Ohhhhhhhhh, what a month. Mrs B’s wrist stayed in the cast all month. She was on light duty at work and it meant that even little things like grocery shopping she needed help with. That made work time unpleasant for her as she was stuck mainly on cashiering and she hates that. It also meant I did a LOT more of the chores, which gave me a VERY good appreciation for all that Mrs B does. It’s so easy to overlook all the contributions your spouse makes, so this was a good reminder to me to not take her for granted.
Then the week right before Christmas our car died on us. In the church parking lot, after everybody had left, sigh. It made for a very rough hour as we raced around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to get everything straightened out of where to get it towed, how to get home, and how Mrs B was going to get to work, in an hour. If I had had any hair, I would have been pulling it out. Thankfully, a bunch of wonderful people from church helped us out and one of my good friends took me out to lunch so I could vent and settle myself down. I’m so thankful for good friends who not only help us out, but also know what we need after such an incident. Being a words person has gotten me some notorious attention at church but I’m working on not being such a blabber mouth. Thank God they are all merciful to me 😀
Work for me was as busy as ever. We are 3 months out for scheduling and it’s only growing longer. I had a Surveyor’s Conference partway through the month and talked to one of the project managers from my old company. They are 4 months out and growing longer. Every survey company is in the same boat and I feel bad for anyone needing a survey.
I was tired out enough that I had to block out Fridays from blogging, which was necessary and good for me. Didn’t work out 100%, but it did mean I didn’t feel any pressure to blog if I didn’t want to. I did find that I was emotionally ragged most of the month and that made me a bit curt and short on a lot of peoples’ posts. I was not proud of how I reacted in many cases.
Reading-wise, this was the best month I had all year. I had THREE 5star reads. That’s incredible, especially considering how grumpy and out of sorts I was during most of my reading time. Ahhhh, why can’t more months be like this one in that regards?
Have to finish up the Year in Review post for tomorrow, THEN I can deal with the rest of the month.
I do plan on taking Wednesday’s and Friday’s off from writing posts. I have not been in a writing mood ever since Christmas and I’m not going to force it. Other than that, it will be business as usual.
Back in March, I bought several journals because Paperblanks was having a sale. It took me almost 9months to fill up the 18th and 19th journals, which was what I was expecting. So here we are with the 20th one and I wanted to show off the pictures, because a good journal should be as beautiful on the outside as the treasured contents on the inside.
It might seem silly to some to put such emphasis on my own words, especially considering how mundane are the details I write each week, but to me, those words are my innermost being. They are important to me and that is all that matters. Everything I can’t write here, everything private that isn’t your business, everything private that I don’t even have business thinking, I put them down in these journals. I exorcise my thoughts and feelings by transmuting them out of my head and onto the pages of these journals. It doesn’t always work and there are times I write the same thing over and over as the years slide by, but each iteration lessens the pain inside.
My journals are my therapy. That way you don’t get tortured angsty posts every week from me, hahahahahaa.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Emma Series: ———- Author: Jane Austen Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Genre: Classic Pages: 341 Words: 160K
This is my least favorite of Austen’s body of work, including her unfinished stuff. Emma as a character embodies everything that I most dislike about young women. I didn’t care for the character back in 2006 when I first read this and I didn’t care for her this time around either. I think my biggest problem is how Emma is a busybody and thinks herself superior to everyone around her.
With that being said, I still enjoyed this book quite a bit. It was very much a “Manners Romance” story and the changes in society in regards to manners made me smile. In one instance, Mrs Elton (a new to the area woman who married and is trying to be the social queen) is talking to a single young woman and calls her “Jane”, which is her name. Emma and Janes’s secret fiance overhear and both are outraged that Mrs Elton would presume to talk to Miss Fairfax so familiarly on so little acquaintance. For me, it was like reading about them being outraged because Mrs Elton said “Purple Elephant” while wearing white shoes. It just struck my funny bone, thankfully.
Much like Edward from Sense and Sensibility, Mr Knightley as a romantic lead does not make up a large part of the story. He’s there to support Emma and is busy doing real life stuff. I fully support that. He’s not swanning off writing goopy poems about her eyes and letting his own business go. This was a second instance of Austen writing about a young woman (Emma is 20 when the story starts) getting romantically involved with an older man (Mr Knightley is 37) and things working out. Was this because Austen was into that or because “Society” itself liked that and so she wrote about it to sell her stories? Most of the married couples I know are within 0-10 years in age of each other. I’ve known a few other couples with great age disparities, but they all tended to be at a stage in life when that didn’t matter (if one is 45 and the other 70 for instance) nearly so much. I know if I had a friend who was in his mid-30’s and he was interested in some cute young thing, I’d caution him about a lack of common cultural relevancies. It might seem small, and in all fairness it CAN be overcome, but something as little as knowing the same movies and the same books can ease the friction of being with another person. You don’t even have to LIKE them, just knowing about them is a common tie. Once you move beyond a certain amount of time, you don’t have those common ties to help bind you to another person. The faster a society moves, the less time those ties have to cement, and vice versa. So in Austen’s time things moved slower so the commonality had many more years to exist, which would make it much easier for a greater age disparity in a marriage to work.
Austen’s prose still makes me work. I had to just slow down to engage with this. One sentence, with multiple commas, could carry on multiple thoughts concurrently and I had to follow them all or I’d miss something, like who was even present in the room. There was one instance where Emma was talking to someone and suddenly Mr Knightley interjects a comment and I couldn’t figure out for the life of me when he had come onto the scene. I had to go back about two paragraphs, and buried in the middle of a long paragraph was a short sentence obliquely referring to him having entered the room. I love and hate that. I love it because it shows skill and I hate it because I’m lazy.
It has been over 17 years since I first read Emma and I suspect it will be that long, if not longer, before I read it for a third time.
★★★★☆
From Wikipedia.org
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Emma Woodhouse’s friend and former governess, Miss Taylor, has just married Mr. Weston. Having introduced them, Emma takes credit for their marriage and decides that she likes matchmaking. After returning home to Hartfield, Emma forges ahead with her new interest against the advice of her friend Mr. Knightley, whose brother is married to Emma’s elder sister, Isabella. She attempts to match her new friend, Harriet Smith, to Mr. Elton, the local vicar. Emma persuades Harriet to refuse a marriage proposal from Robert Martin, a respectable young farmer, although Harriet likes him. Mr. Elton, a social climber, mistakenly believes Emma is in love with him and proposes to her. When Emma reveals she believed him attached to Harriet, he is outraged, considering Harriet socially inferior. After Emma rejects him, Mr. Elton goes to Bath and returns with a pretentious, nouveau-riche wife, as Mr. Knightley expected he would do. Harriet is heartbroken, and Emma feels ashamed about misleading her.
