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A review by katfireblade
An Army of Frogs by Trevor Pryce
4.0
And listed under "Things You Wouldn't See Coming" is this novel about a war between frogs and a combined scorpion/spider army for control of the Amphibilands, and the precious water it contains.
Set in Australia (in the hot and dry parts of that country), it follows a young frog in his desire to become a warrior like his father, but with a twist--his father was a poison frog, and could give himself almost supernatural fighting abilities by tapping into that poison. His son is just an ordinary frog. Worse, there are no battles to fight as the Amphibilands are hidden by a protective veil from the outside world, keeping the frogs safe from harm.
But, as in all good books of this type, of course all that changes.
The Good:
It's a lot of fun. I mean, A LOT.
The talking animal characters are made fascinating because of how true they are to their unique animal forms--these aren't your typical "humans in animal form" you so often see in kids' books. Each of the species depicted have distinct cultures, desires, and goals, and that diversity both fuels the plot and makes the world simply fascinating. The characters are fully realized, and the Australian setting isn't just for show; the book is woven through with the unique landscape and old aboriginal legends and beliefs.
The Bad:
It's a young man's coming of age story in many ways, an often retread plotline. It's also tropey in the extreme, to the point that on more than one occasion I found myself bored with the plot, even while I thoroughly enjoyed the setting. Children won't necessarily recognize the plot beats, having been exposed to less media (and with many modern tales moving away from or trying to subvert them), but adults definitely will. The story is, sadly, formulaic in the extreme, to the point that it's criminally simple to predict what comes next. That cost it a half star because I think anyone able to world build this well could have brought something new to a tired old formula.
Again, though, I still rated it a four star read--just know what you're getting into. This was definitely written for children, not children and adults.
The Uh, Erm....:
I have the perspective of "reading while female," and....well, I spent much of the book wondering where all the women were. They weren't missing entirely, but their presence never felt all that strongly, and if this book passed the Bechdel test it was just barely. Often women only spoke to men, and when they did speak to each other it was frequently about a male. Plus, when women do show up they're in largely traditional roles--the mother, the magic user, the chieftain (portrayed more motherly/grandmotherly than leader-like in this first book, plus barely present), and the healer. And the "evil queen" stereotype is every evil Disney queen/female magic user that ever existed.
There are two female warriors, but they get their strength from magic. In fact, EVERY woman warrior in this book gets her strength from magic, either battling with the aid of such or as a straight magic user. There are NO female warriors who fight with pure strength and battle skill, not among the frogs or the scorpions, not among the mercenaries, and not even in the spider troops. Unless a woman has magic backing her she apparently sits out the battles.
Whoever conceived of this story has some very Definite Ideas (tm) about women and "their place," whether they consciously realize it or not--and no, I don't think the male/female diametric was a conscious choice. I think someone simply regurgitated what one often sees in other, similar stories and didn't think too deeply about it.
The reason this bothers me so much is because it seems strange, especially in a book where each species was so well researched. For example, female scorpions are often larger and more aggressive than males (it can vary by species but these traits are not uncommon), and many spider species also have the same traits in their females--not surprising since both species are arachnids. Even many frog species have females that are significantly larger than the males. Considering how fully researched each of these critters were you'd think that the females would have been portrayed a little truer to their respective species, and their usefulness in non-traditional female roles considered accordingly (instead of lots of big male frog warriors, no big frog women, no women among the scorpions at all, etc.).
I didn't take off a full star for this--the star loss was a combination of formulaic and poor female presence (which can subtitle under formulaic). I was disappointed but not hugely surprised at the female issue, considering the type of story, and that (and yes, this may be unfair, but...) the story was the brain child of a male sports professional.
Would I recommend this read to others?:
Again, I rated this book at four stars and I stand by that rating.
This is a genuinely fun read and, despite some of the drawbacks that I, as an adult, couldn't ignore, these are drawbacks children will never see. Instead they'll be enthralled by the battles, the choices the heroes have to make, and the world the story is set in. And overall it's a good story, drawbacks included. Every author's fledgling offering should be so well done.
However, I would add one caveat: this book is STRICTLY for, and narrowly aimed at, young boys. I would recommend this to young men almost without reservation--the female issue is still not great, but there is enough female presence to put it above other stories aimed at young boys, plus enough media aimed at that demographic is currently trying to change the weird lack of females that I think they can balance this one read against other offerings.
For mothers of young girls I would suggest looking for reading material elsewhere or to read it with them so you can help them navigate the gender politics therein. There are role models for young men aplenty, but not so much for young women. And since it's still very difficult to find strong female role models who break out of traditional roles (and I mean more than just adding a few sword wielders to a battle epic) or who have presence equal to men without gender becoming a Big Honking Deal (tm) that honestly...maaaaaybe just give this one a pass.
