The Younger Sister (Standalone) 2.5Stars

 

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 Younger Sister
Series: ----------
Author: Catherine Hubback
Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Romance
Pages: 518
Words: 200K
Publish: 1850

Jane Austen started a novel called “The Watsons” and only wrote five chapters before abandoning it. Many years later, a niece, one Catherine Hubback, took those five chapters and turned them into a sprawling mid 1800’s romance novel.

This novel is divided into three sections and I found the first to be the strongest. It was the closest to Austen’s original five chapters and I felt like Hubback was constrained by them and that kept the train on the tracks. It wasn’t Austen writing, but it was pretty close and “felt” like what she might have written. I thoroughly enjoyed that part and had high hopes for the rest of the book. That was the part I was in the early stages of when I posted my “Currently Reading” post about this book earlier this month.

Sadly, parts two and three were completely Hubback’s and she was no Austen, not by a long shot. There was more blushing, face coloring and ten-thousand other euphemisms for blushing as could be stuffed in as possible. Emma Watson faints on several occasions, hides necessary information “because it wouldn’t be proper” (mainly about her feelings) and generally buys into the “upper class people are inherently better” idea that seemed more of Hubback than anything. The characters, after part one, did not feel like Austen characters at all and how they acted and reacted were not Austen’esque at all.

Emma Watson herself is a Mary Sue of Morality and she waxes on and on about it, until I rolled my eyes. Emma gets the guy (a Mr Howard who is a “tutor” who is also somehow a preacher?) even though every other guy she runs across in the story ALSO wants her. Some are stupid, some are honorable and some are even, gasp, dishonorable. Oh the humanity of it!!!

To end, I don’t regret reading this, but I can’t recommend it unless you are a diehard (Bruce Willis doesn’t recommend this, ha!) Austen fan. It did convince me not to seek out any more novels by Hubback, which I don’t think will be a problem. It has also given me pause about the idea of seeking out some of the “completed” adaptations of Austen’s unfinished “Sanditon”.

★★✬☆☆

From The Internet:

Emma Watson, the youngest child of six from a poor family, was sent away as a child to be raised by her wealthy aunt and uncle. When her uncle dies and her aunt remarries, Emma (now a pretty, well-educated, and opinionated young woman) returns home to help care for her ailing father and reconnect with her estranged siblings. She quickly must learn how to behave among the less affluent and navigate her way through the affections of many young men vying for her attention.

• All My “Jane Austen” Reviews

• Reading Austen 2025 Master Post

Destroyer of Worlds (Saga of the Forgotten Warrior #3) 4Stars

 

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: Destroyer of Worlds
Series: Saga of the Forgotten Warrior #3
Author: Larry Correia
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 392
Words: 143K
Publish: 2020

Correia’s love of the Second Amendment (the RIGHT to bear arms) shines through here. I loved it!

I like the story and the direction Correia is taking things but unless things change dramatically, this is going to be a series of his that I don’t plan on re-reading. It is solid, but it isn’t getting its hooks into me like some of his other books have.

And that is about the only complaint I have, that it isn’t as good as some of his other stuff. What a great problem, right!? I love those kind of problems, hahaahaha.

I would say if Urban Fantasy isn’t your thing but you’d like to try Correia anyway, this fantasy series would be a great place to check him out. As a total bonus, this six book series is also finished! The whole shebang is ready to be read. So if you read like me and rotate your books or if you are a serial binger, you’re covered either way.

This “review” is short even by my standards, but I don’t have much to say. It’s a good, enjoyable read and I was quite satisfied with the time I spent on reading it.

★★★★☆

From Upstreamreviews.substack.com

Each book starts with a flashback to a significant event decades in the past. In this instance, we get a look at the feud between Devedas and Ashok, two men of similar skillset yet very different temperament. Ashok has power that he doesn’t want yet cannot shed, while Devedas is outwardly worthy of that power and cannot have it. His only avenue is to challenge Ashok to a duel and win his sword. Ashok naturally wins the fight, as he is the bearer of an ancestor blade. Devedas still harbors the same feelings in the present.

At the end of HOUSE OF ASSASSINS, our heroes shared in a victory over the eponymous wizard cult and rescued their prophetess, Thera Vane. While the main conflict is not over, they do get to rest and recover a little bit, and those with distant obligations will part ways with the main group to tend to what’s theirs.