Frank Churchill, Mr. Weston’s son, arrives for a two-week visit. Frank was adopted by his wealthy and domineering aunt and has had few opportunities to visit before. Mr. Knightley tells Emma that, while Frank is intelligent and engaging, he has a shallow character. Jane Fairfax also arrives to visit her aunt Miss Bates and great-aunt Mrs. Bates for a few months before starting a governess position due to financial situation. She is the same age as Emma and has received an excellent education through her father’s friend, Colonel Campbell. Emma has remained somewhat aloof from Jane because she envies her and is annoyed by everyone, including Mrs. Weston and Mr. Knightley, praising Jane. Mrs. Elton takes Jane under her wing and announces that she will find a governess post before it is wanted.
Emma decides that Jane and Mr. Dixon, Colonel Campbell’s new son-in-law, are mutually attracted, and that is the reason she arrived earlier than expected. She confides this to Frank, who met Jane and the Campbells at Weymouth the previous year; he apparently agrees with Emma. Suspicions are further fuelled when a pianoforte, sent anonymously, arrives for Jane. Emma feels herself falling in love with Frank, but it does not last. The Eltons treat Harriet poorly, culminating in Mr. Elton publicly snubbing Harriet at a ball. Mr. Knightley, who normally refrained from dancing, gallantly asks Harriet to dance. The day after the ball, Frank brings Harriet to Hartfield, as she fainted after a rough encounter with local gypsies. Emma mistakes Harriet’s gratitude to Frank as Harriet being in love with him. Meanwhile, Mrs. Weston wonders if Mr. Knightley is attracted to Jane, but Emma dismisses the idea. When Mr. Knightley says he notices a connection between Jane and Frank, Emma disagrees, as Frank appears to be courting her instead. Frank arrives late to a gathering at Donwell, while Jane departs early. The next day at Box Hill, a local scenic spot, Frank and Emma are joking when Emma thoughtlessly insults Miss Bates.
When Mr. Knightley scolds Emma for insulting Miss Bates, she is ashamed. The next day, she visits Miss Bates to atone for her bad behaviour, impressing Mr. Knightley. During the visit, Emma learns that Jane has accepted a governess position from one of Mrs. Elton’s friends. Jane becomes ill and refuses to see Emma or receive her gifts. Meanwhile, Frank has been visiting his aunt, who dies soon after his arrival. He and Jane reveal to the Westons that they have been secretly engaged since autumn, but Frank knew his aunt would disapprove of the match. Maintaining the secrecy strained the conscientious Jane and caused the couple to quarrel, with Jane ending the engagement. Frank’s easygoing uncle readily gives his blessing to the match. The engagement is made public, leaving Emma annoyed to discover that she had been so wrong.
Emma believes Frank’s engagement will devastate Harriet, but instead, Harriet says she loves Mr. Knightley, and though she knows the match is too unequal, Emma’s encouragement and Mr. Knightley’s kindness have given her hope. Emma is startled and realises that she is also in love with Mr. Knightley. Mr. Knightley returns to console Emma about Frank and Jane’s engagement, thinking her heartbroken. When she admits her foolishness, he proposes, and she accepts. Harriet accepts Robert Martin’s second proposal, and they are the first couple to marry. Jane and Emma reconcile, and Frank and Jane visit the Westons. Once the mourning period for Frank’s aunt ends, they will marry. Before the end of November, Emma and Mr. Knightley are married with the prospect of “perfect happiness.”
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Get Me to the Wake On Time Series: ———- Editor: Alfred Hitchcock Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Crime Fiction Pages: 175 Words: 70K
I had another Hitchcock collection on tap before this one. It was titled “Scream Along with Me”. Unfortunately, it was a very bad scan that was nothing but images of the text instead of the text itself. That means I couldn’t change the text size or have it reflow on my kindle or change the font. That kind of thing is why I read ebooks in the first place. If I want a fixed font size, I’ll go read a paper book, thank you very much.
So with that scintillating reading fact under your belt, on to the review itself.
I enjoyed this. The end.
Seriously, that’s all you get, folks. I’m tired and the words aren’t flowing.
Well, the cover is cool. Might have to use it for my cover love at the end of the month. I’ve had several cool covers this month though, so I’m going to be in the unenviable position of having to choose one over the others. If you know anything about books, you know what special snowflakes they are and how easily their feelings get hurt. I’m not looking forward to telling the losers that they ARE losers and just aren’t good enough. Books these days, just a bunch of pansies!
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Smoke Ring Series: The State #3 Author: Larry Niven Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: SF Pages: 226 Words: 82K
This was a decent SF story but not one I ever plan on reading for a third time. Twice is enough.
It’s a good sequel to the Integral Trees but leaves enough unexplored that Niven could probably have written a whole series about the Smoke Ring if he’d wanted to. He was more of a hard science fiction’er though, and you need some good, charismatic characters to keep a series going, so it’s no wonder this was the final book in The State.
Honestly, the covers were the best part of these books. At least for Integral Trees and Smoke Ring. They are why I picked them up back in highschool. Even now, I am forced to admit that the covers are what drew back to this re-read. That’s not a total slam on the books themselves, but Niven wrote for a specific type of SF reader and I’m not that kind. The covers mislead one into thinking there will be grand adventures and brightly colored heroes, etc and you just get a family adventure with lots of “how do we do X in low or zero gravity”. That’s just boring to me.
So I’m done with Niven. I won’t be exploring anything else by him. Too many other new-to-me authors to investigate.
★★★☆☆
From Wikipedia.org
Click to Open
The Setting:
The story is set at the fictional neutron star Levoy’s Star (abbreviated “Voy”). The gas giant Goldblatt’s World (abbreviated “Gold”) orbits the star just outside its Roche limit. While Gold’s gravity is enough to keep it from being pulled apart by Voy’s tidal forces, it is insufficient to hold its atmosphere, which has been pulled loose into an independent orbit around Voy. This orbiting air forms a ring known as a gas torus. The gas torus is huge—one million kilometers thick—but most of it is too thin to be habitable. The central part of the Gas Torus, where the air is thicker, is known as the Smoke Ring. The Smoke Ring supports a wide variety of life. Robert L. Forward helped Niven calculate the parameters of the ring.
There is no “ground” in the Smoke Ring; it is a world consisting entirely of sky. Thus, most animals can fly, even the fish. Furthermore, since the Smoke Ring is in orbit, it is in free fall. There is no “up” or “down”, only “in” or “out” from Voy. Humans moving in the Smoke Ring use a poetic adage to aid their understanding of orbital mechanics – “East takes you Out, Out takes you West, West takes you In, In takes you East. Port and Starboard bring you back”
Most animals have trilateral symmetry, allowing them to see in all directions. Most plants in the Smoke Ring are quite fragile, as they don’t have to support their own weight. A notable exception to this rule are the Integral Trees. These are trees that are up to 100 kilometers long. Tidal locking causes them to be oriented radially, with one end pointing in toward Voy and one end pointing out. The ends of the tree experience a tidal force of up to 1/5 g. Each end consists of a leafy “tuft”, which is where photosynthesis occurs.
