or fun. The first draft took nearly three years to write, and was met with a long revision letter from her editor, Kathy Dawson.

“There was one line [in Dawson’s editorial letter] that nearly caused me to panic, but turned out to be exactly the right piece of advice,” Cashore recalled. “[Kathy] wrote, ‘Would you ever consider starting from scratch?’ And that was what I needed to do. I needed to start over now that I knew exactly where the story was going. The plot didn’t change dramatically but the way everything came together did.”

Cashore certainly is her own tough act to follow. Graceling found a place on three Best Books lists in 2008; Fire received six starred reviews, including one from PW.

“With every book she writes, Kristin becomes a more accomplished writer,” says Dawson, who acquired and published Graceling while at Harcourt, and is now associate publisher and editorial director for fiction at Dial. “For this one, she learned all about codes and ciphers. She even hired a linguist to create an entire language! It felt like a long waiting period, but Bitterblue was worth every single minute.”

 If you've not yet read these books...I urge you to go out and buy them immediately.  They are aces.

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Synopsis:

In a world where people born with an exceptional skill, known as a Grace, are feared and exploited, Katsa carries the burden of a skill even she despises: the Grace of killing. She lives under the command of her Uncle Randa, King of the Middluns, and is expected to carry out his dirty work, punnishing and torturing anyone who displeases him. Breaking arms and cutting off fingers are her stock-in-trade. Finding life under his rule increasingly unbearable Katsa forms an underground Council, whose purpose is to combat the destructive behaviour of the seven kings - after all, the Middluns is only one of the Seven Kingdoms, each of them ruled by their own king and his personal agenda for power. When the Council hears that the King of Liend's father has been kidnapped Katsa investigates . . . and stumbles across a mystery. Who would want to kidnap him, and why? And who was the extraordinary Graced fighter who challenged her fighting skills, for the first time, as she and the Council rushed the old man to saftey? Something dark and deadly is rising in the north and creeping across the continent, and behind it all lurks the shadowy figure of a one-eyed king . . .

My review is: buy the book, read it, love it.

Didn't think I'd get away with it.  Dammit.

I'm late to the party, as usual.  Practically the whole world has read and reviewed Graceling by Kristin Cashore and it is for that reason that I was so wary of it.  I was scared of the fuss and the buzz. 

And it's died down a bit now and perhaps I get to perhaps kick it off again?

I didn't think I would like Graceling as much as I did Fire, the companion novel which I read first.  Call me crazy.  And I don't like it as much as I did Fire.  Fire was an excercise of awesome.  Graceling was the practice run towards awesome. It is a pretty damn good book and I utterly loved Katsa and her Graced fighter, Po.  I loved the story line, the mystery at its heart and the overall feel of the story.  There is nothing wrong with the story or the writing, I just think that Fire is the superior one of the two novels and I suspect that the third novel, Bitterblue will again be the better one of all three.  Because I think that Ms. Cashore will just keep getting better and better with each book.  

The thing is, you can see how the author has progressed as writer.  First came Graceling, then came Fire.  This girl (Ms. Cashore) has talent, heaps and heaps of it.  Graceling is a strong graceful debut novel with memorable characters, interesting concepts and very good world building. Fire, more so.

But this review is about Graceling.  Actually, the review is about Katsa who is the Graceling and who is the main character of the novel.  She is pretty much the scariest heroine conceived, what with her Killing grace.  But she is also tremendously conflicted about it and spends a lot of time making sure she is careful with her grace.  I loved how her grace became less of an issue once she meets the mysterious Po and discovers that he is a graced fighter.  I would love to see a physical fight in real time between them.  I suspect it may be something out of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Enter the Dragon and a John Woo movie. 

There are various fight scenes and various forms of martial combat in the novel but what the author does, instead of writing page after page after page of tedious sequences, she gives these amazing little snippets and bursts of imagery that completely satisfies.  It is one of the many things I appreciate about her writing skill.

I'd say that if you are an aspiring writer, to read both Graceling and Fire to see what the author does with voice and characterisation.  When you sit in "how to get published" seminars and an agent and publisher can't quanitfy what exactly they mean by "voice" and "I'll know it when I see it", they are talking about the talent Ms. Cashore has in abundance.  It sucks you into the narrative so that you reluctantly have to tear yourself away from it back to the real world on occasion.