In the Capital of Lok, the Grand Inquisitor Omand Vokkan is still scheming to have all of the casteless annihilated. He manipulates the government to keep things moving. While he is technically in an alliance with Devedas, neither man truly trusts the other. Devedas sees to the casteless eradication, and during one encounter he notices that the casteless and other rebels are fighting back with Fortress weapons (crude black powder rifles.) The Isle of Fortress is the only place where these weapons are made, and its geographical location across the water makes it impossible for Lok to wipe them out. Owning their technology in Lok is illegal, but hey, there’s a lot of that going on lately.

Ashok and Thera, the champion and the prophetess, take up a romantic relationship together as they lead the surviving casteless army to a distant stronghold, called the Cove. When they finally reach the place, secured by their friend Keeta, they learn that other rebels are waylaid by a plague and are not expected to live for long.

Among the rebels there is an Inquisitor spy named Javed who regularly checks in with Omand, using demon parts to magically communicate with his master. It is revealed that the plague is artificial, created by a magical pattern that Omand employed in order to mess with the rebels’ religious superstitions. The plan is to undo the plague at a key time, thus controlling the religious narrative and subverting Thera’s prophecies.

However, while Javed is away, Thera has a breakthrough with the Voice in her head and is able to see the necessary pattern to cure the plague. She implements the cure and people start getting better before Javed does anything, which further complicates Omand’s schemes. Worse, it proves that the Forgotten Gods have become more brazen in their involvement in the war.

As Devedas continues onward, his quest eventually leads him to a final standoff with Ashok, bringing their lifelong feud to a head. Both men deal out incredible damage to each other, fueled and healed by their connection to the Heart of the Mountain (see book 1), but when Ashok moves in for the kill, the Forgotten Gods once again intervene and spare Devedas’ life. As a result, Ashok is hurled into a nearby river and his body is washed away, while the rebels escape.

Elsewhere throughout the story, other characters cross paths: Jagdish, determined to return to his wife and unborn child, takes his haul from the House of Assassins and returns to House Vadal, where he is treated as a deserter and awaits sentencing. However, he anticipated this outcome and told his story along the way, drumming up popular support for himself, which puts Harta Vadal (the House leader) in a precarious position.

Rada and Karno, still on the run from Inquisitors and their assassins, end up in Vadal territory and are also taken in by Harta. In a piece of deft political maneuvering, Rada counsels Harta to take control of Jagdish’s story and tell everyone that he was a secret undercover operative with Ashok’s army, and that he did exactly what he was supposed to do, returning to Vadal with incredible wealth. This allows Harta to benefit from Jagdish’s popularity, and Jagdish is promoted to the head of a garrison.

When Jagdish finally returns home, he learns that his wife tragically died during childbirth while he was away, but that his child survived, and he now has a daughter instead of a son, as he had supposed. Later, when Rada and Karno seek to escape further danger, Jagdish takes them into his garrison, grateful for how they helped him.

The story concludes when Ashok wakes up on the shores of the Isle of Fortress, having floated across the waters to that distant land. A local suggests that his injuries and subsequent journey should have killed him, to which Ashok says that he’s starting to think he’s not allowed to die.

Instill Energy - MTG 4E

 

Now, was ol' Dameon giving homage to "Adam's Creator" or just outright stealing the idea? Michelangelo is rolling in his grave either way!

Father Sergius (The Russians) 2Stars

 

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: Father Sergius
Series: (The Russians)
Author: Leo Tolstoy
Translator:
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Pages: 56
Words: 17K
Publish: 1911 (posthumously)

Two stars of mystical, infantile, feelings oriented theology. This really seems to sum up Russian Orthodoxy as portrayed by Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky.

John MacArthur, a New Testament scholar and preacher (who has recently passed away), has talked about Mysticism a lot over the years. He’s had the following to say:

“Mysticism is the idea that direct knowledge of God or ultimate reality is achieved through personal, subjective intuition or experience apart from, or even contrary to, historical fact or objective divine revelation…

...People begin to pursue paranormal experiences, supernatural phenomena, and special revelations—as if our resources in Christ weren’t enough. They spin their views of God and spiritual truth out of their own self-authenticated, self-generated feelings, which become more important to them than the Bible.”