Each tuft of a tree is 50 kilometers from the tree’s center of mass. Thus, a tuft is either orbiting too slowly (the in tuft) or too quickly (the out tuft). Since the atmosphere at either end is moving at its local orbital speed, the ends of trees are subject to a constant hurricane-force wind. This wind bends the ends into the shape of an integral symbol: ∫.
The Smoke Ring was colonized 500 years prior to the beginning of the story by a crew of 20 astronauts. Their descendants have adapted to the free-fall environment by growing taller and developing prehensile toes.
According to N-Space, the wings and the method of self-propelled flying featured in the novel were suggested by Isaac Asimov.
Plot:
This book takes place about fifteen years after the end of the original story, when survivors of the Dalton-Quinn tree, a few Carther States jungle dwellers, and two London Tree Citizens have settled on a new tree. This ‘Citizen’s Tree’ has become a stable community which some believe may be too small to survive in the long run.
Kendy, the recorded personality of a citizen of “The State” who exists in the computer of the original space-ship that colonized the Smoke Ring, has become impatient. He decides to re-establish contact with Citizen’s Tree. Kendy manipulates a group into making contact with “The Admiralty”, a neighboring civilization at Gold’s L4 Lagrange Point (which they refer to as “the Clump”). The group explores this more advanced civilization with a mixture of wonder and trepidation.
Although much of the story is a sort of “travelogue” exploring the Smoke Ring and the technology used in the unique environment, The Smoke Ring does spend more time on story and character development than The Integral Trees. One of the drivers for the story follows the latest operator of “the silver suit”, the Citizen’s Tree’s working spacesuit. Few are capable of operating the suit due to its size; due to the lack of gravity, most humans in the Smoke Ring grow too tall to fit into it. The job goes to the occasionally born “dwarves” who tend to develop into humans of Earth-normal height and build. A major sub-plot develops around the latest silver suit operator’s attempts to infiltrate The Admiralty to gain information, and The Admiralty’s near obsession with capturing the Citizen’s Tree’s spacesuit.
This focuses on the story of Kendy and the original mission. The chain of events that led to the colonization of the Smoke Ring through a “mutiny” on the ship is explored. After retrieving the crew’s own records of the events, Kendy realizes that the crew had not mutinied at all, and that he had forced them off the ship, believing this to be in keeping with his orders from Earth. This was apparently blocked from his memory, and he suffers a form of breakdown when he learns (or re-learns) the truth.
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so that our[a] joy may be complete. ~ 1st John Chapter 1, verses 1-4
Jesus was born on Earth. He was God Incarnate. He was not a myth and the people closest to Him (His disciples and family) wrote what they knew. They gained nothing from that but the status of outcasts and eventually martyrdom. The disciple John KNEW Jesus and he is writing about Him.
Christmas exists because of Jesus the Christ being born. As the picture above say, Hope was Born. Please don’t turn away from that hope this Christmas.
Take everything you know about A Christmas Carol and reverse it and you’ve got this wonderful parody. First and foremost, if you are not familiar with the British tv series Blackadder, this won’t be nearly as funny. Because it’s not just the fact that everything is reversed, but who everything gets reversed on. You have to know the Blackadder cast to get a full appreciation of the comedic genius.
That being said, this being British tv, they are crude, profane and borderline blasphemous.
From Ebenezer Blackadder to Mrs Scratchett and her gigantic son Tiny Tom, to gin drinking, carol singing orphans to the Spirit of Christmas, to Ebenezer’s niece Frederika who steals everything she can, coupled with Baldrick stinking everything up (he’s Blackadder’s witless servant and must have been paid a LOT of money to appear in a leather breachclout on tv) and you have a recipe for hilarity. Even the opening song is a riff on the original Blackadder intro song.
The gist of the story is that Ebenezer Blackadder is the nicest man in the world. He gives everything away to everybody and they take advantage of him. The Ghost of Christmas visits him and is about ready to leave because Ebenezer is such a good fellow until he lets slip that Ebenezer’s ancestors were unscrupulous ne’er-do-wells. This gets Ebenezer curious and sees several Christmas’s past where his ancestors pull dastardly schemes quite successfully. This wets his appetite and make him wonder why he’s being so good. He forces the Ghost of Christmas to show him the future and in one, where Ebenezer turns bad, his descendants rule the galaxy. In the other future where he stays good, his servant Baldrick rules the universe and does it very badly. So Ebenezer tosses all the good out the window and becomes a true Blackadder. In the process he tosses a mysterious couple out on their ear. They turn out to be the king and queen who were going to give him a vast fortune and a title. Which is typical Blackadder. Even when he wins, he still manages to lose.
I laughed my head off. I watched this three times and it was as funny each time.
While I don’t foresee myself ever watching this again after this year, I certainly did enjoy it this time around. It’s silly beyond belief, which fit my mood just fine.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Magicians of Caprona Series: Chrestomanci #2 Author: Diana Jones Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Middlegrade Fantasy Pages: 167 Words: 63K
I enjoyed this as much as the first book even though Chrestomanci is not a main character and barely appears at all. Jones tells an engaging story of two rival magical families whose problems are solved by the children in the family. Yet Jones in no way denigrates the adult members of the family. That is an easy “out” for an author to elevate her children characters by tearing down the adults and Jones has no place for that kind of thing in her story, for which I am very thankful.
Most of this story is told through the eyes of Tonino and Paulo, brothers. The issue for me was that Jones would switch viewpoints from paragraph to paragraph and it became very confusing for me to keep track of whose eyes I was looking out of. I felt like it could have been written for easier comprehension, especially as this is aimed at the tween and early teen crowd. Other than that, I don’t have any complaints.
Family, food, magic, love and adventure, with a wicked enchantress making life tough for everyone. What more do you really need in a story?
★★★✬☆
From Wikipedia.org
Click to Open
Caprona is a city-state in the Italy of Chrestomanci’s world (World Twelve A), which never united as a nation-state. The houses of Casa Montana and Casa Petrocchi, both renowned for being powerful magician families, have been feuding with each other for generations. The city has begun to lose its “virtue,” and the states of Florence, Siena, and Pisa intend to take advantage of this by uniting to conquer Caprona. The only way to save the city is if the true words to the Angel of Caprona, both a hymn and a powerful spell, can be found and read aloud.
The story is told through the eyes of the young Tonino Montana and his brother Paolo. They are both members of Casa Montana, one of two spell-houses in Caprona, the other being Casa Petrocchi. The two spell-houses are deadly rivals; the two families are both convinced that the decline of Caprona is all the fault of the other spell-house, and refuse to work together under any circumstances.
Tonino is, unknown to himself or the rest of Casa Montana, a talented enchanter; however, he is unaware of his ability, and prefers to spend his time reading. Paolo is more outgoing and friendly, and does better at school. When representatives of both houses are called to the Duke of Caprona’s palace, they both go. Whilst there, they meet members of the Petrocchi family for the first time, and they also encounter the Duchess, a powerful woman who appears to be the true ruler of Caprona.
