Stravaganza Series by Mary Hoffman

I went on a trip to Italy for the first time this winter and it brought back a wave of nostalgia for a certain book series that I had absolutely adored as a child. In fact I loved it so much I "tried" (I told myself I would try) to learn Italian and dreamed of going to the beautiful city of Venice. 11 years later the dream of going to Venice finally came true - but I'm not making this post to talk about Venice. I want to talk about the book series.

This series is not well known from what I understand, but is called Stravaganza by Mary Hoffman. The series consists of six books, it started with three (which I had read when I was 9) and then apparently she had written three more, which I have just finished reading now. The book is set both in our modern London, England, and in an alternate version if Italy, named Talia, from 400 years ago. The premise of each book is quite simple - an unhappy teenager from Barnsbury Comprehensive finds a special talisman that transports them to a specific city in Talia where they go, change, and ultimately help to save the day.

The thing about this series, is that I love it, and I would recommend, but it is not amazing nor is it out of this world. It's no Tamora Pierce novel, no Harry Potter, but it is sweet, simple, and I truly understood why, as a child, I adored the books so much. With that being said, it's simplicity leads to cliches, lots of eye-rolling moments, and a bit too many happy coincidences. While the first three books were very strong, and ended on a good (but still open-ended note) - I feel the last three books, particularly the final ones, are lacking. With that being said, let me get started talking about each book, give a very brief summary and basically the thoughts I associate with each book. 

Regarding Tortall: Thoughts on Kel

Despite having read Song of the Lioness and The Immortals quartets numerous times and Tricksters quite a few times, I've only read Protector of the Small for the second time recently, just finishing the last book two nights ago. Why? Simply because when I first read PotS, at the age of twelve or so, Kel didn't interest me at all and so I never thought of giving it another go. Until now of course.

For the first... two and half parts of the quartet (so about half way into Squire) I still don't find Kel a particularly interesting character. It's actually not until a bit into Lady Knight that I finally start liking her and respecting her, but only in that one book. Overall I still think she's a bit too.... bland.

Regarding Tortall: Alanna and Aly

Another random post about another series of book written by the most amazing YA Fantasy author ever Tamora Pierce. I just want to say now that Song of the Lioness is my most favourite quartet (and books) ever and the Tortall universe in general is my dream. Well, not really, I don't want to live in medieval times but I wish I could meet and know all the characters because all of them are so bad-ass and brilliant.

But that's not what I want to talk about at the moment. What I want to talk about is the relationship between Alanna and her daughter Alianne. (I've been re-reading the Daughter of the Lioness you see). Can I just say that I really love this relationship? Or, well, I find it very intriguing.

I'll just say right now, Alanna is my most favourite character ever, George x Alanna is my biggest OTP for this universe, and pretty much any time either of these two are mentioned in any of the books I go nuts and get incredibly happy. My biggest wish is just to see what their married life is like with their children and the thing is - in Aly's story we get a very small glimpse of Alanna's relationship with her daughter - and it's a complicated one.

The thing is, at first glance, it seems like Aly somewhat resents her mother, or they don't get along. And most people would think that in general Alanna just doesn't spend much time with her children, isn't very close with them etc. but after re-reading Trickster's Choice that's not the feeling I get at all. Aly clearly misses her mother, and Alanna is clearly going nuts at the fact that her daughter is missing. I just found those moments very sweet - when Aly noticed the relationship between Sarai and Winna and likened it to her own relationship with her mother. The thing is - they clearly care and love each other quite a bit but their personalities clash so strongly that it's difficult for them to get along (for now). Aly is after all, still a growing teenager, and Alanna just has issues understanding how her daughter works at the moment.

Tammy has clearly said that Aly eventually grows to understand her mother more and I can see this happening. Aly does respect her mother quite a bit already as a teenager (her indignation at the fact that someone did not know her mother, and how much faith and pride she puts in her mothers ability as a warrior is something I find very telling) and I can see, as she gets older, Aly understanding what it's like to be constantly driven to do something with yourself because she herself has suddenly found that passion in her work as a spymaster.

If anything I see Aly as a perfect combination of her two parents. She has the skills and calm, easy-going manner as her father, but she's also incredibly stubborn and determined like her mother - she just doesn't realise the latter part yet.

Really all I'm here to say is, Alanna and her relationship with her kids. I need more of this because... well, could you imagine 19 year old Alanna at the end of Lioness Rampant being a mother? It's a different sort of character growth that you obviously cannot release a novel about but... my god I wish I could read about it anyway.

Heir Series - Linda x Lee

Alright so another topic that's coming out of nowhere - again I started re-reading an old series from my... adolescence (I have fic that I wrote from 2007 so I'm guessing that's when I first read the books) and it's called The Heir Series written by Cinda Williams Chima. I'm not under the impression that is is a particularly famous series compared to some other child fantasy stories but I must admit - after re-reading it that it definitely is a favourite of mine. Although I'm mostly judging this by the fact that this series has virtually no fanfic - but this might be just because the general population that reads this series is way too young to write fic. Which makes me sad and desperate so I'm going to do some flailing and what-not here.

Let's Talk Harry Potter

I've pretty much spent all the spare time I've had the past week with my head shoved into a Harry Potter book. It was like I'd turned back to my 8 year old self, where I had my face shoved into a book pretty much any moment I was not in class and I read Harry Potter so much I head nearly memorized the first 3 books word for word.