~ https://www.gty.org/blogs/B190417/christ-plus-mysticism

I only recently came across MacArthur (recently, as in the last decade), so he was not an influence on me in my growing up years. But I certainly agree with his assessment of mysticism and how it has infiltrated much of the protestant church here in America.

Don’t get me wrong, God gave us our feelings. But we are NOT to act from them or take them as truth, especially when it comes to matters of theology. And this story is exactly what is stated in the quote. A mystical experience. And I’ll have NONE of that.

The more I read of Tolstoy, the less I am liking what I read.

★★☆☆

From Wikipedia.org

The story begins with the childhood and exceptional and accomplished youth of Prince Stepan Kasatsky. The young man is destined for great things. He discovers on the eve of his wedding that his fiancée Countess Mary Korotkova has had an affair with his beloved Tsar Nicholas I. The blow to his pride is massive, and he retreats to the arms of Russian Orthodoxy and becomes a monk. Many years of humility and doubt follow. He is ordered to become a hermit. Despite his being removed from the world, he is still remembered for having so remarkably transformed his life. One winter night, a group of merry-makers decide to visit him, and one of them, a divorced woman named Makovkina, spends the night in his cell, with the intention to seduce him. Father Sergius discovers he is still weak and in order to protect himself, cuts off his own finger. Makovkina is stunned by this act, and leaves the next morning, having vowed to change her life. A year later she has joined a convent. Father Sergius' reputation for holiness grows. He becomes known as a healer, and pilgrims come from far and wide. Yet Father Sergius is profoundly aware of his inability to attain a true faith. He is still tortured by boredom, pride, and lust. He fails a new test, when the young daughter of a merchant successfully beds him. The morning after, he leaves the monastery and seeks out Pashenka (Praskovya Mikhaylovna), whom he, with a group of other boys, had tormented many years ago. He finds her, now in all the conventional senses a failure in life, yet imbued with a sense of service towards her family. His path is now clearer. He begins to wander, until eight months later he is arrested in the company of a blind beggar who makes him feel closer to God. He is sent to Siberia, where he now works as the hired man of a well-to-do peasant, teaching the gentleman's young children and working in the gardens.

• The Russians

• Leo Tolstoy

• Fyodor Dostoyevsky

• Ivan Turgenev

• Nikolai Gogol

My Week XXIX or Wadical Wheels

 This week once again starts with events from last week. Our kia had been making some noises when you turned the wheel so we took it into the mechanics to have them do an oil change and find out what the noise was. They heard the engine "knocking" and called us right away and said whatever was causing the knocking was going to cost more than the car was currently worth and to not put ANY money into it, not even the oil change. So we were down 1 car, just like that. The mechanic told us not to take it on any long drives either, so that meant we didn't go to church that Sabbath as it is an hour away and is mostly highway, so it's highspeed. Nothing will ruin a good Sabbath like having your engine blowup while your traveling 75mph (120kph), hahahahaa.

I did briefly consider getting a new car but almost immediately threw that option away for two reasons. One, I had it pounded into my head that making payments on a car is one of the most irresponsible fiscal decisions one can make (and while most americans do that, well, look at the state of our personal credit as a nation, it is horrible) and it will simply drain you like a vampire bat. Second, even if we did scrimp and pay for one outright, it would leave our savings in such disrepair that if another emergency happened (like our furnace breaking down, or something like that), we would be sunk financially. So the new car option was out.

That left the used option. I began scouring Craigslist for used subarus and found a 2015 impreza with only 126K miles that seemed to be in good shape. It was being sold by a company that exclusively works on and sells Subarus. I called the place Monday to set up an appointment on Tuesday to test drive it and have the paperwork filled out.

Tuesday for work we were only 20minutes from the car place, so we took our lunch by driving over. I called the place, hoping that maybe I could pick the car up then and there, but the lady who does all the legal paperwork was out of the office until 1pm. But I saw it and got to drive it. Seemed just fine. So that evening Mrs B and I drove back up, signed the paperwork, paid our blood money and drove it home.

Wednesday was a ballbuster of a day. We had been doing what is called an "Asbuilt" of a new apartment complex. An asbuilt is when you locate everything on the property so the town has a complete record. This particular town needed a level of detail that is insane. We had to get all the parking lines where the cars park and all the decorative planted shrubs and trees. That part was actually all done several weeks or months ago. But what was left was pulling catch basins and sewer manholes and measuring all the inverts. A catchbasin is a square grate that water runs into and inside of that are pipes that channel the water to appropriate drainage areas. We had to measure the size of the pipes and how far they were from the top of the grate to make sure that the water was draining in the correct direction.

