Audience
Teenagers!
Genre
YA, Fantasy, Humour, Adventure
Book Number
0.75 of 3
Pages
468
Recommended For and Similar Reads
“The Thorning Ceremony” is an excellent take-away that all fans of “The Western Lands and All That Really Matters” series must read. This book reminded us of Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” for its themes regarding the necessity of some tradition! Otherwise, if you have read and loved Alice in Wonderland, Doctor Dolittle, The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and anything by Terry Pratchett - especially the "Discworld" series - you will adore “The Thorning Ceremony” and the rest of Einspruch’s series!
Summary by Author
A slightly OCD princess. Her ambitious twin sister.
And the worst rite of passage in the history of all the realms.
Princess Eloise Hydra Gumball III is on track to become the Future Ruler and Heir to the Western Lands and All That Really Matters. That is, if she can survive the grueling training of the demanding Thorning Master, stave off her sister’s desires to take on the role, and get through the horrific Thorning Ceremony.
The Thorning Ceremony is a humorous story set in a unique fantasy world that features weak magic, equality between species, way töö mänÿ ümläüts. It's a funny and witty prequel novel to the Western Lands and All That Really Matters series. If you like quirky, clever characters, lively dialog, and a fun Discworld-ish fantasy setting, then you'll love this book from Andrew Einspruch.
Pick up The Throning Ceremony today, and dive into the freshest fantasy series in years.
Our Statements
Initially, we weren’t too keen on this crazy tradition of thorning yourself, but of course, Einspruch made it intriguing just like all of the other traditions the Gumballs follow! Holding a stone in your mouth and allowing whoever makes you drop it to kiss it comes to mind, yet this is even more edgy and lively! We couldn’t tear our eyes away from this novella for one second. The Thorning Ceremony is a raunchy, thematic, and resonating book that you must read if you have read any of the other books of the series! If we could, we would give The Thorning Ceremony 6 out of 5 stars!
Our Favourite Quote
“So, no ducking away. (It occurred to Eloise that she should wonder what ducks thought of that phrase. She’d have to ask one sometime, when she was allowed to speak again.)”
Review, 5/5
Opinions: The only “problem” (and I say that sarcastically) we’ve encountered with Einspruch’s “The Western Lands and All That Really Matters" series is the length of the books. 500 pages of silliness at once is a bit too much for some readers, but “The Thorning Ceremony” was absolutely perfect! Short, to-the-point, and exhilarating! Once again, Einspruch has proven himself a fantastic author by taking a strange idea and making it immersive and electrifying. Eloise and her sister, Johanna, are forced to comply with everything their trainer tells them to do while practicing thorning themselves and trying to not pass out in preparation for their upcoming Thorning Ceremony. Similar to “The Wombanditos,” we loved this short snap-shot of our favourite characters because we got to learn more about them in settings different from the main plot. What else can be said? The humour was whimsical, the characters were unique and consistent, and the themes were dominant! We loved the ending because it was empowering and flowed perfectly into The Purple Haze. Einspruch did a brilliant job with this one down to every little detail!
Emma’s Favourite Thing: Once again, I was impressed with the characters and their connection to the readers - specifically Eloise. She and I share a trait which allows me to truly empathise and understand her: we both have OCD! I am almost touched by the way Einspruch correctly described and illustrated her compulsions, as OCD is not a commonly represented disorder in YA. Due to Eloise’s slight OCD, she focuses on things that don't matter, has strange quirks, and always has to touch things to "make sure they're okay." I appreciate that Einspruch took this extra step to engage readers - does Eloise’s OCD matter to the plot of the books? Not really, yet here we are! This shows that Einspruch cares about his readers and yearns to make his books worthy of our time.
Our Least Favourite Thing: Honestly, there was nothing any of us disliked about The Thorning Ceremony. The length was perfect, the chapters were subjective and ordered, and the amount of characters in one scene was minimal and therefore easy-to-read. What’s not to love?
Author Information
Andrew is the author of the humorous YA fantasy series The Western Lands and All That Really Matters, as well as more than 120 books for primary-aged readers, both fiction and non-fiction. First published in the 1990s, Andrew's work has covered everything from basketball to DNA, from biographies to histories to mysteries, from outback heroes to Christmas Island red crabs, and from how the rides work at amusement parks to how the Australian Government works (that, perhaps the greatest mystery of all).
Andrew is an ex-pat Texan living in Australia, and is the co-founder of the not-for-profit charity the Billie Dean Deep Peace Trust (http://deeppeacetrust.com), which fosters deep peace for all species.
If pressed, he'll deny he ever programmed in COBOL for a bank.
Please visit http://andreweinspruch.com and say “howdy.”
Giveaway!
FREE BOOK ALERT
The Purple Haze, The Star of Whatever, The Light Bearer, and The Thorning Ceremony are available on Kindle Unlimited! Make sure to download and read them as soon as you can!
ANOTHER FREE BOOK ALERT
The Purple Haze has a prequel that is just as amazing! You can get “The Wombanditos” for FREE by clicking the link here: http://bookhip.com/FLNZSB
Interview with Andrew Einspruch
When did you realize you wanted to be an author?
I came to writing through journalism. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, I had a chance to have a number of articles published in computer magazines. But my life changed when, around the same time, I had a few humour pieces published in a Sydney newspaper’s weekend magazine supplement. I was really proud of those, and that’s when I first got the *ping* for being an author with them.
