I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: EBONY BONES-“I See I Say” (2013).

I don’t really know what to imagine about this album from this one song.

The song opens with a skittery sampled vocal chant of “I See I Say” bouncing around.  It has a vaguely Indian sound to it (and reminds me of Ofra Haza).

After a bout a minute the voices slow to a halt which made me think something new was afoot.  But no, the voices start again, with more layers of keyboards and what is more or less a lead vocal keening away.

Then there are some actual sung words (and people chanting I See I Say), making the song sound fuller and fuller.

At first it didn’t really sound like a song so much as an introduction to something, but after a few listens, I can hear that there’s a lot more going on than I realized.   I just can’t imagine what the rest of the album will sound like.

[READ: June 30, 2013] The Apprentices

This is the second book in a trilogy (what is it about trilogies?) that began with The Apothecary.

This book is set two years after the action of the first book.  The kids are 16 now and have not seen each other since. (The book helpfully fills in the things that we have all forgotten since we read the first book, like that Benjamin’s father gave Janie and everyone a forgetting potion so that they would stay out of danger).

Now Janie is back in America, attending a private school (on a scholarship) while her parents are back making movies.  I would have loved to see more of Janie’s school, believe it or not, but the little we do see if enough to set the action in motion.  Janie, a very smart girl and a whiz at math, is accused of cheating by her roommate and (sort of) friend.  The friend is jealous of Janie because her dad keeps talking about how smart Janie is (and consequently how un-smart his own daughter is).

Obviously Janie is upset, but she is more upset because she has been working on an experiment in the chemistry lab.  She has been trying to remove the salt from salt water.  She has been getting memories of her time with Benjamin and one of the things she remembered was the desalinator.  She has been piecing together the formula and has just had a breakthrough.  But what will happen to her stuff (which is actually the school’s stuff?)

Benjamin has also been sending Janie cryptic messages.  She finally realizes that there is a code in which he is letting her know where he is.  It turns out Benjamin and his father are in the jungle saving people. Benjamin’s father has been using his apothecary skills to create some healing potions that are saving lives in the war-torn jungle.  But their mission is secret and Benjamin’s father doesn’t know that Benjamin is communicating with her.

Then Benjamin sends her some powder.  When she takes it she realizes she can see with Benjamin’s eyes.  She can see where he is (sort of).  And soon enough she discovers that the powers go both ways and Benjamin is able to see through her eyes as well.

But when Benjamin sees through her eyes, what he sees is a boy trying to kiss Janie.  The boy is the son of a local restaurant owner.  When the boy learns that Janie has been kicked out of school, he gets her a job at the restaurant.  And she is allowed to stay in their house until she can afford a place.  The boy falls for Janie and while he is charming and attractive, she still holds a place for Benjamin.  Nevertheless, Benjamin doesn’t know that (he can only see, not enter her thoughts), so he sets out to remedy the situation.

And this is how Pip comes back into the story.  Pip has been a successful actor these last two years.  But when Benjamin contacts him, his sense of adventure gets called to action and he takes a boat (in a fabulous way) to America.  Pip’s story is kind of comic relief, although he does come in handy as well.

At the same time, Janie has figured out the elaborate story behind why she was kicked out of school.  Briefly, he roommate’s father believes that he can use her brain to help him get rich (the actual plot is convoluted–good convoluted–and involves a private island, a mine, international smugglers and a forgotten rival).  And sure enough, Janie finds herself kidnapped and heading off to a private island.

The other character from the first book is Jin Lo.  Jin Lo’s backstory is fleshed out, which I appreciated.  But I found her sections very slow going, lacking the excitement of the other people’s stories.  It was a little vague exactly when her early action took place, although it is nicely tied up before the end.  And just when I thought I didn’t want to read any more about her and her family, she was reunited with the team.  Her work in the present was much more enjoyable.

The end of the story is very exciting, with some violence (and a surprise death).  And a lot of the threads that she introduced–like the cargo cults, which are real–are resolved in a nice way.

I don’t recall if I knew there would be a sequel when I finished book one.  But this book ends with an obvious third book coming.  It’s not an “end in the middle” story (thankfully), but it’s clear that more is to come.

I admit I didn’t enjoy this book as much as the first.  In the first book, the magic was more magical, the stakes were higher and the locations were more interesting.  (How can post WWII London be more interesting than cargo cult jungles?  I think because Meloy writes so wonderfully about the real that the seeming fantasy of private islands and jungles is less gritty).  However, it seems like book two in trilogies tend work more as a set up for the thrilling conclusion.  Which I’m very much looking forward to.