That was the nice part. Then we had to measure the sewer manholes and essentially do the same thing. We had to measure the size of the pipes and the distance from the top of the manhole to the inflow and the outflow to confirm that it had been built as it was supposed to be and that the crap was flowing in the right direction. What I'm going to show you is the cover itself that we have to remove (it weighs about 80lbs/36kg) and then a nice new sewer so you can see how the pipes go and then, a real life sewer.

There were about 50'ish structures in total, so that made for a very exhausting day. I was glad, on so many levels, when Wednesday was over. Mrs B meanwhile took care of registering the new car and getting license plates for it.

Thursday and Friday I was with yet another new guy. Tall Guy, the one I had worked with before and who was a whole foot taller than me, had quit during the two months I was gone due to my eye. Nobody missed him because he did such pisspoor work. But that does mean we don't have 3 full field crews and we have enough work that we NEED 3 full field crews. So one of the guys from the engineering department, who is working on getting his engineering degree, is being transferred over to the Survey department for the rest of the summer and the fall and he'll be working with me. He has zero experience with working in the field, so I'm teaching him everything from the ground up. The good part is that he has no bad habits I need to break him of, as the only way he will know to do everything is the way I show him (hahahahaha!) but the downside is that for the first month or so our productivity will be at turtlespeed as he learns. I should be happy that the head of survey feels confident enough to keep putting the new guys with me to train, but it is mentally, emotionally and physically exhausting. But eventually Friday was over and I was done work, at 3pm. I was happy about that!

Because that meant Mrs B and I were heading down south to go to the Cheesecake Factory! We go there once a year to celebrate our wedding anniversary (not on the day, but sometime during the month. And this year was our 17th, whooohooo). It is calorie laden food (I ordered the shepherds pie and I think it alone was 1200 calories) and we always take leftovers home. We also always order 4 slices of cheesecake to go. This year, we decided to just order whatever we wanted and to blazes with the calories.

Bookstooge ordered:

• diet coke (watching my waist line after all, hahahahaah)
• Cheeseburger spring rolls
• Shepherds pie
• side order of mashed potatoes

Mrs B ordered:

• water
• Sweet corn tamale cakes
• honey glazed carrots
• vegan cobb salad (that thing was the size of my head)

For cheesecake, we ordered a slice of the regular plain, 2 slices of the pumpkin cheesecake and 1 slice of the banana cream cheesecake. We ate enough of our regular food until we were comfortably full and then had them box it up along with the cheesecake to go. We were satiated and it was a great ride home. I feel asleep at 10pm sharp :-D

If you are interested in what any of the items looks like, they can be found at:
https://www.thecheesecakefactory.com/menu

Of course, I ended up waking up at 4am this morning, sigh. But I ate the rest of my shepherds pie (it was just as good as last night) and had the slice of regular cheesecake. That's the way to start a day! Then I went to the men's meeting that our sunday church has each saturday morning and then Mrs B and I went to church at the SDA church. Drove the new impreza there and back with nary a hitch. I took a nap at 2pm and at 3pm we went on a nice leisurely stroll around a local park to perk us back up. Once home, I began banging out this missive and that brings us to now.

What a week! But today has been good and it is sunny and warm and we have a car that is safe and cheesecake slices sitting in our fridge. What better way to end the week!

Gone for the Day

 

Been a pretty good week and I'll write about it tomorrow for a "My Week" post. But after work Mrs B and I are going to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate our wedding anniversary. So blogging is taking a backseat, as it should (well, kind of, because there's still this post after all).

See you all tomorrow!

Lair of Bones (Runelords #4) 2Stars

 

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: Lair of Bones
Series: Runelords #4
Author: David Farland
Rating: 2 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 396
Words: 147K
Publish: 2003

This (almost) 400 page book takes place in just three days, yes, that is right, three days. I also realized that this entire end of the world epic fantasy only took about six months from start to finish. I don’t know if Farland was reacting against the time frame experienced in the Wheel of Time books. Those take years from beginning to end and the world of the Wheel has time to prepare as best they can to face the end. Here, The End is right there, in their face, bammo!

