Magic can be beneficial but there's always a cost

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursala Le Guin.  Sparrowhawk had great magical talent but his reckless pride led him to tamper with magic beyond his training and he loosed a terrible shadow upon the world.  The tragic consequences of his actions sober him.  He applies himself to his studies and grows into a wise mage resolved to capture the shadow and send it back to whence it came.

LOVED this book.  A wonderfully told coming of age story.  A believable story of transformation.

The Tombs of Atuan by Ursala Le Guin.   Believed to be the reincarnation of the last high priestess, a young girl is taken from her family and consecrated to the service of the Nameless Ones.  She is isolated and taught the dark rituals she is expected to lead.  Ged (Sparrowhawk) comes to the tombs in search of the lost Ring of Erreth-Akbe.  Arha (Tenar) discovers him and traps him, outraged by his sacrilege.  Her anger gives way to curiosity, however, and she begins to question everything she has been taught.

More horrifying than Ged’s coming-of-age story.  While Ged (Sparrowhawk) brought something terrible into the world, Tenar is ripped from her family when she is only 6 years old and indoctrinated into an evil cult.  And yet, despite this, she is still able to question what she has been taught and choose her path.

The Farthest Shore by Ursala Le Guin.  Magic is fading quickly from the lands of Earthsea and no one knows why.  Songs are being forgotten and people are going mad.  Archmage Ged (Sparrowhawk) chooses a young prince to accompany him as he searches for the cause.

Le Guin adds more detail to her wonderfully developed world of Earthsea.  She continues to introduce interesting characters.  That said, I struggled a bit with this story.  The Big Bad annoyed me — I think I expected someone Bigger and Badder.  And I didn’t quite get some of the motivations.  I didn’t like the ending — not that it should have ended differently, I just didn’t want it to end the way it did.

Tehanu by Ursala Le Guin.   Le Guin revisits the character Tenar, perhaps the only character more haunted than Ged.  It’s been years since she left the Tombs with Ged; she’s now a widow.  She takes in a severely injured child and names her Therru.  And Ged returns.  Immediately following the events of The Farthest Shore, the dragon Kalessin brings him to Gont, unconscious and near death.  Tenar nurses him back to health . . . but not to his former power.  That is gone.

This was an interesting departure for the series.  Ged has no power; his sense of self is shattered.  And he, Tenar, and Therru are targeted by another Big Bad who has ample magic.  The danger feels more threatening this time around.

Weekend getaway to a remote cabin in the woods? Maybe not.

Book Review:  in a dark, dark wood by Ruth Ware

Although she once considered Clare her best friend, it's been ten years since Nora has had any contact with her.  So, she's conflicted when she receives an invite to Clare's hen party weekend.  Her curiosity outweighs her misgivings -- she accepts the invite.  And wakes up in the hospital afterwards with little memory of what happened on the last night, a night that left at least one person dead -- a night that made Nora a suspect in a murder investigation.

Ware uses flashbacks to effectively create a compelling mystery with a menacing tone.  Beyond the initial "why was she racing through the woods?", "who died?", and "what happened?", I have to admit, the biggest mystery for me was why anyone chose to remain Clare's friend once she revealed her toxicity.  That said, Nora's not the only one at the party who's seen Clare's dark side and chose to attend anyway.  Clare has the kind of magnetism that draws people in, despite themselves.

I needed the big secret spelled out for me -- the one that caused Nora to suddenly switch schools at age 16 and cut off ties with most of her schoolmates.  Things slow down a bit after that reveal, mainly because the reader now knows who the likely murderer is.  The rest is just details.  There is suspense (and frustration) in wondering if Nora will figure it out before it's too late.

Aside of a couple of questionable scenes (if you're already spooked, and you find the kitchen door open in the middle of the night, wouldn't you check the whole house before going back to bed?), this novel was plotted for maximum impact. Although the characters didn't really grab me, in a dark, dark wood is well-written with a deliciously spooky setting (a glass house, off the beaten track, in the middle of the woods, with no cellphone reception). 

