A Long Week

I've only gotten through two this week, as we've been a bit busy. The Gates of Sleep, by Mercedes Lackey. This is another of this author's fairy-tale-based stories. The beginning was a little too like the tale on which it is based and seemed a little canned. This author likes to throw characters together at the end and finish with big happy weddings, so the end was a bit stale, as it is basically the same ending as half her other books, only with the names changed. This author is pretty good about using full sentences, but she misunderstands the m-dash and how to correctly use it; she uses it often where a coma would do just fine, or some other more subdued punctuation. I rather think she just likes the look of it. Like the happy-wedding-endings, this is a problem exhibited in nearly every book she has written. In spite of these things, I do like the stories and characters, which is impressive for an author with so many books; they usually feel the same after a few dozen. The Fairy's Mistake, by Gail Carson Levine. This is the author of Ella Enchanted, which I liked also. This book is for much younger readers, maybe second grade level, and is an embellishment on another classic fairy tale. I thought it was fairly well done, if a little lacking in detail, but it seems appropriate for its audience.