One thing about Farland’s writing, that I’ve mentioned before, is how he’ll spend an inordinate amount of time on useless descriptions of the setting but only give one sentence to big, huge, impactful things. I just found out in this book, by ONE bleeding sentence, that the planet itself was moving closer to the sun! Maybe that was obliquely referred to in the previous books, but it sure didn’t have any impact on the weather or the characters and it (insert your choice of pejorative) should have! I almost quit the book when I read that sentence because it ticked me off so bad. Besides not actually finishing this series, I can see why Farland never became a big name in Fantasy. His writing sucks. Personally, “I” think the only reason his books sold at all were because of the Darryl Sweet covers, which was the same guy who did the Wheel of Time books so everyone thought they were going to get the same kind of story. Ha, the joke is on us, poor schlubs.

I am glad I read these, just so I know what it was about. This was one of those series that I grew up with but hadn’t ever bothered to read and now that is rectified. But I’ll read no more in the series (there is another story arc of 3 or 4 books before Farland kicked the bucket) and I’ll never re-read these. I clap the dust off of my metaphorical sandals on his grave and go my way.

Grumpy Level 1000 achieved!

★★☆☆☆

From Wikipedia

In order to save mankind and all life on Earth, Gaborn is charged by the Earth to descend into the underworld and confront the One True Master, ruler of the Reavers. Taking Binnesman, Averan, and Iome with him, he seeks the Lair of Bones in the heart of the Reavers' home. As he descends, Gaborn's powers grow as he takes many endowments, vectored through his dedicates. Gaborn and his companions follow the trail of the previous Earth King, Erden Geboren, to its furthest, and when attacked by Reavers, they are forced to leave Binnesman behind and press on without him.

Meanwhile, Borenson and Myrrima venture into Inkarra in search of Daylan Hammer, only to be captured and brought before King Zandaros. The forces of Raj Ahten, fresh off their victory over the Reavers, march north to Carris once more. Erin and Celinor meet Celinor's father, King Anders, who claims to be the new Earth King after Gaborn's loss of power, and they are forced to follow him south into Mystarria. During all this, mysterious earthquakes and countless falling stars herald the very world's shifting in the heavens, as the chaotic forces of destruction seek to unmake the Earth, as the One True Master attempts to bind the Rune of Desolation with the Runes of the Inferno and the Heavens.

When Averan is captured by a Reaver, Gaborn has no choice but to leave Iome behind and press forth on his own. Eventually, he reunites with Averan, Iome, and the wylde, and he begins slaying dedicate Reavers of the One True Master. Meanwhile, Borenson and Myrrima escape Inkarra with the help of a Days named Sarka Kaul. They race towards Carris, where they find the city fortified beyond belief in anticipation of another attack by Reavers, this horde making the last look small in comparison. Also near Carris are the massed armies of Raj Ahten, Queen Lowicker of Beldinook, and King Anders of South Crowden. Right before the Reaver attack, Binnesman arrives at Carris to aid his fellow men for one last time.

In the underworld, while Averan attempts to destroy the Rune of Desolation, Gaborn battles the One True Master. With the battle raging at Carris, Gaborn, with aid from the Earth, the wylde, and Glories and with Iome slaying dedicate vectors to the One True Master, is able to defeat the Reaver queen, and Averan, instead of destroying the Rune of Desolation combines it with the four other heavenly runes, creating a perfect rune to heal the Earth.

With the One True Master's host dead, the remaining Reavers at the Battle of Carris flee to the underworld, and the Earth transports Gaborn, Iome, and Averan to the battlefield. Raj Ahten, seeing his chance to finally kill Gaborn, rejects the Earth King's guidance and is subsequently struck by an ensorcelled arrow, shot by Myrrima. Before he can recover, Raj Ahten is attacked by dozens of Runelords, who hack his body to pieces and throw him in the river, killing the man and drowning the fire spirit within him. With the Earth no longer in danger, peace comes over the land. Iome births her and Gaborn's child, a son named Fallion, and Gaborn travels the land in service to the Earth. The year is now longer by one day, which Gaborn names Brotherhood Day.

