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golden_lily's review against another edition
2.0
Read This Review & More Like It At Ageless Pages Reviews
As a long time reader of Patricia Wrede's work, I have to say I was disappointed. There's no humor like the Enchanted Forest Chronicles or the Cecelia and Kate series, but there's also really no spirit of adventure like the Lyra books. Overall, Thirteenth Child is flat and depressing.
I had high hopes for the book. A low/alternate fantasy set not in medieval or Victorian England? Sign me up. Unfortunately, the world building was confusing and messy. All of the countries and continents have been renamed, but somehow George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson are all a)born, b)given the same names, and c)found a new country, but except this time, they're wizards?
But the most disappointing thing of all is Wrede's take on Native Americans. That is to say, there aren't any. She's quoted as saying:
"The *plan* is for it to be a "settling the frontier" book, only without Indians (because I really hate both the older Indians-as-savages viewpoint that was common in that sort of book, *and* the modern Indians-as-gentle-ecologists viewpoint that seems to be so popular lately, and this seems the best way of eliminating the problem, plus it'll let me play with all sorts of cool megafauna). . . ."
Nope, not OK. Not even a little. I also had a problem with how the African-American characters were portrayed. They fit too easily into the "Magical Negro" trope.
I did like the magic system and how fleshed out it was. Eff, once she grew up, was an interesting character with goals and skills beyond magic. I realized as soon as the It was pleasing that it didn't take the characters hundreds of pages to also realize that.
Overall, I don't think I'll read the second, because the story didn't really hook me, but more importantly, because I can't support something so unthinkingly racist.
As a long time reader of Patricia Wrede's work, I have to say I was disappointed. There's no humor like the Enchanted Forest Chronicles or the Cecelia and Kate series, but there's also really no spirit of adventure like the Lyra books. Overall, Thirteenth Child is flat and depressing.
I had high hopes for the book. A low/alternate fantasy set not in medieval or Victorian England? Sign me up. Unfortunately, the world building was confusing and messy. All of the countries and continents have been renamed, but somehow George Washington, Ben Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson are all a)born, b)given the same names, and c)found a new country, but except this time, they're wizards?
But the most disappointing thing of all is Wrede's take on Native Americans. That is to say, there aren't any. She's quoted as saying:
"The *plan* is for it to be a "settling the frontier" book, only without Indians (because I really hate both the older Indians-as-savages viewpoint that was common in that sort of book, *and* the modern Indians-as-gentle-ecologists viewpoint that seems to be so popular lately, and this seems the best way of eliminating the problem, plus it'll let me play with all sorts of cool megafauna). . . ."
Nope, not OK. Not even a little. I also had a problem with how the African-American characters were portrayed. They fit too easily into the "Magical Negro" trope.
I did like the magic system and how fleshed out it was. Eff, once she grew up, was an interesting character with goals and skills beyond magic. I realized as soon as the
Spoiler
bugs were introduced, they ate magic.Overall, I don't think I'll read the second, because the story didn't really hook me, but more importantly, because I can't support something so unthinkingly racist.
spetestar's review
4.0
It's weird how a book about an alternate world's frontier can make me homesick, but this book REALLY made me homesick for Minneapolis.
However, during my reading I was really distracted by the fact that there weren't any Native Americans. I am sure this was intentional (but why?), but if the rest of the world was there, why weren't America's indigenous people? And was it just that no one lived in the plains and the West (and what about Canada?) but there were still indigenous people in Mexico and South America, or had they never made the crossing from the Eurasian continent at all? Maybe it'll be explained in the later books?
However, during my reading I was really distracted by the fact that there weren't any Native Americans. I am sure this was intentional (but why?), but if the rest of the world was there, why weren't America's indigenous people? And was it just that no one lived in the plains and the West (and what about Canada?) but there were still indigenous people in Mexico and South America, or had they never made the crossing from the Eurasian continent at all? Maybe it'll be explained in the later books?
scarletviolet's review
2.0
I really wanted to like this book. The premise was great. A thirteenth child living on the frontier where magic and nature clash. The world building was great and the premise was super solid.
But somehow this book managed to make that kind of...dull.