Some sections of Graceling does however require some suspension of disbelief, more than others.  But you know, just go with it because at the end of the day, you are reading about a character who has tremendous innate skill and is basically one of the X-Men of her world.

I'm not sorry I've waited this long to read Graceling.  It was a pure treat, written by an author who has great skill and you can just tell she had a great time writing it too.  The narrative flows well, the characters and minor characters are fun to hang around with and at the end of the novel, I think a bit of Katsa's gutsiness may have rubbed off on me.  *swings her axe*

Graceling is published here in the UK by Gollancz.

Fire by Kristin Cashore

Synopsis

Set in a world of stunningly beautiful, exceptionally dangerous monsters, Fire is one of the most dangerous monsters of all - a human one. Marked out by her vivid red hair, she's more than attractive. Fire is mesmerising.

But with this extraordinary beauty comes influence and power. People who are susceptible to her appeal will do anything for her attention, and for her affection. They will turn away from their families, their work, and their duties for her. They will forget their responsibilities to please her . . . and worse, crush nations, neglect kingdoms and abuse their power.

Aware of her power, and afraid of it, Fire lives in a corner of the world away from people, and away from temptation. Until the day comes when she is needed - a day when, for her king, she has to stand against not only his enemies, but also against herself . . .

I completely missed the Graceling phenomena. I knew of it, I knew of Ms. Cashore and thought that I'd take my own time to catch up on her writing.

And I'm glad I did. As much as I love and enjoy part of a trend, helping grow an author's reputation for her / his work, I like not being rushed, not running blindly with the crowd.

I got two copies of Fire given to me - one by Gollancz UK and one by my friend Sarwat Chadda (Devil's Kiss author) upon his return from BEA in the US. I loved the UK copy so much that it's sitting pristinely on my shelf, next to Graceling (equally pristine) whereas the US copy of Fire has been read and re-read.

Author Kristen Cashore has an incredible talent for characterisation and world creation. Rich in detail and political intrigue, Fire's world feels real very quickly. We learn that the young King Nash hangs precariously onto his throne whilst rebel lords plot to unseat him. War is coming and the royal family are keen to do anything it takes to get the upper hand to ensure that the throne remains stable.

Fire (our main character) is breathtakingly beautiful. She's a freak, a monster. Something so wildly exotic and beautiful that men (and women) lose themselves around her if they don't protect themselves against her mentally and physically. She evokes tempestuous emotions in people unprepared to meet her face to face. Some fall in love immediately, others want to kill and destroy her on the spot. Her monstrous nature acts as a mirror, reflecting hatred, violence and malice that others feel towards her when they see her.

It's a compliment to the author's skill where she manages to pull off Fire as a believable and likeable character. We could so easily not have felt any kind of empathy with a creature so almost unbelievable. And yet we do - her humanity is shown in her compassion to others, her deep care for her friends and even for those who mean to harm her. She strives to be better than her father, who had almost destroyed the kingdom. She fights to be herself and not her father's child but unfortunately for her, these things are linked.

Fire is the only human monster left. Her father, also a monster, had been killed years ago when he walked into the cage of one of his favourite caged feline monsters who promptly tore him apart. He had held a position in the previous king's court as advisor and together with the king drove the kingdom to the edge of ruin. it was now up to the King's current heir and family to protect the kingdom against invaders and war. Fire feels that she should somehow help and she does so by aligning herself with the new King Nash and his family.

The royal family held a bit surprise for me. Here was a group of people utterly dedicated to one another and the kingdom. They pulled together as a team, working hard to make Nash the king he could and should be. I was surprised by this. Too often you read the political machinations of brothers and sisters behind the backs of their siblings and it becomes a bit dull, because it's expected. By giving us a family focussed on fixing what their father and Fire's father had almost destroyed we have a formidable force to be reckoned with. And it works really well within the context of the story.

Fire has to find a way to use her powers without betraying herself, by becoming her father and manipulating others around her against their will. She has to find an inner strength and realise that her battles don't necessarily have to be fought alone single handedly. She has strong friends to stand by her side and at the end of day she has to learn that she can't do everything herself and that she has to rely on their skills and friendship as much as they need to rely on hers.

It's a beautifully written novel by a very talented author. Fire is fresh and exciting, something utterly different that will surprise you no matter what your preconceived ideas. I just wish I had more time at my disposal as I'd like to read it again. Very soon. For a third time.