Review: The Isis Pedlar

Info:

Title: The Isis Pedlar
Author: Monica Hughes
Series: The Isis Triology #3
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: March 15, 200 (originally published January 1, 1982)

Blurb:

Michael Joseph Flynn has devious plans to cheat and corrupt the inhabitants of the planet Isis, and he appears to be on the verge of success. Few among the planet’s simple agricultural community can resist his magic firestone, his strangely delicious Ambrosia, and the Forever Machine. Only Flynn’s daughter, Moira, can unmask this smooth-talking pedlar. But can Moira avert disaster in time?

My Thoughts:

Overall, The Isis Pedlar is my least favourite of the Isis trilogy.I didn't feel the same connection to Moira that I did to Olwen in the first book, or Jody in the second. The dystopian aspects of Isis, which were very prominent in book 2 felt muted and less exciting now that so much time has passed.

So, I didn't have much of a connection with Moira and David felt one dimensional and boring, so that leaves us with our only really interesting character: Michael Joseph Flynn. But even then, I couldn't find any redeeming qualities to make me like him. And to be a fan of the rogue-ish spaceship captain not always working on the proper side of the law. But Mike was such a weak, despicable character, that I just felt pity for Moria for having such a shitty dad.

Oh, the instalove! I never noticed instalove when I read Monica Hughes when I was younger, but it is definitely some of the craziest instalove I've ever seen. Like they barely meet each other for one day, then David's ready to propose and I'm very lost. Did they even talk? But the book is so short at only 152 pages, that it's not enough space to put together a good love story, let alone have lots of adventure in the mix.

Finally, the ending just came together a little to neatly for my liking. Like BAM, everything is solved and nothing will ever go wrong again. When has that ever worked?

This review is coming off much more negative than I wanted it to, because, honestly, I enjoyed my re-read of the Isis trilogy, including The Isis Pedlar. It's a great cautionary tale about naivety and taking advantage of people. Overall, I recommend the Isis trilogy to young readers who want to get started read sci-fi.

On the Cover:

I'm not a huge fan of this cover, but I like how it's continuous with the rest of the trilogy. And it's better than the old one!

Rating: 3 stars

Source: Received as a gift.

Find the Book: Goodreads | Amazon

Find the Author (sadly deceased): Goodreads

Review - The Guardian of Isis by Monica Hughes

Goodreads Blurb:

Years have passed on Isis, but life has gone backward, not forward. Under their leader, Mark London, the settlers have abandoned the technological knowledge of their forefathers. Upper Isis is now a forbidden zone, and the history of the first inhabitants from Earth has been replaced by myth. But one inquiring young man yearns to know the truth, and soon he gets the chance to find it.

My Thoughts:

The Isis trilogy takes a turn for the dystopian in this installment. The Guardian of Isis is set two generations after the The Keeper of the Isis Light, so those that were children in the first book are now grandparents. However, things on Isis have gone astray, with the settlers abandoning technology completely and living in a complex system of hierarchy and taboo. A few characters from the first book reappear and the changes are remarkable.

I really enjoyed this book, more than the first in fact. I loved the main character Jody. I loved his insatiable curiosity and I'm pretty sure he is a genius! Not only is he smart and inventive, but he is very brave as well. However, Jody's curiosity gets him into trouble, as new ideas are frowned upon in the Isis society, especially by the President.

I really wish that this book was longer! It's a quick read at around 200 pages and I feel like it could have been fleshed out a little more. Or maybe I just loved the idea of this regressing society so much that I wanted more!

On the Cover:

I'm not super crazy about the cover, but I'm not a huge fan of impressionist art, so that's probably it. I like clean lines. But I do love the background colour!

Favourite Character:

Definitely Jody! He's so inventive and brave and all-around awesome!

Favourite Scene:

This one is tough. I think the scene in the Sacred Cave when Jody figures out how to restart the light. Like I said, he's a genius!