Or make sure they pick up book two and don't stop at this one. The women get a little more screen time there and, while their roles are still often traditional, they are stronger and more unique and fully rounded characters overall.
I can't speak for book three yet.
Set in Australia (in the hot and dry parts of that country), it follows a young frog in his desire to become a warrior like his father, but with a twist--his father was a poison frog, and could give himself almost supernatural fighting abilities by tapping into that poison. His son is just an ordinary frog. Worse, there are no battles to fight as the Amphibilands are hidden by a protective veil from the outside world, keeping the frogs safe from harm.
But, as in all good books of this type, of course all that changes.
The Good:
It's a lot of fun. I mean, A LOT.
The talking animal characters are made fascinating because of how true they are to their unique animal forms--these aren't your typical "humans in animal form" you so often see in kids' books. Each of the species depicted have distinct cultures, desires, and goals, and that diversity both fuels the plot and makes the world simply fascinating. The characters are fully realized, and the Australian setting isn't just for show; the book is woven through with the unique landscape and old aboriginal legends and beliefs.
The Bad:
It's a young man's coming of age story in many ways, an often retread plotline. It's also tropey in the extreme, to the point that on more than one occasion I found myself bored with the plot, even while I thoroughly enjoyed the setting. Children won't necessarily recognize the plot beats, having been exposed to less media (and with many modern tales moving away from or trying to subvert them), but adults definitely will. The story is, sadly, formulaic in the extreme, to the point that it's criminally simple to predict what comes next. That cost it a half star because I think anyone able to world build this well could have brought something new to a tired old formula.
Again, though, I still rated it a four star read--just know what you're getting into. This was definitely written for children, not children and adults.
The Uh, Erm....:
I have the perspective of "reading while female," and....well, I spent much of the book wondering where all the women were. They weren't missing entirely, but their presence never felt all that strongly, and if this book passed the Bechdel test it was just barely. Often women only spoke to men, and when they did speak to each other it was frequently about a male. Plus, when women do show up they're in largely traditional roles--the mother, the magic user, the chieftain (portrayed more motherly/grandmotherly than leader-like in this first book, plus barely present), and the healer. And the "evil queen" stereotype is every evil Disney queen/female magic user that ever existed.
There are two female warriors, but they get their strength from magic. In fact, EVERY woman warrior in this book gets her strength from magic, either battling with the aid of such or as a straight magic user. There are NO female warriors who fight with pure strength and battle skill, not among the frogs or the scorpions, not among the mercenaries, and not even in the spider troops. Unless a woman has magic backing her she apparently sits out the battles.
Whoever conceived of this story has some very Definite Ideas (tm) about women and "their place," whether they consciously realize it or not--and no, I don't think the male/female diametric was a conscious choice. I think someone simply regurgitated what one often sees in other, similar stories and didn't think too deeply about it.
The reason this bothers me so much is because it seems strange, especially in a book where each species was so well researched. For example, female scorpions are often larger and more aggressive than males (it can vary by species but these traits are not uncommon), and many spider species also have the same traits in their females--not surprising since both species are arachnids. Even many frog species have females that are significantly larger than the males. Considering how fully researched each of these critters were you'd think that the females would have been portrayed a little truer to their respective species, and their usefulness in non-traditional female roles considered accordingly (instead of lots of big male frog warriors, no big frog women, no women among the scorpions at all, etc.).
I didn't take off a full star for this--the star loss was a combination of formulaic and poor female presence (which can subtitle under formulaic). I was disappointed but not hugely surprised at the female issue, considering the type of story, and that (and yes, this may be unfair, but...) the story was the brain child of a male sports professional.
Would I recommend this read to others?:
Again, I rated this book at four stars and I stand by that rating.
This is a genuinely fun read and, despite some of the drawbacks that I, as an adult, couldn't ignore, these are drawbacks children will never see. Instead they'll be enthralled by the battles, the choices the heroes have to make, and the world the story is set in. And overall it's a good story, drawbacks included. Every author's fledgling offering should be so well done.
However, I would add one caveat: this book is STRICTLY for, and narrowly aimed at, young boys. I would recommend this to young men almost without reservation--the female issue is still not great, but there is enough female presence to put it above other stories aimed at young boys, plus enough media aimed at that demographic is currently trying to change the weird lack of females that I think they can balance this one read against other offerings.
For mothers of young girls I would suggest looking for reading material elsewhere or to read it with them so you can help them navigate the gender politics therein. There are role models for young men aplenty, but not so much for young women. And since it's still very difficult to find strong female role models who break out of traditional roles (and I mean more than just adding a few sword wielders to a battle epic) or who have presence equal to men without gender becoming a Big Honking Deal (tm) that honestly...maaaaaybe just give this one a pass.
Or make sure they pick up book two and don't stop at this one. The women get a little more screen time there and, while their roles are still often traditional, they are stronger and more unique and fully rounded characters overall.
I can't speak for book three yet.