fun fantasy

It's a book, you guys. Fun fantasy novels!

But what a book. I just finished Froi of the Exiles, which is the second book in the Lumatere Chronicles by Melina Marchetta. I cannot stress how amazing both the books in this series are. It's fantabulous. Heart melting. The kind of stuff which you cannot stop thinking about. It's perfect. I think Melina Marchetta is soon going to become a goddess.

I loved the first book, called Finnikin of the Rock. It's fantasy but that shouldn't put you off (if you're not a fantasy fan, that is. Of course)! To be honest, it took me a long time to get around to reading it in the first place because the plot synopsis seemed so blah, like another fantasy series about a boy and complicated name and characters and languages and stuff you stop comprehending after the first fifty pages (I'm looking at you, Eragon). But you have to give this a try because it'd be unfair to categorize this book under the fantasy genre simply because it's so so so so much more. It's about a boy who is all alone in the world, exiled from his own kingdom, it's about a man trapped in a prison for ten years without seeing his son, it's about a kickass girl who's ready to take down the whole world for what is rightly her, it's about a boy who's been left to raise himself so the lines between good and bad blur (Froi- he's such an interesting character and the second book is super interesting), it's about home and good and bad and fate and destiny and magic and just being human.  I'ts a power-packed book. Finish it in one night if you can. I did it before my History midterm so that's probably going to explain my substandard marks.

What I really love about this series is that every character is so unbelievably intricate. That's what I meant by human; every character has about fifty different layers. There's no black and white... just an endless blurry shade of grey. Melina Marchetta is an amazing writer because she manages to keep you completely absorbed. I was rooting so hard for every single character because they all seemed so important, so... true. I've only read one more book by her, called Saving Francesca, which was okay. It was a lot like a Sarah Dessen novel by an Australian writer. It didn't have too much of an impact, to be honest. But oh my god, the Lumatere Chronicles! I really cannot get enough. I was literally shaking while reading- I was that excited. So please please please, procure these books and devour them. A word of caution though: the second book is HUGE. Massive. So be prepared.

Happy reading.