Review of Grace Under Fire by Frog and Esther Jones

Grace Under Fire by Frog Jones and Esther Jones.

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


One day I was surfing the 'Net and I decided to Google my own name for fun. I wanted to see what I would find. I found a blog written by a woman named Esther Jones and her husband Frog Jones. I was intrigued to discover that, like me, Frog and Esther are writers. Not only that, they write my favourite genre: fantasy. I had to read their debut novel, Grace Under Fire. I would have been very disappointed if it hadn't been good. I was not disappointed.

The story is written in first person POV with two narrators, which could be a confusing mess, but isn't. The two voices are distinct and clear. Grace is a wonderfully interesting, well-rounded character. We are given glimpses of her backstory: just enough to make me want to know more. Robert sounds like the teenager he is; the most important thing in his life is the girl he's crushing on. That is, until he meets Grace and ends up in the fight of his life.

There are some heavy themes here. On the personal level, Robert learns that angry, thoughtless revenge can have far-reaching, unintended consequences. On a more global level, summoners are illegal just because of who/what they are, and are arrested for existing.

I loved this book, and cannot wait for the next one in the series.

Find Frog and Esther at jonestales.

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What's Your Name?

I've always loved my name. I don't want to be "normal" and I'm so glad my parents gave me an uncommon name. I also think it's a beautiful-sounding name, and I love the story of Queen Esther in the Bible (I was named after her). So, I'm glad my name is Esther.

However, there are drawbacks to having an uncommon name. Most people don't know how to spell it, and some can't pronounce it. I work in a call centre and, while a few callers get it right, most have no idea what I said when I introduce myself. Surprisingly, most of those who don't hear me clearly don't ask me to repeat my name--they just call me "Astra." And that's weird, because I've never met--or heard of--anyone named Astra. It's pretty, but where are they getting it from?

I've also been called Heather, Aster, Easter, and even Erica.

And almost everyone spells it "Ester." You know, like "polyester"? (That's a chemical compound.) I told someone once my name is "Esther with an h," and they wrote "Hester." Wow. I've gotten into the habit of automatically spelling it out for people when they ask for my name.

Although I've had all these problems, when I have kids, I'm still not giving them common names. After all, my last name is Jones, and that's already common enough. I love choosing and making up names--maybe that's one of the reasons I'm a writer. I'll never have enough children to use all the names I love, so I'll have to use them for my characters.

So, what's your name? Is it common or uncommon? Do you get called other things by people who misheard you? Do you like weird names?

That's Not Me--That's My Sister!

I am two years older than my sister and people always thought we looked alike. I have red hair and she has brown, but they still often thought we were identical twins or something. Even my parents would often start to say 'Charlotte' when speaking to me or 'Esther' when speaking to her. We have always been best friends, so we did almost everything together. I got really used to being called Charlotte throughout high school and in activities we did together. When I volunteered at summer camp when I was 17 and she was only 15 so too young, I went almost a whole summer without being called Charlotte. Then, on the last day of camp, my whole family came to the last day BBQ and Charlotte went to my cabin to pack my stuff while I helped to clean up. One of my camp friends saw her and thought she was me. lol

I still look up when I hear the name Charlotte just as I do when I hear my own name.

Charlotte was my maid of honour. (I'm the one in the white dress.) 

I realized that I can't think of a single example in fiction where this happens to a character (except for actual identical twins). Most fictional characters don't even have siblings. When a set of identical twins are mistaken for each other in fiction, it is often because they planned it (eg: the Weasley twins from Harry Potter, Bridget & Siobhan from Ringer).

Can you think of any examples in fiction where a character is mistaken for or called by the name of his/her sibling who is not an identical twin?

I think I might use this in a future story. Do you think you might?