Review: Daughter of Smoke and Bone

I'd finished reading DAUGHTER OF SMOKE AND BONE by Laini Taylor about a week ago and only managed to find time to talk about it now.

Well, no. I actually have four group papers to complete by next week, but I'm sure I can sneak some time out to talk about what an amazing book I've just had the fortune to read.

I went searching for it in the library after reading the glowing reviews on Goodreads. Practically everyone gave it a four- or five-star review and cooed and gushed and raved about it, so I decided to give it a shot even though the book had an angel/demon premise. I tend to steer clear of such books after reading Becca Fitzpatrick's HUSH, HUSH, which was like TWILIGHT with angels (and that's the most polite way I can think of describing it) and Lauren Kate's FALLEN. Books with angels and demons almost invariably (at least, in my experience) sing the same tune, about a fallen angel and a mortal who share a transcendent love and there's always another angel to stand between said lovers by telling them it's wrong and that's supposed to be the whole appeal of the story. Forbidden love.

In the case of DAUGHTER, while the lovers do share a transcendent love that is also - what do you know! - forbidden, the premise is surprisingly refreshing. The angels and demons are from Greek mythology, and Laini's knack for world-building means the readers get to immerse in the Eretz (a parallel Earth that the angels and demons resided in before the demons destroyed everything to get back their land, which the angels had invaded). The history between the angels (called the seraphim) and demons (called chimaera) affects the main character, Karou, an art student in present-day Prague, who knows her life is strange - she has an ox-headed man for a father, a snake-bodied woman as a mother, and she runs errands for the ox-headed Brimstone, which involves meeting teeth-collectors from all over the world and exchanging them for wishes - but does not know why. The readers are placed in Karou's perspective, so we have no idea what's going on, but it's all so darn intriguing we just have to read on.

I'm not going to summarise the story here, because I don't think I can do it justice. Here's the professionally-written blurb instead:


Around the world, black handprints are appearing on doorways, scorched there by winged strangers who have crept through a slit in the sky.

In a dark and dusty shop, a devil's supply of human teeth grown dangerously low.

And in the tangled lanes of Prague, a young art student is about to be caught up in a brutal otherwordly war.

Meet Karou. She fills her sketchbooks with monsters that may or may not be real; she's prone to disappearing on mysterious "errands"; she speaks many languages—not all of them human; and her bright blue hair actually grows out of her head that color. Who is she? That is the question that haunts her, and she's about to find out.

When one of the strangers—beautiful, haunted Akiva—fixes his fire-colored eyes on her in an alley in Marrakesh, the result is blood and starlight, secrets unveiled, and a star-crossed love whose roots drink deep of a violent past. But will Karou live to regret learning the truth about herself?


The story is not just compelling because of its intricate plot and novel ideas like exchanging teeth for wishes and **SPOILER** using teeth to construct new vessels so that souls of those slain in the "otherworldly war" can be renewed (the word Taylor uses is "evanescence"), ensuring that the demon army will never suffer a fall in numbers.

No, plot is one thing. The story is laudable also because of how vividly Taylor paints her scenes with language. Although there were snatches of cliched phrases throughout the story, on the whole the writing is lovely without being too cloying or cumbersone, dramatic without edging into melodrama. Here's an example (this is Karou's flashback of her previous life):


She is a child.

She is flying. The air is thin and miserly to breathe, and the world lies so far below that even the moons, playing chase across the sky, are seen from above, like the shining crowns of children's heads.

***

She is in battle. Seraphim plummet from the sky, trailing fire.

***

She is in love. It is bright within her, like a swallowed star.


Why yes, I'm a sucker for imagery, how can you tell? This reminds me so much of ever-amazing, multitalented Maggie Stiefvater's writing, yet Taylor and Stiefvater's styles are vastly different in terms of plot and pacing.

Based on the excerpt, though, it's obvious Taylor isn't some amateur wannabe-writer who decided she'd jump on the angels/demons bandwagon and make a quick buck out of telling a contrived, run-of-the-mill story that tween girls gush about because they harbour some not-so-secret fantasy of finding true love just like that in the story. Taylor is confident in her prose, and delivers what needs to be delivered without tossing in some redundant phrase or word.

