I love Gail Carson Levine. Her books Ella Enchanted and Two Princesses of Bamarre are two of my very favorite books ever. (Don't judge Ella Enchanted by the movie either - they have almost nothing in common except the title and the name of the main character!) So when I heard she had another full length book out, I bought it right away. Ever was one of the books I was saving for something special. I decided it was time to read it already, and I finished it this week.
At first, I thought Ever was set in the same world as Ella Enchanted and the next book Fairest, although the two are not closely related. But after just a few pages in, I realized that this was a stand alone title. The book is told from two different viewpoints, that of Kezi, a young girl living with her fond parents, interested in weaving and dancing, and Olus, a young god of wind and loneliness. Olus has been watching Kezi and her family and he has fallen in love. When a twist of fate condemns her to be a sacrifice to the god Admat. Olus and Kezi set off to find Admat and release Kezi from her fate.
This was not quite as good as Ella Enchanted, but it was extremely good. I read it all in a couple of days and I couldn't wait to finish. Both Kezi and Olus are well drawn, sympathetic characters and the story was an original one. If I had one problem it was that the ending chapters were not quite as good as the beginning, but I still loved it.
My next read was Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, which made an interesting contrast. The main character, Brutha, is a novice at a rather remote monastery devoted to the worship of the god Om. Brutha is minding his own business tending the garden when he finds a tortoise - a talking tortoise. In fact, the incarnation of the god Om. Om has been in a bit of a decline. Although the Inquisitors and Exquisitors are doing all kinds of things in his name and generally getting things completely wrong, Om himself finds things a bit quiet. It's time for a new prophet. Brutha doesn't think he's up to the job, but no one else is interested in the job. Soon a holy war is in motion and Brutha is on the run, complete with the talking tortoise also known as the god Om.
I always enjoy a Terry Pratchett book. This one was fun too, and despite the irreligious tone, it had me laughing out loud in parts. But I didn't enjoy it as much as some others, like Mort or Witches Abroad, maybe because my favorite characters only appeared briefly if at all. DEATH had some good lines, like always, but I missed the witches and Rincewind.
In summary, both books are good reads, if not must reads, and both are clean and appropriate for just about anyone. So far, I haven't read anything by these two authors that I didn't enjoy.
