Book Review: Shannon Hale

Typically, I am not into fantasy. Other than a little dabble with Harry Potter and Twilight (yes, I admit it) I have not ventured too far into the genre. This week however, I have been eating up Shannon Hale's Bayern series, Goose Girl, Enna Burning, and River Secrets. Add this to The Princess Academy and I have pretty much covered the young adult writings of Shannon Hale.

The books have a mildly cookie cutter feel to it. All of the books have a female protagonists with special abilities, usually involving nature. For example, Isi, the main character in Goose Girl,  can speak the language of the wind and birds. The only break is in River Secret, where the main character is actually male (although he does have a female counterpart who does have special ability). The plots are surrounded around these main females overcoming the impossible obstacles, etc., etc.
Don't get me wrong, the plots are definitely interesting; a surprising amount of political intrigue is involved. However, I don't dwell on the plot because it isn't Hale's strongest point. Without a doubt, the best part of Hale's writing is her character development. While the books are told from third person, Hale steps into the mind of her main characters with a third person limited view. She elaborates on their feelings of fear, intimidation, infatuation, and hope. And her characters, despite their supernatural abilities are actually pretty believable. Now, I admit that I am easily swayed by some good character development, but these characters were so endearing that I read two more books after the first one just to see them again.

Also, I think Hale did a good job with the setting. She didn't push the fantasy too far with a bunch of fantastical elements. And it was really cool how she developed the cultures of the various countries through subtle elements such as clothing, trading products, etc.

Really, Hale did a great job creating her world and characters. I recommend all of these books. Although I saw a few of her adult novels and they didn't look so good. Approach with caution.

Can I also mention that Hale is a Mormon author? A good Mormon author? THANK YOU!!!!!!!