- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Tor Books; First Edition edition (July 6 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0765325543
- ISBN-13: 978-0765325549
- Product Dimensions: 22 x 15.6 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 476 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #436,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
Praise for Carrie Vaughn:
“Vaughn’s clever new take on the supernatural is edgy and irreverent.”
—RT BOOK reviews
“Fun, fast-paced adventure for fans of supernatural mysteries.”
—Locus on Kitty and the Midnight Hour
“Enough excitement, astonishment, pathos, and victory to satisfy any reader.”
—Charlaine Harris on Kitty and the Midnight Hour
Praise for Discord’s Apple:
"Carrie Vaughn weaves a gorgeous tapestry of the human condition in a post apocalyptic world filled with mystery, magic, and immortals. Her world building is masterful!"
--L.A. Banks, New York Times bestselling author of The Thirteenth
“Discord’s Apple is an intriguing blend of fantasy, action, and adventure. A modern day fairy tale you won’t want to end!”
--Gena Showalter, New York Times Bestselling author of The Darkest Whisper
"Myths, magic and mayhem abound in Carrie Vaughn’s Discord’s Apple. Once you take a bite, you won’t be able to put it down."
--Lori Handeland, New York Times Bestselling author of Apocalypse Happens
"Carrie Vaughn masterfully weaves together comic books, Greek gods, King Arthur, and a world on the brink of nuclear war. Discord’s Apple is phenomenal!”
--Jackie Kessler, co-author of Shades of Gray
“With Discord's Apple Carrie Vaughn has created an engaging modern addition to the world of Greek myth. Vaughn has a powerful gift for marrying the mythic and the mundane to produce the extraordinary. . . . The result is a voyage of discovery that will make the reader very glad they didn't miss the boat.”
--Kelly McCullough, author of WebMage and MythOS
Product Description
When Evie Walker goes home to spend time with her dying father, she discovers that his creaky old house in Hope’s Fort, Colorado, is not the only legacy she stands to inherit. Hidden behind the old basement door is a secret and magical storeroom, a place where wondrous treasures from myth and legend are kept safe until they are needed again. The magic of the storeroom prevents access to any who are not intended to use the items. But just because it has never been done does not mean it cannot be done.
And there are certainly those who will give anything to find a way in.
Evie must guard the storeroom against ancient and malicious forces, protecting the past and the future even as the present unravels around them. Old heroes and notorious villains alike will rise to fight on her side or to undermine her most desperate gambits. At stake is the fate of the world, and the prevention of nothing less than the apocalypse. In the same month, along with this all-new hardcover, Tor will publish a new novel in Carrie Vaughn’s popular, New York Times bestselling urban fantasy series featuring werewolf talk radio host, Kitty Norville. Kitty Goes to War will be the eighth book in this successful mass market series.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
The truth of myth,
By E. A Solinas "ea_solinas" (MD USA) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Discord's Apple (Mass Market Paperback)
Greek gods, faeries, Arthurian legends, the Trojan war, and the possible end of the world... all centering on a store-room in a small Colorado town. Carrie Vaughn shatters the urban fantasy mold in a BIG way. "Discord's Apple" is quite possibly her best book yet -- a brilliant, clever fantasy story that flips effortlessly through the centuries and across the world.After finding out that her father is dying of cancer, Evie Walker returns to Hope Springs to care for him. Despite her best efforts, he doesn't seem to want to live. But she soon notices that weird things are happening -- a strange woman arrives and asks for a pair of glass slippers, and an old man requests a sword for "the lad." And then there's Alex, a strange immortal man who wants to die. Just so you know, it's revealed pretty quickly that Alex was a friend of the legendary Odysseus who was enslaved and made immortal by the god Apollo. It's a pretty interesting backstory. Evie soon realizes that the storeroom under her house is filled with mythical and magical items -- the golden fleece, the sword Excalibur, and quite a few other things. And unfortunately, the goddess Hera and her allies are determined to break into the Storeroom and take its power -- and if she succeeds, the world as we know it will end... Carrie Vaughn has been around for some years with her werewolf-centric urban fantasies, and more recently with a book about dragons. But as far as I'm concerned, "Discord's Apple" is where she goes from being AN urban fantasy author to one of THE urban fantasy authors -- it takes her writing skills onto a whole new level. Part of this is Vaughn's strong writing -- has a strong, smooth style with lots of vivid descriptions and some brilliant magical battles. She's as comfortable writing about modern-day Colorado as she is about Stonehenge or the fall of Troy, and she fleshes out Alex/Sinon's character along the way by giving glimpses of the cruel, luxurious life he led after Apollo enslaved him. Another high point is that Vaughn just combines different myths SO WELL. The fairy godmother was a bit much, but her seamless intertwining of Greek myth, Arthurian legend and modern fantasy is simply breathtaking. And she weaves in some glimpses of past Walkers who guarded the Storeroom, giving a true feeling of historical depth to the story. And Evie is a thoroughly likable heroine -- a no-nonsense graphic novelist whose entire worldview gets popped on its head when she discovers that myths and legends are (mostly) real. Alex comes across as a little nuts at times, but he has the right mixture of warmth, mystery and strength to make an excellent love interest. And there are countless striking side-characters -- Merlin, Odysseus, the cruel and beautiful Apollo, and Robin. Carrie Vaughn has turned out some excellent fantasy in the past, but "Discord's Apple" is undoubtedly the best, richest book she's written yet. And I'm dying to see what her future books will be like.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.8 out of 5 stars (44 customer reviews) 24 of 26 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Amazing story, complex and nuanced, literary yet fun,
By J. Campanella - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Discord's Apple (Hardcover)
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. 11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not just another Kitty novel - definitely!,
By Andro Berkovic - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Discord's Apple (Hardcover)
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. 5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
It didn't go far enough for me, as an adult fantasy novel,
By Mrs. Baumann - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Discord's Apple (Hardcover)
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. |
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