Friday, April 01, 2011

Incarceron, Maze Runner and Morning Glory

I've had a busy couple of weeks, with some of that time spent on planes, waiting to get on to planes and because of that, time spent reading.

And it's been great. Molly already mentioned the Maze Runner, which I loved, more than Molly did, because while I noticed the lingo the boys used at the beginning of the book, I was too entranced to care about how annoying it was. I love a book when it keeps me guessing, when I can't tell where it is going and the quesions it raises are completely intriguing. If a story does that for me, I can overlook a lot of other problems, and maze runner did that from the very beginning.

Another book that did that for me recently is Incarceron, which I think is even better than Maze Runner. both are similar in setting and tone, but Incarceron is more intricately plotted and has two lead characters, two main plots that are entwined and both equally interesting. And it's a combination of both dystopian and post-apocalyptic YA.

What both these books feature are leads that are really pro-active. They are driving the action. The last two books I'd read before Incarceron were also YA, but they were yawn-inducing, primarily I think because the heroines of the books were not pro-active. What happened, happened to them, not because of them.

Which leads me into Morning Glory, a movie I saw on a plane and was oddly charmed by. Not because of the romance, a waste of Patrick Wilson, or even Harrison Ford playing grumpy. Because the heroine is, from the start of the movie, to the end, really capable and creates her own opportunities. She is not fumbling through her job. My favourite scene in that moment, is her first day as the producer of a morning show when she sits down at a table and a ton of questions are fired at her. And she answers each one, decisively and, I presume, correctly. It sums up the character nicely and was a nice switch on a genre that in another movie would have had her screw up the first day and then redeem herself in a rising swell of music later in the movie.

It was good. Anyone else read Incarceron? Molly, I'll have it for you this weekend if you're interested.

5 comments:

Eileen said...

I haven't read Incarceron yet, but I love your point about a heroine who is good at what she does and knows it. Maybe it's one of the reasons I loved Katniss in The Hunger Games so much. She knew she had skills. Bella in Twilight? I think her skill was to have yummy smelling blood?

I'm in the middle of Steph's new book right now, too, and loving it. Another beyond capable heroine who isn't afraid to acknowledge her strengths or her weaknesses. It makes for SUCH a good story!

Hmmm. Must go look at WIP again. Make sure heroine is a capable functioning adult.

Molly O'Keefe said...

Oh man, last night I finished The Dark and Hollow places, the last in the Forest of Hands and Teeth series. SO DARK!!! So so dark. Honestly, Stephen King at his darkest dark, and then darker still. And I honestly, honestly, had NO IDEA how they were going to get free - but this heroine would not give up and she did some crazy shit, but she would not give up. Some of it was repetitious - the threats, etc, but it's end of the world with zombies...that's the problem.

And the emotional parts, the damage this girl has - cried. Cried and cried. I adored this book. Adored it. best of the series anyone who says different is crazy.

The functioning adult makes for a better story - I need to remember that too.

Anonymous said...

Oooh... cannot wait to read it. I cannot have it, because it belongs to Maureen, and she needs to read it, and also, because I need to finish this damn book first...

but it sounds so good.

Eileen, Bella drove me up the wall as a heroine... for the length of time I could read that book, before I gave up.

Maureen McGowan said...

I can't wait to read Incarceron.. And you're mean to make me read the two you thought were yawns first. ;)

Another one I really want to read is Divergent.

Carrie Ryan is seriously one of my heroes. I liked Dead Tossed Waves better than Forest of Hands and Teeth and if this one is the best... well, I love that she made each book in the series get better... So often they get worse, not better.

I still need to see Morning Glory. And read it. Glad to hear you liked it. Too bad it didn't stick around in theatres longer. I've heard a few people now who really liked it and buddy Diana Peterfreund wrote the novelization, movie tie in thingy. (And by thingy, I mean book...)

Stephanie Doyle said...

Loved Morning Glory. Really loved it. You're right - the romantic element really wasn't necessary.

And the cliche line at the end... you dedicate your life to your work and at the end you have nothing to show for it...

I'm so sick of that. I'm so sick of what people's traditional views of what anyone's life should be like at the end.

Workaholics get married when they're 70. 50 year married couples suddenly end up alone because their spouse died and their child moved to Europe. Whatever!!!

Why couldn't this been a story about a woman saving a show, reviving a legend's career and having some hot sex with a guy on the side?

Now it sounds like I didn't like... but I did. I loved it.

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