During the book, Tonino is kidnapped and finds himself held hostage with Angelica Petrocci and whilst the two houses blame each other, Tonino and Angelica have to put their differences aside to escape. Meanwhile, Paolo teams with Renata Petrocci in order to save their lost siblings.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Foundation and Empire Series: Foundation #2 Authors: Isaac Asimov Rating: 5 of 5 Stars Genre: SF Pages: 218 Words: 77K
When I read this for the first recorded time in 2008, I only gave it 3stars.
I don’t know if that was because I was comparing it to my emotional attachments reading this as a teenager back in the 90’s or what, but it didn’t impress me that much. This time around, I am fully impressed.
Part of that I know is because of my continuing one man war against the Sandersonization of books. Some books should be long, but not EVERY book needs to be long. Foundation and Empire consists of 2 novellas that together make up a very short book. I LIKE that. Spare me the details and give me the broad strokes so I can fill in the details for myself in my imagination. GIVE ME THE FREEDOM TO USE MY IMAGINATION IN READING!!!!!!!! Nor does every book need to be a pared down tale like this. But the pendulum is swinging away from this side and so I rail and declaim and shake my fist. And accomplish nothing but disturbing the air around me.
However, another part is because this is just a fething good story. Another Seldon crisis happens and the Foundation is protected by the social forces that nobody is aware of. And that gives them all a Happy Feeling as they think they are now invincible. Only to have the Mule come along and literally kick the Foundation to the ground and take over. But it introduces us to the idea of the Second Foundation, which has been mentioned before but never given any page time. Now, the groundwork has been laid for it to come to the forefront.
I am glad I am re-reading this trilogy and having such a smashing time of it. I just love, love, love when I re-read a book/series and it gets better!
★★★★★
From Wikipedia.org
Click to Open
The General
General Bel Riose of the Galactic Empire governs the planet Siwenna. He comes across myths regarding the Foundation and attempts to confirm them by coercing the aid of Ducem Barr, a Siwennian whose father Onum met the Foundation trader Hober Mallow decades ago. After further research through visiting Foundation territory, Riose determines that they are a threat to the Empire and declares war upon them, both to fulfill his duty to the Empire and satisfy his personal pursuit of glory. Barr is familiar with Hari Seldon’s psychohistory and through it is confident of the Foundation’s inevitable victory, an assertion Riose repeatedly disputes.
Riose captures and interrogates Lathan Devers, a Foundation trader who reveals in private to Barr that he allowed himself to be taken in order to disrupt Riose’s operation from the inside. Devers is met by Ammel Brodrig, Emperor Cleon II’s Privy Secretary who was sent to Riose in order to keep an eye on the general. Devers tries to implicate Riose in an attempt to overthrow Cleon. However, Brodrig betrays Devers to Riose. Barr knocks out Riose before he can subject Devers to more effective interrogation and Devers and Barr escape in the latter’s ship. Barr only cooperated with Riose to prevent the discovery of a planned Siwennian uprising in the event of the Foundation’s triumph over Riose.
Devers and Barr head to Trantor in an attempt at turning Cleon II against Riose by implicating the latter in a conspiracy to overthrow the former with the help of Brodrig. However, in their attempt to bribe their way up the chain of bureaucracy, they are caught in the act by a member of the Secret Police, but manage to flee the planet before they are arrested. During their escape, they intercept news of Bel Riose and Brodrig’s recall and subsequent arrest for treason (both are later said to have been executed), which leads to Siwenna’s rebellion and the end of the threat to the Foundation.
During the festivities celebrating Siwenna joining the Foundation, Barr explains to Devers and the Foundation’s top merchant prince Sennet Forell that the social background of the Empire made the Foundation’s victory inevitable regardless of what actions they and Bel Riose took, as only a strong Emperor and a strong general could have threatened the Foundation, but an Emperor is only strong by not allowing strong subjects to thrive, and Bel Riose’s success made him into a threat that Cleon II needed to eliminate. With the Empire nearing its end and the Second Foundation not expected to be met until centuries later, the Foundation anticipates no further opposition. However, an internal conflict between the Foundation’s merchant princes and the traders is foreshadowed.
The Mule
Approximately one hundred years later, The Empire, after its final phase of decline and civil war, has ceased to exist, Trantor has suffered “The Great Sack” by a “barbarian fleet,” and only a small rump state of 20 agricultural planets remain. Most of galactic civilization has disintegrated into barbaric kingdoms.
The Foundation has become the dominant power in the galaxy, controlling its territory through its trading network. The outline of the Seldon Plan has become widely known, and Foundationists and many others believe that as it has accurately predicted previous events, the Foundation’s formation of a Second Empire is inevitable. The leadership of the Foundation has become dictatorial and complacent, and many outer planets belonging to the Traders plan to revolt.
An external threat arises in the form of a mysterious man known only as the Mule. He is a mutant and can sense and manipulate the emotions of others, usually creating fear and/or total devotion within his victims. With this ability, he takes over the independent systems bordering the Foundation, and has them wage a war against it. In face of this new threat, the provincial Traders join with the central Foundation leaders against the Mule, believing him to be the new Seldon crisis.
As the Mule advances, the Foundation’s leaders assume that Seldon predicted this attack, and that the scheduled hologram crisis message appearance of Seldon will again tell them how to win. To their surprise, they learn that Seldon predicted a civil war with the Traders, not the rise of the Mule. The tape stops when Terminus loses all power in a Mule attack, and the Foundation falls.
Foundation citizens Toran and Bayta Darell, along with the psychologist Ebling Mis and “Magnifico Giganticus,” a clown fleeing the Mule’s service, travel to different worlds of the Foundation, and to the Great Library of Trantor. The Darells and Mis seek to contact the Second Foundation, which they believe can defeat the Mule. They also suspect the Mule wishes to know where the Second Foundation is as well, so that he can use the First Foundation’s technology to destroy it.
At the Great Library, Ebling Mis works until his health fatally deteriorates. As Mis lies dying, he tells Toran, Bayta, and Magnifico that he knows where the Second Foundation is. Before he can reveal its location, however, Bayta kills him. Bayta had realized, shortly before, that Magnifico was actually the Mule, who had used his powers in every planet they had previously visited. In the same way, he had forced Mis to continue working and find what the Mule was looking for. Bayta had killed Mis to prevent him from revealing the Second Foundation’s whereabouts to the Mule.
The Darells are left on Trantor. The Mule leaves to reign over the Foundation and the rest of his new empire. The existence of the Second Foundation, as an organization centered on the science of psychology and mentalics, in contrast to the Foundation’s focus on physical sciences, is now known to the Darells and the Mule. Now that the Mule has conquered the Foundation, he is the most powerful force in the galaxy, and the Second Foundation is the only threat to his eventual reign over the entire galaxy. The Mule promises that he will find the Second Foundation, while Bayta asserts that it has already prepared for him and thus that he will not have enough time before the Second Foundation reacts.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Before Midnight Series: Nero Wolfe #25 Author: Rex Stout Rating: 4 of 5 Stars Genre: Mystery Pages: 164 Words: 60K
After the previous book, The Black Mountain, this was just like sliding back into a comfortable pair of slippers. All the roughness was gone, things fit just the way they were supposed, I knew what to expect walking up a set of stairs, contract killing was off the table, I knew what these slippers could and could not do. That is a good feeling and it’s even better when it applies to a book series.
