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Fourteen-year-old Flora Fyrdraaca, whose mother is the Warlord's Commanding General and whose father is mad, kindly helps her house's magical--and long-banished--butler, unaware that he draws strength from the Fyrdraaca will.
Flora Segunda: Being the Magickal Mishaps of a Girl of Spirit, Her Glass-Gazing Sidekick, Two Ominous Butlers (One Blue), a House with Eleven Thousand Rooms, and a Red Dog by Ysabeau S. Wilce
This has to be the most delightful YA that I've read in a long time, and I have to say that Flora kicks Harry Potter's ass. He ALWAYS had to get saved and while Flora may work with her friend, she remains actively involved. Like Harry, I was a bit surprised with a few of the darker details, but have come to the conclusion that if I could handle Old Yeller as a kid, maybe they can deal with deathlies as well--its not like I was a bastion of maturity.
Despite a few nasty formatting errors (on one page near the end) the book just made me smile and I laughed out loud more than once. I'll definitely be back for more.
(Dang it--now I have to go see if Old Yeller is available on Kindle.) Update: Why yes it is! I have a host of books I loved as a child that I will immediately start searching for! ( )
Great audio book! Very well read, especially given the fanciful and delightful language play that creates Flora's vibrant and exotic world. I do not know if I would love this book in print, because affected spelling bothers me, but it's a marvelous original adventure nonetheless. Playful, fascinating, full of mysteries to the very end. ( )
Interesting world and characters and a satisfying conclusion, but...the getting there. Yeesh. So convoluted and tedious at times that I ended up skimming most of the middle. ( )
I couldn't finish this. I made it about a quarter of the way through, it was overdue, and I just didn't care enough to request it again after I'd returned it. It's well written, and I found myself enjoying the main character, but it didn't hook my interest fast enough.
Haven't even finished this yet, but I'd put it up there with Pullman's His Dark Materials and the Harry Potter series. A smart heroine, FANTASTIC world-building (think pre-industrial California having dealings with Aztecs), and a lot of fun. ( )
Blasted heck, I'm supposed to be writing my Catorcena speech, where I am supposed to be celebrating the fabulousness of my House, the glory of my family, the fantasticness of my future. But I can't think of what to write because Crackpot Hall isn't fabulous, and the Fyrdraaca family is not much glorious anymore, and my future is hardly going to be fantastic.
Quotations
Last words
On one side was the logo of the Ranger Corps: the Unblinking Eye. And on the other side, the name of the badge's owner: REVERDY ANACREON FYRDRAACA OV FYRDRAACA. Poppy.
Fourteen-year-old Flora Fyrdraaca, whose mother is the Warlord's Commanding General and whose father is mad, kindly helps her house's magical--and long-banished--butler, unaware that he draws strength from the Fyrdraaca will.
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Book description
Flora Fyrdraaca, a Girl of Spirit, is approaching her 14th birthday when she'll celebrate her Catorcena, coming-of-age party that she has certain tasks she needs to complete before then or her Mother, the General will give her the Look that has reduced colonels to tears. But it also means that next semester she'll be old enough to go to the Barracks and follow her mother into the military, and she doesn't want to, but hasn't mustered the courage to tell her mother that. On top of that the family home which has 11 thousand rooms that move around randomly, due in part to the fact that her mother has banished the family "Butler", a magical creature bound to the family for centuries. Flora finds Valefor, the banished butler and he helps her with some of her tasks, but seems to have some ulterior motives.
She also has her occasionally mad father, Poppy to deal with, a mass of exuberant dogs, a fashion plate of a best (boy) friend, Pirates (well, one anyway!), murderous bird creatures. Thank goodness, Flora has some magic skills of her own to help her along, even if they are occasionally undependable
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Despite a few nasty formatting errors (on one page near the end) the book just made me smile and I laughed out loud more than once. I'll definitely be back for more.
(Dang it--now I have to go see if Old Yeller is available on Kindle.)
Update: Why yes it is! I have a host of books I loved as a child that I will immediately start searching for! (