It is the nature of being a reader that the first book you pick up after a profound reading experience is not always an easy choice. After the experience I had with Ender’s Game, I was unsure where to go next with my reading. Two of the books that I desperately want to read, Ian Fleming’s Goldfinger and Orson Scott Card’s Speaker for the Dead are ones that I want to save for Annie’s challenge and the Sci Fi Experience, respectively. What to do, what to do? This is where having a library of unread books comes in handy. I went and browsed my own shelves. In so doing my eyes alit upon a gift from Pat that I received last Christmas that was written especially for this time of year: The Book of Dead Days by Marcus Sedgwick.
In his Author’s Note, Sedgwick gives the reader a brief history lesson, informing the reader about the ancient Egyptian Calendar that consisted of 12 thirty day months. Armed with the knowledge that a year cycle was 365 days, these extra five days were considered a time of celebration. The Aztecs, who had a similar calendar system, did not see it that way. For them the days between Christmas and the New Year were a time of bad omen and they called these days the Dead Days.
The Book of Dead Days takes place between the days of December 27th and December 31st in a time period that correlates a time period similar to those in which the recent movies The Illusionist and The Prestige took place. And like those films, this story involves a magician of suspect motivations and his attempts to avoid a rapidly approaching end to an old Faustian bargain. The story is centered around said magician, Valerius, and his servant Boy. Early in the tale a young girl named Willow crosses their path and the three of them embark on a perilous journey shrouded in mystery, one with the threat of darkness around every corner. For the most part this is the story of Boy, however, a young man with no clue as to his past and no real future. It is a story about the fragility of some bonds and the strength of others. It is a story of suspense and mystery and magic. In short it was a very entertaining read.
It was a delight to read this book on a cold December weekend as the temperatures and time period (mostly) corresponded to what was occurring in the story. This is a teen level book and as such it has some of the story flaws sometimes associated with books written to this age group. Those flaws are few, however, and after the first 20 pages or so I found myself locked into the story and enjoyed the way the suspense built at a steady pace throughout the tale. It is no doubt that Marcus Sedgwick is a talented writer. This book contained much of the same tone and rich detail that I enjoyed in the films The Illusionist and The Prestige. It is a book for those who like the gothic feel of R.I.P.-worthy books set in the darkness and chill of winter.
I found this to be a very fun and worthwhile read. Although The Book of Dead Days reaches a definite conclusion and can be read alone, there is a concluding volume of the story that is now out called The Dark Flight Down. I am looking forward to picking that volume up and reading it as well.
This is my fourth book for the From the Stacks Winter Reading Challenge. Considering its December setting I am so glad I picked this up when I did. Thanks for another great gift Pat!
What would you say the story flaws associated with YA books are?
That was probably a bit too much of a generalization, KK. Certainly many YA books and Teen books are written well and rival any other genre of literature. Those books, I find, are the ones that are written up to their audience rather than written down to them. There are few moments in this story that feel juvenile and I think had this book been edited for an adult rather than teen audience those parts would have been polished a bit more. They are very few, as I said, but they are obvious moments when the story just isn’t as tight as it should be. The most glaring one in this tale revolves around the fact that Valerian has some secret that he is not revealing. There are a few moments during the first half of the book where he is asked to reveal his story and he agrees and then something occurs that interrupts him. It begins to get a bit comical and is the kind of thing that just doesn’t work well reading it as an adult where as I am not sure I would have picked up on the silliness of it as an adolescent. Just when you think the entire book is going to be marred by incident and incident like this occuring, it stops. The only other ‘flaw’ I find with books classified for “teens” is that more often than not they contain language that does not necessarily add to the story. Someone somewhere seemed to get the idea that “teen” books should have cussing in it because hey, they are teenagers after all. For someone skilled at dialogue, the language comes naturally. More often than not my experience has been that the swearing seems forced, put there as some unspoken law that ‘teen’ books either have to have swearing or sex or both. Anway, hope that at least sheds some light on what I was thinking when I typed that overgeneralization of a line. 🙂
You are really cranking out the books! Dare I show my true colors and admit how jealous I am?
Now you see, this one sounds like something I want to read too! You are not helping my TBR stack go down any at all!! :p And ditto to Debi’s comment, you’re really cranking out the books!
Oh, I picked this up ages ago without knowing much about it. I may have to try to read it soon since it’s the appropriate time of year. Thanks for the review.
oh wow wow wow! what a cool concept!
it sounds delicisousiliousellly gothic!
JP, I’ve been trying to say that out loud and I’m having no luck! 😉
Tanabata: It did add to the enjoyment reading it now. The book is actually broken into sections by day, 27th through the 31st and I actually toyed with the idea of reading each section on the actual day, which would be a really fun idea, but I had already gotten into the story when I thought of it and I couldn’t put it down. I’d love to have someone actually try this and blog about the experience in the review.
Debi and Chris: that is purely the result of going through so much of October and November and not reading near what my normal output for that time of year is. I’m feeling a big time reading jones right now and have an embarrassment of riches, as do we all, to choose from!
hm. This book sounds interesting. Another fantasy novel that is Christmas-related that I am reading right now is Winterbirth. I might have to see if the bookstore has this one, although somehow I doubt it…
I just saw it in Borders the other day Kailana, because the sequel was there as well, so you might be able to find it.
This sounds very intriguing!
I completely agree about YA books… the ones that underestimate their readers end up not working as well as they could. And forcefully using slang or “bad” language just to appeal to teens is simply cringe-worthy!
Oh….this book sounds wonderful!! Yet another book to go on my Mt. TBR pile!! Maybe one of these days you guys won’t write such good reviews!!
Oohh, I haven’t heard of this one! I really have to stop reading your blog. My to-read stacks keep growing. 😀
That is the same problem I have reading everyone else’s blogs, Andi!
It is easy to write the reviews, Stephanie, when the books are enjoyable.
Kailana, I saw that book, Winterbirth, in the store today…that is quite the weighty tome!
I read this a couple or so years back and I definitely loved the atmosphere. Gee, now I’m reminded I’ve to get the sequel.
It’s especially gratifying to find out a book was good when I picked it for the title and the cover. I have had exceptionally good luck with teen books. But I did buy one called The Red Thread that turned out to be the same way – it was very distracting to be talked down to. I decided to not read any more books by that author. I’m so happy you liked this one.
I remember you not being thrilled with that one. I don’t mind being talked down to so much if that is what I expect from a book, but more often than not I am wanting every YA boook I pick up to be fantastic and that just isn’t the case.
Winterbirth is a tome, but very readable. If I am lucky, I will have it read by the end of the year…