Wolfe is hired to find a missing wallet which may contain the answers to a very lucrative poetry contest. The only snag is that the guy who owns the wallet has been murdered. Wolfe doesn’t care, as he hasn’t been hired to deal with that aspect of things. Of course the clients don’t think that, nor do the police, so you get a lot of drama going on just on that bit of misunderstanding. The clients (3 members of an advertising firm and the owner of the company paying out the prize money) are mostly despicable lowlifes who are impatient and think they have “rights”. Wolfe disabuses them of THAT idea early on. I wish we had more Wolfe’s in the world to disabuse the Social Justice Warriors of all the “rights” they make up ad hoc, usually ones that only apply to them too. Well, Wolfe is a fictional character so that particular dream of mine is just that, a dream. Since I am a diabetic, I can’t gain 120+ pounds and BE Nero Wolfe to save us all from idiots and stupidos. More’s the pity 🙁
Archie plays his vital role of being the go-between for the reader and Wolfe. While he’s not integral to solving the mystery (Wolfe pretty much keeps him in the dark the whole time and this riles Archie up pretty good), he’s the oil that keeps us reading without friction, without getting annoyed at Wolfe. For Archie gets annoyed at Wolfe and allows us the reader to sublimate our own feelings through his, without making us throw the book against the wall because of how Wolfe acts.
A very successful return to form for Wolfe and Archie, and it’s a full novel so we run the gamut instead of getting three little stories. I’m pleased with this.
★★★★☆
From Wikipedia:
Click to Open
Nero Wolfe is approached by corporate attorney Rudolf Hansen and his clients Oliver Buff, Vernon Assa and Patrick O’Garro, the chief executives of Manhattan advertising agency Lippert Buff Assa (LBA). The group want Wolfe to save them from embarrassment and ruin following the murder of Louis Dahlmann, an up-and-coming advertising executive with the firm. Dahlmann’s wallet was also stolen, and inside were the final answers for a series of cryptic poetic riddles run as part of a promotional competition for Pour Amour, a brand of perfume designed by one of LBA’s clients. The first prize of the competition is $500,000, and in a meeting with the final five contestants the night before his death Dahlmann had revealed that he kept the answers in his wallet, both of which lead the police to suspect one of the contestants. The executives, however, do not want Wolfe to investigate the murder but to find out who stole the wallet before the contest deadline—midnight of the nineteenth of April, exactly one week later—in order to ensure the integrity of proceedings and restore their reputation. Despite tension between the advertising agency and Talbott Heery, owner of the company that produces Pour Amour, Wolfe agrees to their terms.
Wolfe dispatches Archie Goodwin to secure a copy of the final riddles and their answers for Wolfe’s reference, and proceeds to interview each of the contestants: Gertrude Frazee, the leader of an anti-cosmetics women’s group who has been using her members to find the answers for the riddles to try and embarrass the cosmetics industry; Carol Wheelock, a housewife who wants the prize money to secure a better life for her family; Harold Rollins, a condescending academic who entered the competition as part of an intellectual exercise; Susan Tescher, a magazine editor who wants to do a profile on Wolfe himself; and Philip Younger, a retiree seeking to recover a fortune he lost during the Great Depression. Although skeptical that Wolfe is only investigating the theft and not the murder, Inspector Cramer shares what the police have learned about the case so far. Other than the financial motive, none of the contestants appears to have had any serious reason or opportunity to either murder Dahlmann or steal the answers, and much to Archie’s concern Wolfe’s investigation appears to lose energy and focus.
As the deadline nears, the LBA executives begin to panic and lash out, resulting in a contradictory sequence where Wolfe is fired and then rehired within a span of minutes. When all seems lost, however, an anonymous source sends copies of the answers to each of the contestants, thus voiding the contest and saving LBA. Although Archie, the LBA executives and the police suspect Wolfe of doing so, he insists that he was not responsible, and begins to suspect one of the advertising executives of at least stealing the wallet, if not murdering Dahlmann. After the letters are sent, Vernon Assa approaches Wolfe and attempts to unilaterally dismiss him from the case, but Wolfe refuses. His suspicions aroused, Wolfe summons the major players to his office and claims he will reveal the identity of the thief, and in doing so provide the police with vital information to help them identify the murderer. Before he can do so, however, Vernon Assa is poisoned with cyanide surreptitiously slipped into his drink and dies on the floor of Wolfe’s office. Dahlmann’s wallet is found in his pocket, suggesting that he was the thief and murderer.
Infuriated at the murder of someone who was enjoying his hospitality and skeptical of Assa’s guilt, Wolfe determines to identify the true culprit. He, along with Archie and Saul Panzer, travels to the offices of LBA and inspects a display of products from their clients, discovering a bottle of cyanide that he suspects was used to murder Assa; this confirms in Wolfe’s mind the guilt of one of the executives. Confronting Buff, O’Garro and Hansen, Wolfe lays out the facts of the case and accuses Buff of murdering both Dahlmann and Assa. Buff is the only man who had clear means and opportunity, and Wolfe speculates that he was driven to murder Dahlmann out of jealousy and fear over Dahlmann’s skills eclipsing and threatening his position. Assa discovered the wallet that Buff stole from Dahlmann to cover his tracks, and Buff murdered him to silence him. When Buff tries to throw suspicion on O’Garro, O’Garro reveals that Wolfe is correct. Buff is convicted of murder, but the remaining LBA executives challenge Wolfe’s fee, arguing that as the thief and murderer Buff presumably exposed himself when he sent out the letters containing the final answers. In response, Wolfe reveals in confidence that he will be adding onto his bill the price of a used typewriter that has been disposed of in the East River, implying that he was in fact responsible for sending out the letters and saving them from humiliation after all.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Virgin Soil Series: (The Russians) Author: Ivan Turgenev Translator: RS Townsend Rating: 5 of 5 Stars Genre: Classic Pages: 305 Words: 94K
We follow a group of young people, but mainly one named Nezhdanov, who are trying to change the face of Russia by stirring up peasants and getting them to revolt. I believe this was the precursor to Lenin’s 1917 successful Revolution. Either way, this story is about the failure of it all, mainly because the agitators are young idiots with more ideals than common sense in their heads. Apparently none of them had read history or knew what Revolutions do to most countries. They thought there would be a titanic bloodbath and then everyone would immediately settle down to love and brotherly unity. What a bunch of dumfkophs! And to top it off, the group that Nezhdanov is involved in does start a revolt, but the peasants themselves turn against the agitators and so it’s a complete failure. Nezhdanov then goes and kills himself.