It is only in the last couple of chapters that we understand why Karou is called the daughter of smoke and bone. I don't know how else not to give away the plot other than keeping my mouth shut about it. Which, I know, sort of defeats the purpose of writing a book review.

I read DAUGHTER right after reading Maggie Stiefvater's THE SCORPIO RACES. There are just some days when creative input just keeps coming, and some days the delivery truck is waylaid. Right now, by Stiefvater's recommendation, I'm reading Steve Hamilton's THE LOCK ARTIST, which sort of reminds me of Holly Black's CURSEWORKER series. Two chapters in and I'm loving the voice so far, but the narrator has yet to reveal a quality that makes me warm to him, but I'm hopeful.

Some lovely advice...

from author Julie Cohen:


"The most liberating advice is the one I now always give to aspiring authors: give yourself permission to write crap. Your first draft doesn’t need to be perfect, but it does need to be written. Sometimes we need to write the wrong words in order to find the right ones."

Sneak peek into Shiny New Idea

Where dips the rocky highland

Of Sleuth Wood in the lake,

There lies a leafy island

Where flapping herons wake

The drowsy water rats;

There we've hid our faery vats,

Full of berrys

And of reddest stolen cherries.

Come away, O human child!

To the waters and the wild

With a faery, hand in hand.

For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

Where the wave of moonlight glosses

The dim gray sands with light,

Far off by furthest Rosses

We foot it all the night,

Weaving olden dances

Mingling hands and mingling glances

Till the moon has taken flight;

To and fro we leap

And chase the frothy bubbles,

While the world is full of troubles

And anxious in its sleep.

Come away, O human child!

To the waters and the wild

With a faery, hand in hand,

For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

Where the wandering water gushes

From the hills above Glen-Car,

In pools among the rushes

That scarce could bathe a star,

We seek for slumbering trout

And whispering in their ears

Give them unquiet dreams;

Leaning softly out

From ferns that drop their tears

Over the young streams.

Come away, O human child!

To the waters and the wild

With a faery, hand in hand,

For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand.

Away with us he's going,

The solemn-eyed -

He'll hear no more the lowing

Of the calves on the warm hillside

Or the kettle on the hob

Sing peace into his breast,

Or see the brown mice bob

Round and round the oatmeal chest

For he comes the human child

To the waters and the wild

With a faery, hand in hand

From a world more full of weeping than he can understand

~ William Butler Yeats


Can you already guess where I'm going with my Shiny New Idea? I know. I can't believe it too.

The wise words

 of Query Shark:

"... pay attention to rhythm. More than anything else stylistically, it's that rhythm of good writing that's toughest to teach and learn. When I'm editing manuscripts, I say the sentences out loud a lot. Hearing them helps me see where there are extra words, or too many beats, or misplaced beats. It's very very slow editing when you are down to moving syllables in sentences, but it's what makes the difference between gorgeous writing and so-so sentences."

Quickie!

So I'm nearing the end of Maggie Stiefvater's THE SCORPIO RACES and have to say: the book doesn't disappoint. Of course. Maggie doesn't disappoint.

And this piece by Bond just sets up the mood - for me - while I'm reading it.

Doesn't it remind you of bloodthirsty horses racing on the beach?

The best scene is one that makes you think about it no matter what you're doing.

On character motivation

Here's one of the best writing advice from one of the most helpful literary agents around: What Do Your Characters Want? by the ever-witty Nathan Bransford, from March 17, 2009.

Motivation. It's the powerful emotion that inspires people to get off the couch and grab a tub of ice cream. It's the only thing that is strong enough to pull me out of a very warm bed when it's still dark and cold outside. And it's what inspires Mario to save the princess, despite all sorts of finely rendered cartoon characters standing in his way.

How does this relate to books? Every good book begins with a protagonist who wants something.

I know that this kind of seems obvious (and it probably is), but there's a reason you don't generally see books about characters cast about by the whims of fate without any sense of purpose or desire whatsoever. Even Odysseus, essentially a powerless character blown about by the gods, has a rock solid motivation: he wants to get home.

