Dingo by Charles de Lint

Date Published: 2008, Firebird.
ISBN: 014 - 240 - 816 - 6
# of Pages: 224

I acquired this book at a bookstore in the mall that has since closed down when I was roughly 17. I read it immediately then and put it aside for a few years until last summer when I read through it again to my boyfriend. We both enjoyed it for its magical qualities but took some issues with it that, while they didn't completely detract from the enjoyability of the writing, made me a bit hesitant to read more work by this author (though I read and enjoyed Wolf Moon some years back and have been considering revisiting it for some time...)

The story is fairly simple. A young teen in a coastal town meets a girl who has moved there from Australia. Together, he and his rival (and a town bully) learn that this girl has a twin sister and that both girls are *actually* dingoes that have the ability to turn into humans. They very quickly rely on them to get them out of trouble with another dingo named Warrigal who has threatened to marry them against their will in order to obtain power that they hold.

I thought that the first-person narrative sounded a little forced and I was really disappointed about the excess romance, but I guess that is actually fairly typical for YA fantasy. I loved the world that de Lint created and thought that was fairly redeeming but I was very back and forth about the characters. I ended up liking Johnny the most (the main character Miguel's rival). The entire time I couldn't decide if my issue was that I was at the point where I already had trouble relating to teenagers and teenage-concerns or if the author was actually just very bad at relating those concerns in a believable way. I often felt pulled out of the story because I simply didn't read the narrator's voice as a teenage-voice.

In any case, my other major issue was the very uncomfortable way that de Lint warped and used Aboriginal mythology in his story which did not even attempt to be accurate and seemed a lot like cultural misappropriation. I would have enjoyed the mythology he created a lot more if he had just made it from scratch rather than very obviously try to draw on already extant mythology and customs. It just struck me as rather disrespectful.

All-in-all it was an interesting read for several reasons but certainly wasn't anything spectacular and had some major issues that I think needed some double-checking and polishing prior to being published. I haven't heard very much about it since it was published and so I don't think it really sustained any long-term interest and I can't say I'm very surprised.

Blood Groove by Alex Bledsoe

Date Published: 2009, Tor Books.
ISBN: 076-5-323-087
# of Pages: 302

I found this book when I was browsing a small bookshop in the local mall not too long ago. I'd never heard of it before, but was itching for some funny obscure vampire book, and figured I'd found one. It was actually placed in the YA section, which surprises me a bit. After reading it, I'm not sure how many parents would be comfortable with their child -- even their teen child -- owning it.

The plot mainly involves a vampire, who was staked and paralyzed in the early 1900s, reviving in the 1970s in Memphis, and dealing with the social situation of the time. It's as much a book about race and discrimination as it is about vampires, and in many ways it deals with these themes more effectively. However, that's not to say that it's simply a metaphor or a simple parable, it's got some seriously dark, gory and violent stuff in there. It worked for me, but it may not work for everyone. Also included are some pretty graphic sex scenes. I was surprised to find it, but not put off. It worked somehow.

The main characters were very likable and intriguing, but not overly so. I was, at times, legitimately appalled by their behavior and yet attracted to them nonetheless. After a certain point, you've gotten to know them so well and are so attached to their viewpoint that they can apparently do anything, no matter how heinous, and still carry your favor. I think this is evidence of good writing and character development.

The plot itself is not contrived or cliche, and is actually quite refreshing. The vampire cliches used in the novel actually serve to accentuate just how far Bledsoe was willing to go to differentiate his tale from the other vampire books being published recently. They stood at a stark opposition to the originality, and even then they were often traditional elements that were re-imagined in some grim, non-traditional ways. There is some vampire-induced hypnotism in this book that is seriously disturbing.

Anyway, I'd recommend it to folks that are looking for something new in the genre and don't mind sex and violence, and especially those that like seeing characters that are allowed to show their dark side and yet still fill the role of the "hero".