Customer Reviews

Discord's Apple

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have a hard time not writing simple plot summaries as reviews, but I feel like if I spoil even a single secret in this book I will be doing a disservice. It is epic in scope yet deceptively simple.

I can understand why Publisher's Weekly gave this book a Starred review. It is written in simple and clear language that lets the depth and complexity of the story sneak up on you. The nested timelines allow the story to reveal exactly as much background as you need to let the story progress without spoiling suspense. The scope of the story, from the bronze age to the ... see I almost let fly with a spoiler there ... is daring, dazzling, and perfectly crafted to make this an epic worthy of the poets of old.

I loved the characters, especially the ones I was clearly meant to hate. One character is the embodiment of pure chaos, and his wanton acts of love and destruction side by side made him the most delicious villain since the Joker, and I am only sorry he didn't get more "screen time." The Good Guys were really honestly good guys, and there was an optimism to them that made me set aside the cynicism that I usually reserve for such characters.

Overall this is an epic masterpiece. In my opinion, this is the authors most cinematic and picturesque work to date, and I hope that we get to see a dozen more like this.

...but no sequels. I hope this gets to live as a standalone. It's perfect as it is.

I have been following Carrie Vaughn's work since she started publishing the Kitty series and I can delightfully declare: Definitely not a Kitty book! To make this clear: I found the Kitty series well written and entertaining, but I do have something of a knee-jerk reaction to all the recent Vampire/Werewolf genre overload and associated crazes. This is, admittedly, a remark angled at some of previous comments which seek the lines of association to the author's already established book series where there are none to be found - or no reason to go looking for them.

I consider Discord's Apple to be Vaughn's most mature and most engaging piece of work to date - it is wonderfully multilayered and enagaging, and it did a magnificent job of pulling me straight into the depths of the tale. It may have something to do with the manner in which it builds upon the established "real world" mythos creatively but not presumptiously; she certainly does exhibit both in-depth familiarity with and respect for the mythologies she builds on. Or it may be the masterful breath of life in all of the characters that carry the story along so fluidly and naturally - though it's most likely the case of both. I found this book to be a real treat and, having read it once already, I find myself already re-reading it for the sheer fun of it.

Plot Summary: Evie Walker is a comic book writer living in a Los Angeles we wouldn't recognize. Countries are at war, cities are ruled by militias, and Evie makes her living penning a military adventure comic series, until she gets a call from her father. She drives back home to Hope's Fort, Colorado and learns that he has a terminal disease. Furthermore, strangers keep knocking on her father's door with specific requests for items in his basement. The storeroom has always been off limits to Evie until now, and she learns that her family serves as custodians of magical objects. One man in particular, named Alex, seems to be stalking Evie and her father, but the real threat is a long-disposed queen who wants to sow chaos across the world.

If the heroine was a teenager instead of an adult, I probably would have liked this better. Discord's Apple would have made a perfect young adult novel, and that would help me out with this review, because this book didn't go far enough for this adult reader. Oh well, there's no point in griping about it, right? It's an ambitious story that tries to connect all of the magic, myths and legends since the beginning of time with a present that is on the verge of war. It's a cool concept, but it started to fall apart for me by the end, and worse, it became utterly predictable. That's a sin that's not easy for me to forgive.

I thought the structure of the story was well done, with the action shifting between three parties: Evie in the present, Alex in the past, and Evie's ancestors. It takes a good writer to pull that off, and Carrie Vaughn made it look easy. Unfortunately I don't feel like I got to know Evie, or see her evolve. She was surprisingly passive throughout the story, and I expect more from the lead in a fantasy novel. There was virtually no romance, and the bit that was included felt token and tacked on.

It's an interesting stand-alone, but nothing is going to stand-out in my memory.

I found Discord's Apple to be complex and engaging. The reader has to actually pay attention, and it helps to already know at least a little bit about Western mythology, but it's nice to not get beaten over the head with exposition, as often happens when authors seem to assume their readers are uneducated louts who have never picked up a book previous to theirs. I like that Carrie Vaughn instead assumes that her readers are sharp enough to figure out some things on their own without having to rely on verbal hand-holding. Maybe I just have exactly the right kind of literary background (I like Greek mythology, English legends, and GI Joe, among other things) to find this book profoundly entertaining, but I would definitely recommend it to readers who are looking for a book with some actual substance.