Now, your character doesn't have to know what he/she wants on page one, but it should be conclusively clear by page 30, preferably earlier. And then, every step your protagonist takes after that point should be a step toward that goal, only they are thwarted at every step by obstacles and characters who have their own set of desires.

Many novels, especially genre novels, have a built-in motivation. Think: "save the princess" fantasy novels. It's built into the plot. The protagonist wants to save the princess. There's your motivation.

But better yet is a novel where a character wants more than one thing, and these two things are at odds. The main character might want to save the princess, but he might just have his eye on the king's throne as well, so he has to decide by the end of the novel which is more important to him. Better still is a character that wants things that are internally contradictory so that they not only have to battle the exterior obstacles to get what they want, but they have to battle conflicting desires within themselves as well.

Here's a way of illustrating that, Super Mario Bros. style.

Good: plumber wants to save the princess.
Better: plumber wants to save the princess while besting green-clad brother with similar goal
Best: plumber wants to save the princess while besting green-clad brother with similar goal, but although he is brave he is plagued by the creeping sense that the gamer controlling his every move might want him dead

Every time you introduce something your character wants, internal or external, whether it's saving the princess, acceptance from their parents, or snaring a white whale, you're introducing a plot arc. The main arc should open at the beginning and close conclusively in the climax of your novel. Smaller arcs may be introduced and closed somewhere in between.

Every single character you introduce, major or minor, should also have their own plot arc(s) with defined goals and motivations. The more important the character the longer and more complex the plot arc(s): i.e. your main villain's plot arc is probably introduced toward the beginning and closed at the end, and we probably have a rather nuanced sense of their own desires and contradictions.

This is often where writers miss opportunities: every character, big or small, has to show motivation, agency, and desire. They have to have their own plot arcs. And it's important that the arcs have a beginning, middle, and end. Unless you're under contract for book two, make sure those plot arcs are closed!

At every step of the way, on every page, with every exchange of dialogue and every action, characters are trying to achieve their desires but run into obstacles, whether internal, external, or because they're encountering characters who want something different than they do. This is conflict.

So I took this test...

The Desert Test

Congratulations! The two of you made it out of the desert!

Based on Japanese Archetypes the desert represents a hardship. Each of the animals represents an aspect of your life. The order in which you sacrifice the animals might be said to represent the importance of these things to you. The one that you sacrificed first is the least important, and the one that you kept is the most important.
1 You sacrificed the Lion. The Lion represents pride.
2 You sacrificed the Monkey. The Monkey represents your children.
3 You sacrificed the Cow. The Cow represents basic needs.
4 You sacrificed the Sheep. The Sheep represents friendship.
5 You kept the Horse. The Horse represents your passion.

No explanation required, I suppose.

Shiny New Idea!

While reading the blurb of THE SCORPIO RACES for the hundredth time this morning, I came up with the idea to model the blurb for my Shiny New Idea after it. Consider this my pitch in less than 100 words:

Every year, the fruits of promises made are harvested by unscrupulous Traders and sold in the black market. Every year, the Scavengers race to pick the ripest fruits. To compete with the Traders can mean death, but the fruits are a means of survival for the Scavengers.

When Lisa makes a deal with a Trader to save her brother, she meets Sean, a boy who doesn’t make promises, which makes them exceptionally valuable. (DODGY GRAMMAR)

As she comes to know Sean, Lisa finds it more and more difficult to choose between protecting him from the Traders and saving her brother.

There are, of course, some pesky kinks I need to work out, like

1. What's so special about the fruits?
2. What is a Scavenger?
3. Likewise, what is a Trader? How are they dangerous?
4. How do they differ from humans?
5. So what if Sean finally makes a promise? How is he in danger from the Traders?
6. Subplots, subplots!
7. What does Sean want?

BLOOD PROMISE actually came about as a short story, but as I wrote it I thought I could take it further and develop it into a full-length novel. This is what I have for now. I'll still be working on completing 15 MINUTES, but if BLOOD PROMISE takes flight maybe it'll be the next story I work on, instead of the one I had in mind.