Eff as a character didn't seem to have any real arc. She was hemmed in by tradition and by the roles outlined for girls and women on the frontier. Rather than overcome the limitations imposed on her gender, she just unproblematically accepted them. She spent a lot of time watching the boys do cool stuff while washing their clothes and making their beds. She never challenged her role as homemaker in waiting - never even seemed to chafe at the restrictions it imposed on her. I kept waiting for her to show some spirit and start carving out her own place in the world, but it just never happened.
All in all, the book was just kind of dull.
But somehow this book managed to make that kind of...dull.
Eff as a character didn't seem to have any real arc. She was hemmed in by tradition and by the roles outlined for girls and women on the frontier. Rather than overcome the limitations imposed on her gender, she just unproblematically accepted them. She spent a lot of time watching the boys do cool stuff while washing their clothes and making their beds. She never challenged her role as homemaker in waiting - never even seemed to chafe at the restrictions it imposed on her. I kept waiting for her to show some spirit and start carving out her own place in the world, but it just never happened.
All in all, the book was just kind of dull.
3dmelg's review
Fantastic writing as always. Stayed in character voice throughout the book. Slow plot. Never got a clear sense of the characters, or the impending disaster. Everything just sort of happens.
Fair warning - I read this book while tired, so the failure to relate to the story may be my own, not the author's. I do normally love her.
Fair warning - I read this book while tired, so the failure to relate to the story may be my own, not the author's. I do normally love her.
tasharobinson's review
4.0
A neat fantasy, probably aimed at children, but sophisticated enough for older readers. Set in a sort of magicized version of early America, where homesteaders have to deal with the constant threat of aggressive magical creatures as well as the other usual difficulties of eking out a living in the wild. Reminded me a lot of Diana Wynne Jones — this book doesn't draw on slapstick and screwball comedy the way she does, but has an interesting take on magic that I think she'd like, as something halfway between a complicated science that's different for each culture, and a complicated instinctive thing. First in a trilogy, with the third book due out in August 2012.
jolietatton's review
5.0
This is a really good book... for those who don't get into fighting this is a great book.
If you love fighting and don't like books that don't fight to much then I would recommend Hunger Games.
If you love fighting and don't like books that don't fight to much then I would recommend Hunger Games.
heartofhandprints's review
4.0
Listened to the audio book almost straight through! Really enjoyed the story, and the alternate history component.
mauryneiberg18's review against another edition
5.0
Like all Wrede, very clever (though a children's or YA book)
cass_vibes's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
vermidian's review against another edition
So I got about 20% of the way through the book and was kind of non-plussed about it. There really wasn't much action and the world was just a little meh in terms of anything actually interesting happening. The characters were pretty flat in general, but not unlikeable. They just weren't all that developed. I think it was finally starting to get somewhere when I decided to go google something about the book.
Where are the native Americans?
It turns out the author thought it was too inconvenient to write indigenous Americans into her story, so she wrote them out entirely. Among her quotes are things like wanting to avoid negative tropes, and something akin to "Well, the world I created would have been too wild to have been settled back in those days in that area." That's just a lazy excuse for a white woman saying that she didn't want to have to deal with what white settlers, which her protagonists very much are, did to the indigenous populations back in those days. I hope she eventually is capable of apologizing to the indigenous communities.
I absolutely will not be finishing this book. Nor will I be reading on in the books. I really loved Dealing with Dragons and that series, but you don't just eliminate a race of people and call it good. That's one more off my TBR.
Where are the native Americans?
It turns out the author thought it was too inconvenient to write indigenous Americans into her story, so she wrote them out entirely. Among her quotes are things like wanting to avoid negative tropes, and something akin to "Well, the world I created would have been too wild to have been settled back in those days in that area." That's just a lazy excuse for a white woman saying that she didn't want to have to deal with what white settlers, which her protagonists very much are, did to the indigenous populations back in those days. I hope she eventually is capable of apologizing to the indigenous communities.
I absolutely will not be finishing this book. Nor will I be reading on in the books. I really loved Dealing with Dragons and that series, but you don't just eliminate a race of people and call it good. That's one more off my TBR.