Review: Titan Magic + Author Interview!

Title: Titan Magic
Author: Jodi Lamm
Pages: 393
Format: Print/ Paperback
Published: September 30th 2011
A copy was provided by the author in exchange for an honest review
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Titan Magic was such a wonderful and rather entertaining read. It was full of surprises, love, laughter, and heartache. It thoroughly surprised me in being as good of a book as it was. Truthfully, I didn't know what to expect from a book that featured a mute girl. I thought to myself: "How is Jodi going to write a story based on a mute girl? She doesn't talk!" Yet the fabulous Jodi did it! She created an utterly fabulous book where the girl doesn't really talk.

So this is where Maddy comes in, our mute, heartless girl.  She is the centre of this story, the heart of it, despite having a heart herself. I loved Maddy's character! She was as real as I would imagine a mute person could get. Even though some incidents lead her to believe she isn't human (I don't want to spoil anything here), I think she was, in the end, more human than some humans I know. For me as a reader, I think what made her human was her confusion. She was a confused clay-girl that didn't know who to trust. One minute she was all for Jas, our hot stag (ahaha), than the next she was all for her brother Marcus (and sometimes William). So, even though she wasn't really human, she was still human to me for this reason. Even though the story isn't told in her perspective, I think readers will really enjoy hearing Maddy's "voice."

The setting for this book was so magical and vivid. Jodi has such marveling writing, I admit to re-reading certain paragraphs. Her world-building was incredible. And plus, by her descriptions, one would think it was very Victorian and vintage. I'm totally born in the wrong era (I love vintage) so Jodi won me over when I discovered this wasn't some modern-age fantasy. You don't quite know where the story takes place, usually at a house, or a forest, or even a castle, but just the vibe from this world that shun through her writing was magical. I love magical.

As a YA romance-ey loving-type-reader, I enjoyed the bits of romance in this. Of course there was some romance, but of course, Jodi completely went contrary to the norm. We have a mute girl, something I've personally never read in a book, and we have romance between sister and brother! But wait! It's not a gross thing once you read the book. Trust me. There are many surprises within this romance *wink wink wink* And also, we can't forget about our boy Jas *Swoons* He's a Titan (hence Titan Magic) and just totally swoon worthy (even though he's an animal for most of the book). I just think he was handsome. He really loved Maddy and did all he could to save her from being killed, by him! Can't tell me a man's not hot for trying not to kill you! Give the guy a break though. All in all, I'm hoping to see escalating romance between some characters in its sequel.

The verdict? Definitely worth the read, especially if you love fantasy and fairy tales.

My rating:
5 curly pig tails
Because this book was so different and unique

Angela

But wait!

The wonderful Jodi Lamm agreed to an interview. So lady's and gentleman, may I present to you, Jodi Lamm! Before we begin, I just want to say thank you (again) to Jodi for both sending me a copy of her book and allowing me to interview her.
So we shall begin:

Me: I'd like to start with some fun questions. So Jodi, what's your favorite colour?

For years it's been purple. I mean deep, rich, eggplant purple. It was the color of my wedding dress, I loved it so much.

Me: Favorite food?

I spent a month in Japan some time ago and fell in love with sushi. Now I crave it. Fish candy, that's what it is.

Me: Favorite book? Why?

That would be Peter Pan for beauty of language, Howl's Moving Castle for storytelling, Behind the Attic Wall for characters, Phantom of the Opera for atmosphere, and Harry Potter or Hunger Games for world-building. I'm terrible at choosing just one of anything I love so much.

Me: Titan Magic is full of fantasy and fairy tales, what inspired you to write a book with such a genre?

Fantasy is the genre I most enjoy reading, so it was naturally the genre I started writing. I've been a folklore junkie since I was a child. There's something haunting about stories composed over hundreds of years by thousands of people. You find the ghost of what makes us who we are in every story. I believe that's the reason, although I wasn't aware of it at the time, that I've always been drawn to folklore, mythology, and fantasy.

Me: YA books don't generally consist of mute characters. Why did you give Maddy the ability NOT to talk?

That's a really weird story. I could lie and say it's because the creature she is cannot traditionally speak, but the truth is just the opposite. She became the creature she is because she couldn't speak, and the myth seemed to fit her perfectly. She started out as a character exercise I was working on with a friend, and my making her mute was a way for me to challenge myself. In the end, her identity happened almost by accident, but it worked so well, it just stuck.

Me: Your writing is incredible! I often found myself marveling at its descriptiveness. Was writing always something you wanted to pursue?

Thank you so much! Yes, I have always written. It is less something I've always pursued than something I've always just done, like a habit. It's what got me through all those rough and lonely childhood years (sometimes I think I'm the only person in the world who doesn't pine away for childhood). In fact, you can see proof of this at the "About the Author" section of my website. I scanned and posted the very first book I ever tried to put together as a child. It's pretty funny, I think.

Me: While reading Titan Magic, and despite Maddy being mute, I felt your characters were so real and vivid. Do you use real-life inspiration when creating your characters or even settings?

All my characters are composites of people I've met including myself, research, and out-of-thin-air imagination. They tend to start on a springboard real-world something, and then they take off, take over, and take on a life of their own.

Me: Do you have any writing tips for aspiring authors?

There are the obvious ones: practice your craft, read a ton, and study. But I think another important thing to learn is what feedback to use and what to leave alone. In other words, do everything you can to improve while always staying true to your unique voice.

Me: Lastly, just the other day I heard from your facebook page there will be a sequel to Titan Magic! How very exciting for you as the writer, but also very exciting for me as the reader. Did you always know Titan Magic would consist of more than one book, or as you continued to write about Maddy, did you discover there was more to her story? As a reader I feel there is much for Maddy to say to still say (and not because she was mostly mute). Also, please let us know when you've come up with a synopsis and when there is a publication date! Personally, I cannot wait to continue this little tale of finding ones voice!

I had no idea there would be a sequel when I started. Oddly, it wasn't even Madeleine who drove the sequel; it was Kaspar. He is a character left in the shadows at the end of book one. We know very little about him, and in fact, he knows even less about himself. The more I thought about who he was, the more I realized he was quite possibly my favorite character, only you never get to know him in book one. I wanted to introduce him to the world. I thought he deserved to have his story told. But I had no idea how much more all the other characters would discover about themselves when I began book two. I hope it's as fun to read as it was to write. I will definitely let you know when it's set for publication! I'm so excited and nervous to see what readers think of it, as it was such a puzzle to create.