Rating: 4 Hearts

Source: I received this book as a gift from a family member.

Where to Find It: Goodreads | Amazon | The Book Depository

Review - The Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes

Goodreads Blurb:

Olwen Pendennis is the Keeper of the Isis Light. She and her companion, Guardian, have lived alone on the planet Isis since the death of her parents. But then a group of colonists arrives on Isis from Earth, settling in the valleys – the only places where they can breathe and not be harmed by the planet’s harsh sun. Olwen fears these new inhabitants may ruin her world forever, and at first, it appears she is right.

My Thoughts:

I read this book when I was a preteen and remember enjoying it, but for some reason I never read the 3rd book of the trilogy and therefore decided to reread it. However, the second time around I liked it less. I still love Monica Hughes and her writing style, but this book's content didn't measure up to my remembrance/expectations. I was highly annoyed by the insta!love between Mark and Olwen. I can kind of understand it from Olwen, since she hadn't met a boy her age before, but it just seemed very unrealistic. If there had been more development of Mark and Olwen's relationship, I think I would have had no trouble with this book (scientific qualms aside).

Overall though, this is a fun, short sci-fi read from my favourite sci-fi writer, the late Monica Hughes. It touches on deeper themes such as prejudice, environmental stewardship and living a contented life, but I didn't feel like I was being lectured.

I'm on to the 2nd book now, the Guardian of Isis and am enjoying it as well.


Favourite Scene:

I love the scene at the start, where Olwen spend a content afternoon on top of the mesa. That sounds like the perfect way to spend a day and Hughes describes it beautifully.

Favourite Character:

Guardian. He's like a less-creepy Mary Poppins.

Rating: 3 Hearts

Find it Here: Goodreads | Amazon| The Book Depository

Source: Gift from a family member

Friday 56 - The Keeper of the Isis Light Edition

The Friday 56 is a fun meme from Freda's Voice

Rules:
*Grab a book, any book.
*Turn to page 56.
*Find any sentence, (or few, just don't spoil it) that grabs you.
*Post it.



This week for Friday 56, I'm doing The Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes (the other books I'm reading are on kindle, so it's a little harder to find page 56).

Because I talked about this book yesterday, I wanted to show an alternative cover

"She looked down the long valley towards the village on the east bank of the lake. There were Tens of little black figures swarming around like fire ants, but none of them was recognizably Mark."

Theme Thursday - The Keeper of the Isis Light Edition

Theme Thursdays is a fun weekly event that will be open from one Thursday to the next and hosted by Reading Between Pages. Anyone can participate in it. The rules are simple:

• A theme will be posted each week (on Thursday’s)
• Select a conversation/snippet/sentence from the current book you are reading
• Mention the author and the title of the book along with your post
• It is important that the theme is conveyed in the sentence (you don’t necessarily need to have the word)
  Ex: If the theme is KISS; your sentence can have “They kissed so gently” or “Their lips touched each other” or “The smooch was so passionate”

This will give us a wonderful opportunity to explore and understand different writing styles and descriptive approaches adopted by authors.
March is going to be all about making life easy. This month we will do ‘Pick what you see first‘ themes.
Open the book you are reading –> Open the page number that has your birthdate (I was born on the 4th so that is Page 4) –> pick the first sentence from it and post the snippet. Sorry, but ‘No Ebooks’ this time as well. With this week’s theme, we will also get to know your birthdate 

BIRTHDATE - First snippet from the page that is your birthdate

My current non-ebook is the Keeper of the Isis Light by Monica Hughes. I loved Monica Hughes when I was younger, so this is a bit of a throw-back, but I remembered that I never read the final book in the Isis series, so I'm starting over. I was born on the 4th, so page 4, here we go!

"Sometimes Olwen felt stupid about her report. Why would anybody parsecs away on Earth be interested in what she ate for breakfast, how she was doing in celestial mechanics, what she felt about life in general?"