A couple of years later, I had a chance to put in a proposal for children’s books with an education publisher who was looking for high-interest chapter books for primary-aged reluctant readers. In our phone call, I asked her, “Is there something you haven’t been pitched yet that you’d like?” She answered, “No one has pitched me a basketball story.” So I came up with one about the worst basketball team in the school league, and what happens when the new kid shows up and he’s really tall and really good. That became DUNKIN DAZZA’S SOARING SLAMMER, which was published in 1996. Holding a physical copy of one’s first book is a great moment, and it makes you want to do it again.
What is your favourite part of the writing process?
My favourite part of the writing process is when I write something and think, “Where the heck did *that* come from?” Maybe it’s when a character does something I didn’t anticipate, which takes the story in a different and better direction. Maybe it’s a phrase that comes out unexpectedly interesting. Maybe it’s when I think, “If I do that over there, then this over here will make more sense,” and there’s the clink of pieces falling together. Maybe it’s when I think, “That could be funny.”
Those are all good moments.
Do you write for yourself or for your readers?
I hope I’m doing both.
There’s a movement among authors to “write to market,” that is, figure out what the market wants and deliver it. (“Hey, people are reading military sci-fi books featuring ballet-dancing dragons in space books. I’ll write one of those.”) There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, that’s a really good way to make money, especially if you can write and publish quickly. I tip my hat to those authors.
I may do that one of these days, but so far, I haven’t. I’ve written books that are fun for me to write and which I hope people find fun to read.
(Although, military ballet-dancing dragons in space? Hmmmm.…)
If a child or teen could only read one of your books, which one would you recommend and why?
I always encourage people to start with THE PURPLE HAZE, since that’s where we get to know the characters and the story gets launched. But there’s a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of it, and they tend to want to go on to THE STAR OF WHATEVER to find out what happens.
The Purple Haze contains a variety of themes, creatures, and settings. What inspired you to write it?
In the 1990s and 2000s, I taught creative writing classes, and one of the exercises I did all the time was to say, “Write for two minutes as fast as you can starting with the following phrase.” And then I had a series of prompts that I’d give them. One of them was, “Please, please marry my son.”
Because it was more interesting to me to do the exercises rather than just watch everyone else, I always had my notebook with me and would scrawl along with the class in my terrible handwriting. In one of these classes, I wrote, “Please, please marry my son,'' said the chipmunk to the maiden,” and was followed by her pleas that revealed her son to be totally unsuitable. It got a laugh when I read it out, and I thought, “Maybe there’s something here.” Over the years, I’d get the idea out, dust it off, and write a bit on it. Then in 2016, I thought, “I really have to write this thing.” So I did. And that phrase became the opening of THE PURPLE HAZE (as well as — spoiler alert — the ending of one of the others).
If you could ask a famous author three questions about their books/inspiration/etc, who would it be and what are the questions?
My favourite author is William Gibson, the science fiction author who invented the term “cyberspace” in his book NEUROMANCER. I eagerly await everything he puts out (his most recent, AGENCY, came out this year. It’s a sort of sequel to his previous book from about five years ago, THE PERIPHERAL.
What would I ask him?
- Is there any way we can get you to write faster so we can get more books from you?
- What’s your writing process? (Like, are you a pantser or plotter?)
- How has your writing process evolved over the years?
Is there a story you’ve always wanted to write but never have?
There will *always* be stories to write that haven’t I haven’t written yet.
Elizabeth Gilbert (who wrote EAT PRAY LOVE) has a book called BIG MAGIC, where she talks about the creative life and harnessing the magic of it. In there, she talks about how stories seek to manifest themselves in the world, and how they fly around the ether seeking a suitable channel, someone who will help bring them into being. Sometimes, she says, the story is just not yours to write. It isn’t the right time in your life, or you choose not to be the person to help it out. (Bless you, story, but you need to find another author.) She tells about an idea she had jumped from her to another great author, Ann Patchett. You really should read BIG MAGIC, if just for that story alone.
I think Gilbert is right. It takes so much to bring books into the world, and there are only so many you can do. The right stories will pick you as much as you pick them, and together, you work to shape them into something others might enjoy.
What was your favourite book when you were a kid?
My favourite picture book was Maurice Sendak’s WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE. “Let the wild rumpus start!”
My favourite chapter book was Madeleine L’Engle's A WRINKLE IN TIME. I re-read it a few years ago (actually, I listened to it as an audio book — that’s how I do most of my reading these days) around the time the movie came out. The book holds up pretty well, and I remember thinking, “Look at that. You liked weird science fiction from pretty early on.”
What does success mean to you? Alternative: when do you become an 'author' rather than a 'writer'?
Success is getting to “The End.”
Success is pressing the Publish button.
Success is having someone part with their hard-earned money to buy one of my books.
Success is having someone say they enjoyed what I’ve written.
Success is having someone who has read one of my books decide to read another one.
Success is having the opportunity to share a few thoughts with International Girls and Books. Thanks for your interest in what I do.
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Other Books by Author
Andrew Einspruch has a message to share with younger kids, meaning he has written an unbelievable amount of books about science, humanity, and the future! To find the full list of books he’s written, visit here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1058064.Andrew_Einspruch
Links
Website: https://andreweinspruch.com/Twitter: http://twitter.com/einspruch
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/41721560-the-star-of-whatever?ac=1&from_search=true&qid=6Za8puOEqc&rank=1
Amazon: Amazon US Purchase Link
Publication Date: 12 March, 2019
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