KRISTIN CASHORE, STOP TRYING TO MAKE ME CRY

I just read this on the blog of my favourite author, Kristin Cashore.

I don't quite know why this moved me, but it did. The first thing I'd like to say is that, Ms Cashore, the author does matter. Without the author, there would be no book. And when somebody falls in love with a book, the likelihood is that they do actually think about that person who sat down and spent their time and effort to write that book.

Secondly, I don't know about anyone else, but I don't use your books for coasters, Ms Cashore. I don't use any books as coasters, I have too much respect for them. I may have realised my love for your books a little too late to stop a few slightly dog-eared pages and broken spines on Graceling and Fire (my copy of Bitterblue is a hardback. And I did try very hard with the spine of Fire, so I'm sorry I still broke it), but I most certainly do not and never will use them as coasters. :)

Thirdly, one day, one of those letters in one of those piles of fan mail will be from me. One day. :)

A Fictional Setting Brought To Life

This photo appeared on Kristin Cashore's blog a day or two ago. It is my belief from this blog that she's in Iceland at the moment, and this is one of the pictures she took of her travels. If you have read Fire you may well know what I thought of as soon as I saw this picture (particularly because of the rocks):

Kristin Cashore, you have found The Dells.

It made me very happy, so I thought I'd share. :) The blog post this picture is on can be found here.

TO READ: Fire

Fire by Kristin Cashore is the second in her The Seven Kingdoms Trilogy, however not only is it technically a prequel to first in the series Graceling but it isn't actually set in the Seven Kingdoms at all. In a land bordering the Seven Kingdoms to the east of an impassable mountain range known as The Dells, approximately forty years before the events of Graceling. This is, I think, my favourite book. My one favourite, ever. (And such a pretty cover the British edition has!!)

In The Dells - one of only two kingdoms known to its people, the other being the northern sea-faring land of Pikkia - there exists extraordinary creatures which can appear as any species, be it cat, mouse, wolf, raptor... These monsters, as they are called, can be distinguished by their unnaturally vibrant colours, and have the ability to take control of others' minds, which is added to the almost hypnotic effect their beauty has on some.

Seventeen-year-old Fire (so named for her flaming hair) is the only human monster alive, and is hated by many - sometimes for jealousy, sometimes for her father's legacy, but mostly for her venomous mind. Fire hides herself away on her late father's estate in a remote corner of the kingdom, where her kind-hearted neighbour raised her along with his son Archer, Fire's lifelong friend, in the hopes of deflecting all attention. But Fire isn't safe, not even here.

The Dells is a kingdom still recovering from a king corrupted by Fire's monster father Cansrel, and the throne of the current King Nash is unstable, and the threat of war is looming from all sides. Despite the royal family's obvious distrust of her, Fire's gift would be invaluable, and Fire is not her father. This is the story of Fire's fight to prove herself; to stay true to herself and to do what she feels is right and pay back the innocent prince Cansrel tried so many times to kill. Because underneath her otherworldly beauty, Fire is just as human as everybody else.

I wholeheartedly recommend that anyone and everyone reads this book - whether you're male or female, old or young. Partly because of a blog post I just found. I was going to comment on it, but then it became a bit long so I shall be posting it separately. But whether you'd rather read something fast-paced, or something political, or something romantic, or something magical, READ THIS BOOK.

Finally, I'd like to just direct people to a blog post that Kristin Cashore wrote about Fire and why she wrote it. Also, please find the list of awards and raving reviews for Fire here. :)

A Fan-Girl Moment

I just found out that Kristin Cashore's The Seven Kingdoms Trilogy is going to be made into a film. A film! How exciting! I am very, ahem, pleased. Definitely not overreacting at all. :)

It had better be good.

No, it had better be AMAZING.

Or else.

...

A short continuation of the post I wrote approximately two minutes ago

Furthermore, I have just read the latest post on Kristin Cashore's blog. The captions are brilliant.

http://kristincashore.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/it-is-use-of-increasingly-more.html

Which reminds me, I promised a friend I'd lend her Kristin Cashore's books. We were talking about The Lord Of The Rings, and she said she didn't like fantasy because of all the crazy magic stuff like talking trees. Naturally I was like, "What's wrong with talking trees?!" So I was telling her why I like fantasy, and I told her about Kristin Cashore's awesome books and asked her if she wanted to borrow them off me, she tried to refuse by saying that she prefered romance stories, so I was like, "THERE'S LOADS OF ROMANCE!!!"

Hopefully, Kristin Cashore, you will have another fan. :)

Basically what I'm saying is, read Graceling, Fire and Bitterblue. They are AMAZING and you will see why I keep mentioning them and their author. :)