Time Cat

Time Cat

By Lloyd Alexander

3 Out of 5 Covers

Time Cat was the first book published by Lloyd Alexander, who went on to have a long and distinguished career in children’s literature, including being awarded the Newberry.  The inspiration for the novel came from the observation that cats not only come and go at will, but can seem to disappear and reappear.  What if when the disappear, they actually travel through time?  One cat, Gareth, takes his owner, Jason, on a journey through history to visit places such as Egypt, Rome, Ireland, Japan, Italy, Peru, Germany and America.

In covering so much ground, each visit is very short; essentially this is a novel of short stories.  This brevity only allows for a taste of the history and culture of each location, and some interested the author more than others.  The particular stand out is Ireland, where the research that went in to that section later inspired Alexander’s Prydain Chronicles. 

These brief visits only allow for a quick set-up and resolution, resulting in a feeling that the reader has merely arrived at a new location before we are off again.  The rapidity is emphasized by the fact that the protagonists don’t change throughout.  There is no initial problem that led to the journey; it was the whim of that cat to take a human along.  And then they come back at the exact same time as pretty much the same people.  Having characters progress is an essential element of storytelling.  Not that there wasn’t any progression, it was merely isolated to the characters in each time period.

While I found the brevity to be a flaw, Alexander does bring each setting to life.  This is obviously well researched and meant to have a true educational aspect.

The prose does bear the marks of a beginner’s effort.  It takes a lot of work to become a publishable author, and from publishable to a great author.  It is interesting to see the initial steps of a writer’s journey and gives hope to this aspiring writer.

How to Train Your Dragon Books 1 and 2

                                                                                                                                                                      

A quick disclaimer for those who are coming to this book series after having watched the movie: there is very little similarity between the two. They both focus on a scrawny Viking named Hiccup, but that is almost all they have in common.  In the books Vikings already know how to train dragons, Toothless is not a Night Fury but rather a common green notable only for being remarkably small, and there is not sign of Astrid.  You’ve been warned.

How to Train Your Dragon

How to Train Your Dragon Book 2: How to Be a Pirate

By Cressida Cowell

3 Out of 5 Covers

I am going to review the How to Train Your Dragon series in pairs because, for me, they were quick reads.  This series is aimed at kids ages 8 to 12, where they are starting to get comfortable with longer chapter books.  And for that, the series is perfect.  There are still illustrations, which make the books appear longer than they actually are, as well as juvenile humor, as evidenced by characters with names like Dogsbreath the Duhbrain or Gobber the Belch.

But that is all window dressing on what are enjoyable stories.  The books follow Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III, the scrawny son of chieftan Stoick the Vast (O hear his name and tremble! Ugh, ugh, ugh!), who would much rather pursue unViking-like behavior such as studying dragons and learning their language over being taught how to loot and pillage.  On the day when the trainees (like Boy Scouts but more dangerous) dare to enter the dragon nest and steal an egg, Hiccup picks up the most common dragon of all.  This is very disappointing for a future cheiftan and just gives the other boys another reason to bully and make fun of Hiccup.  But Hiccup’s knowledge of dragons comes in handy when two giant deep sea dragons wash up on shore ready to eat the village.

Having survived his first adventure, Hiccup’s training continues in How to Be a Pirate, where Alvin the Poor-but-Honest Farmer offers to help Stoick and Hiccup discover the hidden treasure of their ancestor, Grimbeard the Ghastly.  Alvin naturally turns out to be anything but honest and is only after Grimbeard’s famous sword and will trick any Viking to help him.  Not that Grimbeard left his treasure unprotected, as an ancient dragon guards the horde.  And it turns out that Hiccup’s best friend, Fishlegs, who is even more inept at being a Viking than Hiccup, is actually a Berserker.

While very entertaining, the writing goes for the extremes where characters are either big, loud and obnoxious or small and smart.  Some subtlety would have allowed for greater character and story development and a greater emphasis on the lessons trying to be taught, which can get lost in the volume of everything else.  But working on those extremes also is for the benefit of the target audience, so it is a tight line that needs to be walked.  And the illustrations are done in an intentionally crude style that I find off putting.

That said, Crowell has created a lively world that ignites the imagination and the morals are worthwhile, even if it takes a little work to get to them. 

Greek Gods, Human Lives

Two and a ½ out of Five Covers

This academic volume explores the influence and impact the Greek gods had on human lives anciently by describing the central role the gods played in the narratives as written by the Greeks and Romans.  Lefkowitz’s premise is that popular culture has emphasized the gods flaws, making them much more human that originally intended and that an examination of the original texts will correct this misunderstanding. 

The presentation of this thesis consists of retellings of the myths with some analysis.  However, this very format makes the premise suspect.  The author can retell the myths however she sees fit, emphasizing the role of the gods to conform to her thesis rather than the other way around.  I doubt very much that the author does this intentionally, but it still weakens her argument.

And they are not the most exciting retellings.  There is a certain dryness to the proceedings, feeling like a straightforward recounting of “this happened and then this happened,” rather than tapping in to the epic drama and action of these stories.  While this accusation could be accounted for by the volume being an academic text, there is also the fact that the author is providing an overview of the Iliad, the Odessey, and the Aneid as well as several other stories and plays.  Something will be lost in the summation.

None of this is to say that the work is not useful.  I’ve already applied some of the things I learned to a paper on Wonder Woman (doubtful the author ever thought that would happen).  But it did seem like a lot of treading over familiar ground to arrive at point.  More focus on analysis would have been beneficial.