This novel is an ambitious project that attempts to weave a greater narrative out of four distinct storylines. Some merge in the later book.

Big warning out there for heterosexual male readers -- Vaugn has male-on-male rape/domination as part of the novel plotline. It's not graphic sex, but has multiple scenes which cut off right before that point. The novel was not labeled to reflect this type of fiction. Those ancient Greeks deities enjoyed that sort of thing, but I, as a reader, don't. This is a prevalent flashback-story arc. One star.

Second story arc follows a comic book heroine (specifically Evie Walker's comic book artist's version of GI Jane) and it's boring. It's told, not shown. Vaugn was going for reflecting metaphors back at the main character here, and I got that. Still, felt like she was slamming me with 'oh look at how this reflects Evie's mood and the mood of her nation' every time I read part of the GI-Jane arc. Wish the editor would have taken it out -- one star.

Third story arc follows Evie Walker herself, and her conflict regarding the storeroom. Her father is dying, and she is inheriting the position of a mystical artifact keeper. The Goddess Hera wants the golden apple from the Trojan War, and is prepared to attack/negotiate/scheme it out. This arc was written very well, and if it was the only part of the novel, I'd give four stars plus. I especially enjoyed how Vaugn compared the legends of ancient Gods with legends of modern power brokers and terrorism. 'For The Greatest' indeed.

Fourth arc follows the historical progress of the Storeroom, how it came to be from the perspectives of character 'ancestors'. I did not find it engrossing, but if you enjoy reading short myths you might like it. Three stars.

Averaging my opinion of the arcs leaves me at 2.35 stars. Vaugn has one scene which weaves an entire social commentary of modern society contrasted with her version of legendary ancient greek armageddon, and it was truly excellent. She also had 40 pages that bored me, and 10 pages that disgusted me (I don't like sexual domination games). Because of those pages, I do not recommend the novel, as the 'ick' factor put me off enough that I put down 'Discord's Apple' for three weeks and almost left it unfinished. I think Vaugn is good writer, but this book was not for me.

Review courtesy of [...]

I was ready to love this book. I'm a long time lover of Greek mythology, I thought Carrie Vaughn's previous book, Voices of Dragons, was excellent, and I'm a fan off her Kitty Norville series too. By all accounts I should have loved DISCORD'S APPLE, instead I found a flat protagonist, a confusing world, and too many separate stories that failed to come together in a satisfying way.

The description of DISCORD'S APPLE leads you to believe that the plot is about a woman, Evie Walker, who discovers "a secret and magical storeroom, a place where wondrous treasures from myth and legend are kept safe until they are needed again." The reality is that that is only one of four stories told in this book.

DISCORD'S APPLE jumps randomly from these four stories throughout the book. Beginning with the most interesting: a retelling of the Trojan War and the event that caused it (Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena squabbling over an apple `for the fairest') leading up to modern day. The Greek gods are all well represented (specifically Apollo), fickle and willing to sleep with any and everything: male and female, willing and unwilling. Most of the sex occurs in this story. It's not graphic, but there is a lot of it in all forms and it is not always consensual.

The two other stories include a graphic novel that Evie writes about a covert military assault team overseas, and the many generations of Walkers who previously guarded the Storeroom. All of these stories are connected in various ways, but they are so different in tone and style that any emotion or connection that I started to built with a specific character got lost as I got thrown from story to story.

I hate that I didn't like this book, but I really struggled with it on almost every level. Carrie Vaughn is a good writer, but I think she tried to do too much in DISCORD'S APPLE. If she'd focused on the main story more, I might have responded to the character of Evie, but I can't even really describe her because I feel like she was only ever superficially represented. I unfortunately, can't recommend this book.

Sexual Content: (most of this is part of the sexual exports of the gods) References to rape including the description of a girl post assault. A man is tied up and raped by another man (not described). A man attempts to rape a woman. A brief heterosexual sex scene. A non graphic homosexual sex scene. References to sexual slavery.

There were 4 distinct stories interwoven in Discord's Apple. In the primary story around which the rest revolve, Evie Walker comes home to nurse her dying father and discovers she's the heir to a magical Storeroom, a premise ripe with promise. And then.... she doesn't do much else besides mope. I would have loved to know more about the post apocalyptic world that sets the book but details were sparing, a missed opportunity to add much needed depth to the novel.

