Touch

Title: Touch

Author: Michelle Sagara [Website][Facebook][Twitter] aka Michelle Sagara West aka Michelle West

Publisher: Daw Books

Series: Queen of the Dead, Bk 2

ISBN: 9780756408008

Length: 325 pages

Obtained: Library copy

Why this book?:

I read the first book in this series for the Canadian Book Challenge 6.  I immediately requested this one.  It took over a year to actually get it from the time of my request.  But I did, and it qualifies for the 7th annual Canadian Book Challenge since Michelle Sagara is Canadian.

Comments:

It's been so long since I read the first book in the series, it took me a bit to catch up.  I just read my comments on the first book, Silence, to reacquaint myself with it before writing this.

Like the first book, this one started in first person then switched to third person for most of the book.  I think this one is told from more perspectives (as in more characters), but I could be remembering incorrectly. 

Definitely there is less focus on Emma in this one even though she plays a monumental role in what is happening.  Basically the Queen of the Dead is stirring up more trouble, Emma needs to help a young boy ghost who was abandoned to the elements, necromancers are causing trouble and attempting to kill innocent bystanders, and Emma is forced to confront her feeling about her late boyfriend, seeing as his ghost is back and in the mix.  But I say there is  less focus on Emma because more of the story is based around her friends and others in their group.

Anyway, I look forward to reading the third book, Grave.  I hope there is less time between books so I don't forget quite so much.  It would be a shame to loose some of the momentum this book ended with.

Silence

Title: Silence

Author: Michelle Sagara aka Michelle Sagara West aka Michelle West

Publisher: DAW Books

Series: The Queen of the Dead, Bk 1

ISBN: 9780756407421

Pages: 289

Obtained: Library Copy

Comments:

I was looking for more ideas for Canadian books to read - this time on NoveList (a great resource if you get the chance to try it - I have access through my local library).  I've meant to read Michelle's books before; I've heard such great things.  But now I saw a first in a new series (what better way to try an author for the first time).  And the potential storyline intrigued me.  There's the whole seeing the dead thing.  Plus check out that cover!

I was a little concerned when the first scene started in present tense, but the remainder of the story was in third person (thankfully).  And once I started reading, I really like Emma as a character.  She's been through a lot.  She's honest about her reactions to everything she's been through, saying she'd gone through periods of self-pity, etc.  Beyond that she's a good friend.  Even when she wants her space.  As her friend Ally explains to another character, Eric, she kind of holds everyone together.  But she's especially great with Michael.

I found myself very pleased with how the character Michael was portrayed.  He's a high-functioning autistic.  And his character has such depth.  I'm not especially close to anyone with autism (I have a couple cousins with autism, but they live far away and are quite a bit younger), so I don't have any personal connection, really.  But that doesn't mean I can't recognize when an issue is addressed well.  In this case Michael goes to school and has a group of friends that keep his environment calm and steady... or at least as much as possible when dead people start showing up.  That all made sense when I read in the "About the Author" that her older son "taught her a lot about ASD, the school system, and the way kids are not as unkind as we, [...], are always terrified they will be."

Anyway, the friendship aspect was wonderful, but that wasn't even the primary focus of the story.  The main focus is Emma's new powers, new student Eric's secretive awareness of what is going on with her, and what that all means.  The story was even more interesting than what I hoped, and I look forward to reading the 2nd book in the series, Touch (due out, I believe, May 2013).

UPDATE: 1/14/2017 I do have a personal connection.  My nephew (now 9) has been diagnosed as having autism.