Nezhdanov was the quintessential picture of a sentimental, idealistic young man with the spine of a jellyfish. He doesn’t marry the girl he loves, he doesn’t commit to the cause wholeheartedly, he doesn’t do anything (even writing his own poetry) wholeheartedly. He waffles and whines and feels bad for himself and questions why life is so unfair, blah, blah, blah. In fact, he sounds an awful lot like a lot of young people I hear today. And that scares the tar out of me. Because someone like Lenin was born to that generation, so what’s this new generation going to give birth to?
With all of this doom and gloom, you might wonder why I’m still giving this 5stars.
That is simple. This captured the spirit of the Russians people at that time, like a photo engraved into titanium. While I thought Nezhdanov was a spineless, cowardly, stupid, sentimental idiot, I saw some of the same characteristics that I had in my early 20’s. Now, my idealism wasn’t channeled into advocating violent revolution, but I was just as idealistic as he was. I just wasn’t a stupid jellyfish (at least, so I hope). The story showed the thinking that was going on between the peasants, the Revolutionaries and the Aristocracy. You couldn’t have asked for a better representation, warts and all. While I didn’t sympathize at all, or even intellectually agree in any way, with the Revolutionaries, seeing how they affected those around them was quite eye opening. Upon reflection, I am afraid the US is following a similar path to the one shown here. Social Justice Warriors are the new Nihilists of our day age. They want what they want and they want it NOW and if you die in the process, well, it was for the Cause, Comrade!
This was Turgenev’s last novel and I shall be diving into his novella’s upon my next foray. I hope they are as good as this.
★★★★★
From Wikipedia.org & Bookstooge.blog
Click to Open
The novel centres on a depiction of some of the young people in late nineteenth century Russia who decided to reject the standard cultural mores of their time, join the Populist movement, and ‘go amongst the people’, living the lives of simple workers and peasants rather than lives of affectation and luxury. The novel has a number of central characters around whom the action revolves. It explores, for instance, the life of Alexey Dmitrievich Nezhdanov, the illegitimate son of an aristocrat, who seeks to radicalise the peasantry and involve them in political action. He is given a job as tutor to Kolya, the nine-year-old son of Sipyagin, a local politician, and goes to live on his country estate. Whilst working there he becomes attracted to Marianna, the niece of the family.
Another central character is Vasily Solomin, who manages a local factory and is also a Populist, though one with less optimism about the potential of the movement to effect fundamental socio-economic change.
The novel ends with several of the characters trying to create a peasant uprising and it’s failure. One of them is sent off to Siberia, another kills himself and another marries a girl and works hard.
And here we go, the first bend in the railroad as the Christmas Carol Express begins to go off the rails! Choooo chooo!
First off, besides the Muppets, Michael Caine has the starring role as Ebenezer Scrooge. If a movie has Michael Caine in it, you know it’s going to be a good movie. While fringe nut job yobs might try to present evidence to the contrary, I simply ask my readers, who are you going to trust? Me, or some fringe nut job yob? Michael Caine = you know you are getting a good movie.
On to the slightly more serious.
The singing. Muppets movies always have singing, whether the audience wants it or not. I’ve resigned myself to this fact and tried to not let it unduly influence me. Of course, just because Michael Caine is a good actor doesn’t mean he’s a good singer. He does take part in one song and I have to admit, he’s not terrible but I think things might have had a bit more glitz if they’d dubbed him over with Michael Jackson, who was still arguably the Prince of Pop in ’92. The message conveyed by the songs are as trite and shallow as you’d expect from a Disney production but really, if you read Dickens’ book, he’s not really that much deeper. Oh yes, the Missing Song. In the theatres, there is an extra song that was subsequently cut out from all dvd/bluray releases. I personally didn’t miss it but if you’re a completionist, it is supposed to be included in the next “upgrade” to this movie. 4K I believe. Simply one more way for Disney to bend you over and make you think you like it. The picture below shows the type of propaganda Disney promulgates.
On to the good stuff.
If you are a fan of the Muppets and their zaniness, then this is a no-brainer to watch, even if Dickens isn’t your cup of tea. Between Fozziwig (a cute play on Fozzi’s name being used for that character) and his Rubber Chicken Factory to Gonzo playing Charles Dickens (and being distracted by every chicken that walks by) to Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy playing Bob & Mrs Cratchett, you get your fill. While a knowledge of the Muppets isn’t essential, knowing them as The Muppets gives an added dimension to the fun. An example would the single scene where Sam the Eagle is sending a young Scrooge off to his first place of business as an apprentice and rhapsodizes about the the beauty of business. Sam ends it with “…and that is the American Way!”. Gonzo whispers in his ear and Sam immediately says “…and that is the British Way!”. Which is really funny if you know that Sam is the proto-American Super Patriot as a Muppet.
The story proceeds at a rapid pace and almost feels like Scrooge changes for the sake of changing. However, this is in keeping with the original book and shouldn’t surprise anyone. Throw in that this movie was made for a juvenile audience and the pacing is perfectly in line with what out of touch Hollywood Directors think is appropriate for your child. Just don’t expect a deeply thoughtful, insightful and deeply philosophical movie and you should be just fine. You’re in this for the singing, dancing and laughs.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: The Light Fantastic Series: Discworld #2 Author: Terry Pratchett Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Fantasy Pages: 118 Words: 46K
I really enjoyed this. Considering that this and The Colour of Magic are really one book split into two parts and that I gave my re-read of CoM the coveted 5star rating, it shouldn’t surprise anyone, myself included, that I enjoyed this so much.
However, there was one thing that made me bump this down a half star. There are some really wicked weird time skips. One chapter Rincewind will be in a forest with Two Flowers and the next thing Cohen the Barbarian is rescuing them from wizards. There was nothing in between. That kind of thing happened 2 or 3 times and it was very disconcerting. I actually had to check to make sure I didn’t have a bad ebook with bits missing, it was that jarring. But nope, this was the real deal. I guess Pratchett had to make some cuts because 118 pages was pushing things back in the 80’s (oh, I’d kill for that mindset in publishers today. I’d even kill a real person for that to happen). So that’s the only reason this didn’t get 5stars from me.
If I was going to compare this duology to a food item, I think I’d have to call this a soft oatmeal raisin cookie. Yummy, sweet, delicious, with just enough texture to make your mouth stay interested in taking another bite but by no means a main course, even though you “could” gorge yourself and then suffer the consequences. So don’t be stupid, don’t gorge yourself on Discworld. Read it in appropriate amounts at the right time. You’ll thank me and so will your carpet (which you won’t be throwing up on if you listen to me)
★★★★✬
From Wikipedia.org
Click to Open
The book begins shortly after the ending of The Colour of Magic, with wizard Rincewind, Twoflower and the Luggage falling from the Discworld. They are saved when the Octavo, the most powerful book of magic on the Discworld, readjusts reality to prevent the loss of one of its eight spells, which has resided in Rincewind’s head since his expulsion from Unseen University: Rincewind, Twoflower and the Luggage end up in the Forest of Skund. Meanwhile, the wizards of Ankh-Morpork use the Rite of Ashk-Ente to summon Death to find an explanation for the Octavo’s actions. Death warns them that the Discworld will soon be destroyed by a huge red star unless the eight spells of the Octavo are read.