(No easy link to the whole series because Farland doesn't deserve that much positive attention)

The Return of Dr Fu-Manchu (Dr Fu-Manchu #2) 3Stars

 

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 Return of Dr Fu-Manchu
Series: Dr Fu-Manchu #2
Author: Sax Rohmer
Rating: 3 of 5 Stars
Genre: Pulp Mystery
Pages: 240
Words: 75K
Publish: 1916

This was a very weak 3star book. I almost gave it 2.5, but considering that I plan to read at least the next Dr Fu-Manchu book, I realized there was enough interesting things so it did deserve that 3stars.

Sadly, Dr Fu-Manchu doesn’t play nearly as big a part in this book as he did in the previous. This was more about Petrie and Smith (the two Brits opposing the bad Dr) and sadly, they were world class buffoons. That was mainly down to Rohmer writing them like idiots to drive the story forward or to force the plot through.

In the previous book, Fu-Manchu had given a drug to a police official and it made him forget everything between a certain time period. So when the beautiful girl that Petrie loves turns up working for Fu-Manchu again and claims not to remember either Petrie or Smith, what do you think happens? Do they think calmly and rationally and remember what Fu-Manchu had done in the past? Heck NO! They immediately push the girl away as a traitor to all mankind and disbelieve every word she says, even when she’s trying to save them. Fu-Manchu comes in for his own idiocy at times too, sadly. He has been given a great honor, a white peacock and Petrie finds it and hides it in a cab, one street away from Fu-Manchu’s lair. And Fu-Manchu can’t find the bleeping thing and is about to be totally dishonored or killed within his secret society, when Petrie trades the peacock for Smith’s life.

This story was just filled to overflowing with everybody being stupid and making irrational and bad decisions just to move the plot forward.

My respect for Rohmer (the author) plummeted. Being a bad writer is a terrible sin.

The original title is The Insidious Dr Fu-Manchu but was changed for an American audience to the one I listed. That was too bad, because I like the first title more. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find an AI generated cover for either title like I did for the first book, so I had to choose this one.

★★★☆☆

From Bookstooge

Fu-Manchu returns to England to continue his nefarious schemes to overthrow the entire western world. Karamenah is back to working for the bad dr and has no memory of either Dr Petrie or Nayland Smith.

Petrie and Smith attempt to foil various plots of Dr Fu-Manchu without understanding any of his bigger plans. Dr Fu-Manchu pursues his attempts to make Dr Petrie his protege and his attempts to kill Nayland Smith. Finally, Karamenah remembers her love for Dr Petrie and shoots Dr Fu-Manchu in the head, apparently killing him.

Blood Song (A Raven’s Shadow #1) 4Stars

 

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: Blood Song
Series: A Raven’s Shadow #1
Author: Anthony Ryan
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 570
Words: 222K
Publish: 2012

When I read this back in 2014, the biggest thing I noticed was how long this was and that took up the bulk of my review. This time around, that wasn’t an issue at all. I was feeling good and I just sat back and enjoyed the ride. There WAS a lot going on but I felt like Ryan handled things well in that regards. Each episode in the main character’s story (Vaelin) didn’t overshadow the other parts and added a necessary piece to the puzzle.

There is a lot of violence in this book. It’s not graphic, per se, but it is relentless. The story starts with Vaelin being dumped at the gates of the Sixth Order by his father and in his “class” there are 12-15 boys. By the time they graduate in 3-4 years, there are only 6 left. Most don’t leave in failure, they leave in body bags. Once Vaelin becomes a full Brother of the Sixth Order, he is sent out on missions to kill, hunt and destroy. He is very good at it too.

There is also a lot of intriguing going on. From the King of the Realm to the princess to Vaelin’s own father to a group that might be the Seventh Order (that was supposedly destroyed hundreds of years ago) to supernatural beings which are manipulating the religion that Vaelin belongs to. A lot of time is spent revealing and setting up these various intrigues and we never quite get the whole picture. I think this is why I couldn’t give it more than 4stars, the payoff wasn’t big enough for the amount of time spent on the intriguing. Now, maybe the author is setting things up for the next two books in the trilogy but honestly, it just felt like he was throwing things in to keep us interested.

This is a trilogy, but Ryan has written a sequel duology that I plan on reading as well. Why authors use the same characters in the same kingdoms but use different series names is beyond me. It makes it wicked hard for readers to keep track of what order to read these books in. It’s almost like authors don’t care about their fans and are only thinking of themselves. Huh, what a novel (hahahaha!) thought, a self-absorbed, selfish author, whoda thunkit?