Someone knows who she is, where she is, and what she did

Book Review:  Betrayed by Karen Olson

Nicole Jones aka Tina Adler aka Susan McQueen aka Helene LeBlanc is back.  FBI agents are waiting for her at the Cape Cod bike shop where’s she’s been working for the past few months, going by the name Helen White and living off of the grid.  She’s asked about a laptop that contains incriminating data about a hit on mobster Tony DeMarco.  She’s released but isn’t surprised to find FBI agent Zeke Chapman waiting for her at the house she’s sitting for the summer.  She and Zeke have a long history — he knows who she really is and why she’s been on the run all these years.  He offers her a way to clean the slate once and for all.

While I normally enjoy this series, this installment drove me nuts.  I’m jumping right to the parts that really bugged me.  Spoilers follow.

Zeke expects Tina to run, so he plants a GPS in the laptop — which she easily finds and removes.  They are both expert hackers well aware of each other’s talents and tendencies — Zeke didn’t think he needed to plant more than one and Tina didn’t think to look for more than one???  And she disconnected the GPS he installed on page 59.  She finds the second GPS tracker on page 94 and disables it before leaving the motel.  So, how does Zeke find her on page 96?  She leaves the motel in a rush, unsure of her destination, and ends up at a Starbucks — where Zeke is already conveniently hiding in the shadows.  What???

Zeke also conveniently ends up near the country club later.  This isn’t as much of a stretch — Tina expects him to be there and goes looking for him.  She doesn’t find him at the club but she sees Tony DeMarco’s henchmen — and they see her.  Tina makes a run for it, sprinting for almost four blocks before she looks over her shoulder and tumbles to the sidewalk — and the hand reaching down to pull her up is conveniently Zeke’s.  Seriously???  She just happened to stumble within his reach?

And the bad guys — the hackers framing Tina and Zeke.  Complaint One:  If Amelie is the expert hacker this book makes her out to be, why did she and Ian ever need Tina for the bank job all those years ago?  Complaint Two:  How does everyone know that Tina and Ian had sex when he found her on Block Island?  What did the guy do, post it as a status update on FB?  Complaint Three:  Was the sloppy code part of Daniel’s cover or just a convenient plot detail to clue Tina in that there were two hackers?  Complaint Four:  I’m not a techie person, so I never went into this series expecting that I’d understand any hacking details BUT Amelie appears to be some sort of super villain — the hacking described here almost seems like ESP is involved.

Those are my major gripes.  Despite them, I enjoy the series, and will probably re-read it from the beginning someday before the next book comes out.  And given the cliffhanger ending, I’m sure there will be a next book.

Curious about the first two books in the series?  Here are my mini-reviews of them:

Hidden by Karen Olson.   Nicole Jones abandoned her old name and her old life years before the book begins.  She’s been enjoying a quiet life on Block Island, living off of the grid.  When someone from her past finds her, she realizes that she will have to leave and find another place to hide.

What I liked best about this story was Nicole’s reinvention of herself from the girl she used to be.  I like the Nicole who gives bike tours and taught herself to paint beautiful landscapes.  Her past self, which is revealed as the story progresses, is less interesting.  The mystery is so-so.

Shadowed by Karen Olson.   Sequel to Hidden.  Nicole is now Susan McQueen and she’s living on an island in Quebec, Canada.  She’s trying to recreate the life she had on Block Island, living a quiet life, working as an artist.  She’s still off the grid but this time around she has not given up her computer.  The lure of the online chatrooms and the temptation to reach out to an old accomplice proves to be her undoing this time.  Someone else has been lurking in the chatrooms, and they know her well enough to find her, even though she’s using a different name.

Some things are too easy, some things are too hard, but it’s still a light, enjoyable read.  Someday I will have to re-read the first book to see if something that happens in this one matches up.  Someday.