Several orders of wizards travel to the forest of Skund to try and capture Rincewind, who is currently staying with Twoflower and the Luggage in a gingerbread house in the forest. In the subsequent chaos, Rincewind and Twoflower escape on an old witch’s broom, while the Archchancellor of Unseen University is killed when his attempt to obtain the spell accidentally summons the Luggage on top of him, crushing him to death. His apprentice, Ymper Trymon, uses the opportunity to advance his own power, intending to obtain the eight spells for himself.
Rincewind and Twoflower run into a group of druids who have assembled a “computer” formed from large standing stones, and learn of the approaching red star. As Twoflower attempts to stop the druids from sacrificing a young woman named Bethan, Cohen the Barbarian, an octogenarian parody of Conan, attacks the druids. Twoflower is poisoned in the battle, forcing Rincewind to travel to Death’s Domain to rescue him. The pair narrowly avoid being killed by Ysabell, Death’s adopted daughter, and as they escape Death’s Domain, Rincewind learns from the Octavo itself that it had arranged for its eighth spell to escape into his head, to ensure the spells would not be used before the right time.
Rincewind and Twoflower travel with Cohen and Bethan to a nearby town, where the toothless Cohen leaves to have some dentures made for him, having learned of them from Twoflower. While he is gone, Rincewind, Twoflower and Bethan are attacked by a mob of people who believe the star is coming to destroy the Discworld in response to the presence of magic. The trio escape into one of many shops that sell strange and sinister goods and inexplicably vanish the next time a customer tries to find them. The existence of these shops is explained as being a curse by a sorcerer upon the shopkeeper for not having something in stock. They are able to return to Ankh-Morpork via the shop.
As the star comes nearer and the magic on the Discworld becomes weaker, Trymon tries to put the seven spells still in the Octavo into his mind, in an attempt to save the world and gain ultimate power. However, the spells prove too strong for him and his mind becomes a door into the “Dungeon Dimensions”, home to all manner of eldritch creatures. Rincewind and Twoflower manage to kill the now-mutated Trymon, and Rincewind reads all eight of the Octavo’s spells aloud. This causes eight moons of the red star to crack open and reveal eight tiny world-turtles that follow their parent A’Tuin on a course away from the star. The Octavo then falls and is eaten by the Luggage.
Twoflower and Rincewind part company as Twoflower decides to return home, leaving the Luggage with Rincewind as a parting gift. Cohen and Bethan also leave to get married. Rincewind decides to re-enroll in the university, believing that with the spell out of his head, he will finally be able to learn magic.
I have been wondering about trying something different for my Magic art on Monday’s. To date, I’ve just been putting up the card with all its info. I was thinking about maybe adding a second picture that is just the art part of the card. So I’ll do this for a card I’ve already used earlier this year and you can tell me what you think. Even if it’s an “ehhh, don’t care either way”.
I didn’t want to JUST use the artwork, because half the fun, for me as a magic fan, is seeing all that info. I also like when there are quotes or bits of information at the bottom of the card. Looking at this arrangement, I’m wondering if I should put the art first and the card second. You know what? Words and space are cheap. So I’m letting go of my innate Yankee Thriftiness and I’m going to splurge. I’m going to try the other way below. Man, you’re practically getting TWO posts today when you weren’t even supposed to get any. You better count yourselves lucky. Maybe buy me a lottery ticket or something 😉
Do you have an aesthetic preference for seeing the card or the art first? I know it’s hard to get a good feel, what with me blabbing away all over the place here, but let me know what you think.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot, by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
This was a little bit repetitive for my taste. The only change in the situation was each time that Groo had to get a new chess piece for the witch so she’d give him another potion. He’d attack the town and THAT was different each time. Even Aragones can only show that so many times before it gets boring. Considering we see Groo uglify the other town each time and Arcadio un-uglify it, it felt very much like complete and utter filler. Just something for Aragones to do to meet a deadline.
It was amusing but not really funny. Part of that was just how tired I am and how busy life feels right now and how my emotional life is relentlessly acting like a teenager and I’m just exhausted on every front. I’m too tired to even pick a page from the comic and showcase it.
★★★☆☆
From Bookstooge.blog
Click to Open
Groo is called by Arcadio to help break a spell on his town. Someone has turned them all stupid and mindless. They used to be ugly but Arcadio broke that spell when he married the princess. But it happened after Groo had left the village. So when Groo shows up and sees everyone absolutely gorgeous, he thinks THAT is the curse and gets a potion that turns them all ugly again. Arcadio had also gone to get a cure so when he returns he finds everyone ugly AND stupid. So he uses the cure to make them beautiful. This back and forth happens 32 times until Groo and Arcadio finally meet. Arcadio explains what is going on and of course Groo doesn’t understand. He uses the final potion to uglify everyone, including Arcadio and the Minstrel. The whole town is now smart again thanks to Arcadio and they all chase Groo out of the town, trying to kill him.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Cthulhu’s Daughter and Other Horror Stories Series: Author: Rhiannon Frater Rating: 1 of 5 Stars /DNF@50% Genre: Horror Pages: 103 / 52 Words: 35K / 18K
I was going to add this to the Cthulhu Anthology series, but once I opened this up and found only the first story was Cthulhu related, I put paid to that.
The rest of what I read was so wrapped up in mommy issues that I wondered why the author hadn’t sought out professional help. It was that bad.
Then I got to the lesbian vampire story and that put paid to the book. I wasn’t sad about stopping, that’s for sure.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: A Ship of the Line Series: Horatio Hornblower #2 Author: Cecil Scott Forester Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars Genre: Historical Fiction Pages: 217 Words: 85K
While this receives the same rating as the previous book, I enjoyed myself much more because I was prepared for Hornblower to be a real human character and not a idealized paragon like I was expecting in the first book.
In this novel Lady Barbara is now married to an Admiral and Hornblower’s wife is pregnant. Hornblower loves his wife and does his duty by her, but he doesn’t respect her and I found that sad. She is who she is and while she’s not elegant, she loves him and does everything she can to support him. I don’t think Hornblower realizes how much of a blessing a wife like that is. Of course, the culture of money at the time didn’t care about that kind of wife, so the attitude would have trickled down without him even realizing it. Just goes to show that we can be affected by the culture around us without us even trying.
There was some good naval action and Hornblower’s fight against the Frenchies and their fiendishly devilish Freedom Fries was a good reminder to all Patriots the world over that yes, they are Freedom Fries and NOT French Fries. So don’t forget it. But seriously, there were several scenes where Hornblower is calculating angles and percentages in his head, in regards to the maneuvering of his ship, and as a land surveyor it quite impressed me. Practice can only do so much and then talent kicks it up that extra notch. It’s like adding a little BAAAM with your spice weasel, as Chef Elzar would say.