★★★★☆

From Fandom.com

The framing device follows the Hope-Killer, as Vaelin is known, who is an adult prisoner of war of the southern nation, being transported to a duel at the behest of his captors. A duel to the death everyone believes he will lose. He is being transported alongside a historian who begins to chronicle his life story.

Vaelin is unceremoniously dumped by his father on the steps of the Sixth Order when he is ten and his beloved mother has just died of an illness. He endures some of the most brutal training in warfare imaginable to become a warrior monk. He must survive seven years and seven deadly tests that weed out the weak and the morally unfit to become a full Brother. Even as a novice, he survives assassination attempts, foils the attempt to murder one of the leaders of another order, falls in love with a Sister in the healing order, befriends a heretic with magical powers, and fights a crime lord with less pleasant magical powers. These trials forge Vaelin and the novices in his group into true brothers-in-arms.

Eventually, he falls under the sway of the brilliant but ruthless King, who schemes to pass on a stable and economically secure realm to his well meaning but seemingly ineffectual heir. As a Brother, he must go on campaigns against some rebellious heretics and a usurping Lord, during which he learns that he may have a magical gift himself, something that is explicitly against the national religion. That gift, the titular Blood Song, will guide him to his righteous fate if he learns to control it.

Before long the King turns his envious gaze on the rich southern nations. In the heat of battle, Vaelin kills the heir to the nation, a man known as The Hope; giving Vaelin the unwanted title of Hope-Killer for the rest of his life. He takes one of the enemy's cities and holds it, even while the rest of the realm’s forces are driven back. During this time he deals with an outbreak of a lethal plague and tries to develop his gift. At the end of the war, he surrenders the city and himself under the condition that his people, including the woman that he loves, are allowed to leave.

Throughout all this, he is confronted with two great mysteries. Does there exist a Seventh Order of their Faith, and is it good or evil? What are the malevolent spirits that throughout his life have tried to kill him? Malevolent spirits that can possess the bodies of the living, even one of his closest friends.

Returning to the framing story, the duel is being fought by the champion of the country that Vaelin's father waged a brutal war against. If Vaelin wins, a southern noble will be returned. After so many years in solitary confinement, can he really win this duel? Yes and so blindingly fast that it's hard to count the seconds. Vaelin walks away to freedom.

• Blood Song (2014 Review)

• All of My “Anthony Ryan” Reviews

Inferno - MTG 4E

 

Lord Ith was the ruler of the Conclave until Mairsil usurped his power and imprisoned him below the Conclave's citadel, installing himself as the First Among the Equals.

Later, the conclave was attacked by a Church of Tal army led by Primata Delphine. Mairsil faced the Primata directly, and after draining away her magical defenses with the Wand of Ith, he stabbed her to death. However, in the chaos surrounding the assault, Jodah freed Ith, who was almost completely mad by that point. An enraged Ith destroyed Mairsil before Jodah cured his mind.

However, Mairsil had imbued his life into a small ruby ring, and his essence survived for the next 2,000 years. The artifact was found during the Ice Age by a soldier named Lim-Dûl, who gained vast necromantic abilities thanks to the power of the ring. In the service of Leshrac, he terrorized Ice Age Terisiare with undead hordes until being defeated by an alliance between Kjeldor and Balduvia.

Magic had a rich and complicated story to go along with the cards. Bits and pieces of that story were revealed in the errata on the cards (the stuff in italics). Some people collected the cards JUST to get more info about the stories going on. It sure does take all kinds!

Mrs Pollifax and the Golden Triangle (Mrs Pollifax #8) 3.5Stars

 

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: Mrs Pollifax and the Golden Triangle
Series: Mrs Pollifax #8
Author: Dorothy Gilman
Rating: 3.5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 162
Words: 58K
Publish: 1988

Thankfully, there is no torture. Mrs P still gets in a world of trouble and it’s tense as all get out, as Cyrus (her husband) gets kidnapped and its up to Mrs P to rescue him, in the jungles of Thailand.