The next thread regarded Sinon, the hero, and was the most detailed, compelling and well done. More conservative readers would probably appreciate knowing ahead of time that there is an openly homosexual relationship with sexual overtones, though one not graphically depicted. I applauded the author for handling the topic in a manner that was historically accurate and culturally acceptable. I personally appreciated that the author didn't make it an ISSUE which has become such a cliched trope for this specific subject but served to further the arc, saving us from angsty tripe.

The purpose of the graphic novel subplot completely eluded me. Was Tracker's journey a reflection of the heroine's inner conflict? Was it supposed to mirror (Evie's) world outside of Hopes Fort?

The last storyline followed the Storeroom through its Guardians.

Being a fan of magic and mythology, I really wanted to like this book. All done and read though, it fell flat; details seemed vague and loose ends were left loose. The characters never fully developed (certainly not the heroine) and the plot never catalyzed, unfortunately. I could almost, just about understand what Vaughn was trying to accomplish but it never quite came together cohesively.

I got this book by accident from the Science Fiction book club and decided to give it a try. Normally I'm not a big Carrie Vaughn fan because the plots and characters are fun but somewhat lacking in maturity for my taste.

That is most certainly NOT the case here! You realize by the end of the first chapter that the author and her protagonists are facing major challenges and it's pretty obvious that not all of them are going to survive (cancer is like that sometimes). The book could have been a grim fantasy with the heroes trying to win against the odds, but it goes in a completely different direction that is as mature as it is creative. The author is careful to give us some humor to leaven the increasingly difficult situation.

The protagonists are wonderfully described and are fully mature human beings who do their best under impossible conditions. My only gripe is that Alex feels surprisingly like a person in his early twenties considering the fact he's been wandering around for the better part of 3,000 years. His opposite number, the Wanderer, on the other hand, is very sharp and a bit difficult to get a handle on; which is appropriate given how much of human history he has seen. The author probably decided to make Alex young and flexible to make him more likable, which succeeded nicely but a little more depth would have been welcome.

So if I'm singing her praises so much, why am I giving the book a four star rating? The ending. I'm in the strange position of raving about how brilliant it was but at the same time admitting that I didn't like it. But that's just my personal response, I'm sure other people with other biases will be able to overlook what I dislike and recognize the genius of what she did.

There has been some discussion as to whether this story should have a sequel. I fully understand the discussion but I hope she chooses to tie it off here. Yeah, there's a lot of stories that could be told in the sequel but she's hit what I consider to be a natural stopping point and I'd hate for her to carry the series a bit further and then have finish it at a less natural place.

My bigger question is whether Ms. Vaughn will continue exclusively writing the lighter and fluffier stuff or whether she's going to write more of the mature stuff. I certainly hope it is the latter as I consider this book to be a major improvement over her other work.

Carrie Vaughn has quickly become one of my favorite authors by far, achieving that coveted status of buying a book based on the author. I have eagerly devoured her Kitty series and even look forward to reading the books a second time. I have also read Voices of Dragons and enjoyed it immensely.

This book, though, left me wanting. The beginning was a little difficult to get into as there are three different stories being told, but this is easily overcome and I came to look forward to the progression of each story. The problem was that the book is less than 300 pages and just when I started to get into - and understand - the story, it was over.

If this were the beginning of a new series I would give it five stars but from what I've found it is a stand alone novel. If in the future it becomes a series I may revise my rating.

I am only giving this book two stars because I thought one of the main characters was interesting enough to raise the bar from the dismal half star it truly deserved. Alex, otherwise known as Sinon, would have made an amazing protagonist in another novel based solely upon his adventures through time. The concept was intriguing and his back story could have been launched into an epic but it was executed horrendously.

The rest of the plot line was so far fetched that I just couldn't enjoy it, no matter how much I would have liked to. Merlin and Arthur were flat, boring and colorless. The Mists of Avalon ruined me for any other depiction, so I suppose I am a tad bit biased. The gods were just as disappointing, however. Zeus, for instance, seemed more impotent than awe inspiring. Evie, the main character, could hardly even believe the storyline as it was happening to her. How ever could a reader be expected to?

This is the first Carrie Vaughn book I've attempted and I probably won't be going back for a second helping. A shame, really. There was real potential here.