Even though this ended on a cliffhanger, with Hornblower surrendering to some Frenchies, I didn’t feel the need to rush out and immediately read the next book. It was more like something to look forward to, seeing how Hornblower would handle captivity. I’m kind of excited to read the next book when it rolls around. That’s always a good way to end a book.
★★★✬☆
From Wikipedia.org
Details – Click to Open
Hornblower has recently returned to England from the Pacific in the frigate HMS Lydia, having gained widespread fame (but no financial stability) as a result of sinking the superior ship Natividad in battle. As a reward for his exploits, he is given command of a seventy-four ship of the line, HMS Sutherland, once the Dutch ship Eendracht,[a] and which is, in Hornblower’s estimation, “the ugliest and least desirable two-decker in the Navy List”.
He is assigned to serve under Rear Admiral Leighton, Lady Barbara Wellesley’s new husband. Throughout, Hornblower is torn between his love for Lady Barbara and his sense of duty and loyalty to his frumpy wife, Maria. His feelings for Maria are complicated by the previous loss of both of his children to smallpox.
Hornblower’s first orders are to escort a convoy of East Indiamen off the Spanish coast. He successfully fights off simultaneous attack on the convoy by two fast, manoeuvrable privateer luggers. Since he has been forced to sail with an understrength crew, and had to make do with “lubbers, sheepstealers, and bigamists”, he breaks Admiralty regulations and presses twenty sailors from each Indiaman just before they part company. With his ship now at full complement, Hornblower wreaks havoc on the French-occupied Spanish coast. He captures a French brig, the Amelie, by surprise, storms a French fort and takes several more vessels in its harbour as prizes, repeatedly fires upon several thousand Italian soldiers marching along a coastal road, and saves his Admiral’s ship from certain ruin by towing it away from a French battery during a severe storm.
When Hornblower encounters a squadron of four French ships of the line that have broken through the English blockade of Toulon, he attacks them despite the odds of four to one, and manages to disable or heavily damage all of them. However, with many of his crew killed or wounded, including Bush, who loses a leg, and his ship dismasted, he is then forced to strike his colours and surrender. This novel ends as a cliffhanger.
Last year, I listened to A Christmas Carol narrated by Patrick Stewart. After reading the original novella by Dickens and then listening to it again narrated by Tim Curry, I wanted to dive into the visual side of things with a serious start. There were so many options to choose from that I decided to stick to something that I was semi-familiar with. So Patrick Stewart as Scrooge it was.
This movie definitely takes liberties, mainly in padding out scenes merely alluded to in Dicken’s novella. But the director didn’t try to change the spirit of things. To me, that’s important.
Of course, Patrick Stewart being Ebenezer Scrooge takes center stage. I thought he did a fantastic job. From the beginning at the burial scene of Jacob Marley, Stewart projected that tightfisted, angry, self-centered and utterly materialistic man of the world. His facial expressions never wavered, never let the audience forget just what kind of man Ebenezer Scrooge was. And yet, just like in the story, I could SEE Scrooge changing as the night went on. It takes a consummate actor to display such little changes without coming across as hamming it.
The story is short and so thus is the movie. It’s done before it even started. I sat down to watch it and boom, it was over! I like that. No messing around, just tell the story and move on with your life. More movies should take the hint.
1 All creatures of our God and King, lift up your voice and with us sing, "Alleluia! Alleluia!" Thou burning sun with golden beam, thou silver moon with softer gleam, O praise Him, O praise Him! alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
2 Thou rushing wind that art so strong, ye clouds that sail in heav'n along, O praise Him! Alleluia! Thou rising morn, in praise rejoice, ye lights of ev'ning, find a voice, O praise Him, O praise Him! alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
3 And all ye men of tender heart, forgiving others, take your part, O sing ye! Alleluia! Ye who long pain and sorrow bear, praise God and on Him cast your care; O praise Him, O praise Him! alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
4 Let all things their Creator bless, and worship Him in humbleness; O praise Him! Alleluia! Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son, and praise the Spirit, Three in One; O praise Him, O praise Him! alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!
A great old hymn, All Creatures of Our God and King. It was originally written in 1225 by Francis of Assisi and paraphrased into modern english by William Draper sometime between 1899 and 1919. Once I saw what Miss Ross had drawn up for her Christmas offering, this hymn immediately sprang to my mind. Couldn’t be a better mix in my opinion. Enjoy.
This review is written with a GPL 4.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at WordPress & Blogspot by Bookstooge’s Exalted Permission
Title: Deja Vu Halloo Series: Reeves and Worcester Steampunk Mysteries #5 Author: Chris Dolley Rating: 3 of 5 Stars Genre: Steampunk Mystery Pages: 139 Words: 42K
It’s been about 2 years since I read the previous Reeves and Worcester book, The Unpleasantness at Baskerville Hall, and I was hoping that would breathe some new life into this fifth book. Unfortunately, it did not.
Don’t get me wrong, this was still amusing and I don’t regret reading it at all, but it was starting to feel tired. Time machines, the faux-PG Wodehouse expressions, it seemed like Dolley (the author) was just going through the motions. Considering this was published in ‘20 and there’s not been another one, I suspect Dolley realized where things were headed and just stopped before he ran off a cliff. I can respect that in an author.
The timey-wimey aspect of this, with Reeves and Worcester repeating the same day over and over again, glazed my eyes over. When Reeves began explaining how they were going to break the time loop I completely checked out until they did. Worcester getting sloshed every night so he’d remember the time loop was amusing and when you throw in the various things he and Reeves get up to, it was a good time all around. There was one particular amusing part to the story where Worcester meets the Aunt and Uncle of his fiance and they are 8th Day Secessionists. I just laughed my head off, what with being a 7th Day Adventist myself.
One thing I would like to see is Worcester and his fiance get married. That has all the hallmarks of some serious Wodehousian shenanigan potential. But sadly, I doubt it will happen. Ahhh, it is better to have read and not got the ending you wanted than to have never read at all. Some bloke named Bookstodge made up that quote. Quite a genius, eh? I thought so. If I could track him down, I’d like to give him a solid gold dumptruck just to show him how appreciative I am of his input into the literary world.
★★★☆☆
From the Publisher
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It’s Groundhog Day, 1906. February 2nd is stuck on repeat, and only our intrepid trio appear to have noticed. Emmeline senses the meddling of a higher power – possibly her aunt. Reggie’s sure it’ll be the handiwork of the subterranean horror one least suspects. And Reeves considers it all “most disturbing.”
Can our heroes save the world from perpetual winter? And could ending the time loop be just the start of an even thornier problem?
This short novel is the sixth Reeves & Worcester Steampunk mystery and is set a few months after The Unpleasantness at Baskerville Hall.
