I love bookmarks, and old bindings, and stars in margins next to beautiful passages.
Laini Taylor
Tag: Laini Taylor
Never feel that you’re ‘married’ to an idea, even if it was the original idea that sparked the story. It might have to go, like a scaffolding that comes down after a mural is painted.
Laini Taylor
Never feel that you’re married
Strange the Dreamer
Strange the Dreamer (Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 2017) by Laini Taylor is a fascinating book. And it just was named a 2018 Printz Honor Book. Woo hoo!
Lazlo Strange–foundling, loner, and now librarian–has always been fascinated by the Unseen City, or Weep as it is now called, the city that was cut off from the rest of the world 200 years ago. As a librarian Lazlo has made his own books about the Unseen City from every scrap of information he can find. He’s even learned to speak the language. So when visitors from the Unseen City arrive in the Kingdom of Zosma asking for help, Lazlo must figure out a way to make the trek to the Unseen City and find out what their problem is.
As I neared the end of the book, I wondered how Laini was going to pull off a satisfying ending, and she did, but I was thrilled to find out there’s going to be a sequel. Maybe even this year…
Read about author Laini Taylor and her books here.
Daughter of Smoke and Bone
I love it when I read a book and, knowing a sequel is in progress, can’t wait for the next one. That’s what it was like for me when I read Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Little, Brown, 2012) by Laini Taylor. And isn’t the cover beautiful?
Here’s a brief summary of Book 1: Karou is an artist living in Prague, going to art school, has bright blue hair, and draws fantastical creatures that her artist friends don’t believe are real. Not even her best friend Zuzana. But Brimstone aka the Wishmonger, Issa, Twiga and Yasri are real. In fact they raised her. Karou tells stories about them with a wry smile and there’s no risk of being believed. Of course she wishes she knew who she really was. Then while on one of Brimstone’s errands to collect teeth, Karou meets and fights an angel. Everything gets worse from there. (The story is told in Akiva, the angel’s viewpoint too.)
I haven’t managed to read Book 2: Days of Blood and Starlight yet–it’s on my list–but the third 
book in the trilogy has been announced too! It’s called Dreams of Gods and Monsters and comes out next spring.
Book 1 has been optioned for a movie; waiting with bated breath for more information on that.
And it all couldn’t have happened to a nicer author. Read more about Laini on her website.
Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer
In Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer, author Laini Taylor has created a world of faeries, imps, devils, djinns that is as believable as it is complex. Magpie Windwitch, a hundred-year-old faerie sprout, along with her band of faithful crows, has the job of recapturing the devils that humans have freed. She’s seen all kinds, but this newest snag isn’t like the others; it gives Mags the shivers. The seal on its bottle bears the mark of the Magruwen, the Djinn King, who dreamed the world into existence. Plus, this creature didn’t leave behind any of they typical devil signs. Her search for this new threat takes Magpie to new and dangerous places where she finds out who she really is. On Laini’s website: www.lainitaylor.com she posts a quote by Albert Einstein: “If you want your children to be bright, read them fairy tales. If you want your children to be brilliant, read them even more fairy tales.” I’m suspecting Laini’s parents must have read her a lot of fairy tales!
Faeries of Dreamdark: Blackbringer is Laini Taylor’s first book, and will be released in June. You won’t want to pass up this book, nor the full-of-magic sequels I’m hoping will follow.