A romping good time with thugs, rogue military people, peaceful wise and gentle “natives” and some monk who is probably an American who gave it all up decades ago plus some hijinks going on at the CIA, those lovable scamps *heart

Hahahahahaa. I think I enjoyed this as much as I did simply because of the lack of torture. It is mentioned in this book and Mrs P is realizing she has to work through what happened to her, BUT, and I think this is why I like this series so much, she doesn’t let that incident stop her from doing what she needs to in the here and now. She watches her husband be kidnapped and instead of fainting or falling apart, she enlists the aid of a dubious man she just met and starts tracking down the vehicle. We get glimpses into her mind, so we the readers know how upset, conflicted and concerned she is, but she still takes action. Man, there are some male book characters who don’t have balls as big as Mrs P, that’s for sure! (and I wish she would karate chop them to death for the record)

When it comes to this series, I think I’m in it until the very end. As long as there isn’t any more torture in Mrs P’s future.

★★★✬☆

From Wikipedia.org & Bookstooge

This time Mrs. Pollifax's assignment seems simple: while she and her husband Cyrus Reed are vacationing in Thailand, she is to pick up some valuable information on drug smuggling from an informant called Ruamsak. Everything goes awry immediately: Ruamsak is murdered, Cyrus is kidnapped, and Emily joins forces with Bonchoo, an intriguing stranger with complex reasons of his own for wanting to find Cyrus. They meet the Akha people in the jungle. The usual phalanx of muddled but supportive CIA agents try to follow Emily through the jungles of Thailand and are seriously rattled when one of their directors abruptly vanishes, only to reappear in the Golden Triangle as the head of all illicit drug trafficking. Pollifax needs all her wiles and her considerable skills in the martial arts, not only to track her husband but also to put a serious dent in the heroin trade.

Bonchoo is Ruamsak and he gets his payment from Mrs Pollifax. Cyrus is rescued, heroin is burnt, the CIA bigwig is found out that he was covering for his brother, who is now dead, so nobody at the CIA cares, Mrs Pollifax and Cyrus make it home safe and sound and Mrs P doesn’t quit the CIA (even though she should).

• All of my “Mrs Pollifax” Reviews

A Sabbath Letter #4

 

It has been 2 1/2 years since I posted "A Sabbath Letter #3". The world is crazier, faster and filled with even more chaos than back then. Thankfully, the Sabbath has not changed and it is still available to any who would seek God's peace. Here is another weekly Sabbath email that I got recently.

A popular New England radio talk show host frequently runs an ad in which he begins, “I can’t remember crazier times than what’s going on these days,” or some such language. Then he advocates going out and purchasing precious metals. Huh?  So gold and silver are the saviors?  To me such talk sounds like something the Bible calls idolatry.

But I agree with him that the days we’re living in are really weird. Something is out of kilter in the spiritual sphere, and its impact on our spirits is not imaginary. So what are we to do about this?  Like most of you, I imagine, I find a lot of comfort in the Scriptures. One evening this week, feeling the pressure, I turned to Psalm 46: “God is our refuge.” That’s enough right there, but the whole Psalm is filled with reason for security, stability, and hope, despite the upsets in the world around us.

So this Sabbath, how about meditating a little extra on the living, timeless, up-to-date Word of God? I even got out a musical version of Psalm 46 and meditated on that for a while.  “Therefore will we not fear, though the earth do change…” What a comfort!  “There is a River” of living waters… refreshing our souls, right in the midst of tribulation. And concerning the City of God—“God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved”! Not moved, no matter what. Not shaken from our foundations, because they are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, and Jesus is the Chief Cornerstone!

God is good; He remains omnipotent; He holds the reins; His security is not challenged—and neither is ours. Let’s rejoice, sit back, and take it in. Then—send it out by faith to people around us who are deeply distressed. We can make a difference for others.

I am praying that you will find salvation through Jesus and thus be given the peace of the Sabbath today. Christ's blessing to you when you read this.

9/11 - I Still Remember

 

Today was a normal day except inside my head and heart. I worked, just like I did 24 years ago. I ate breakfast, lunch and now dinner. Life, normal ordinary Life, continues on. But I will remember and I will for the rest of my life. A shared private grief that like a badly set broken bone, has healed but will always twinge on the date of its occurrence. I bow my head in silence.

The Dragonbone Chair (Memory, Sorrow and Thorn #1) 5Stars

 

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 Dragonbone Chair
Series: Memory, Sorrow and Thorn #1
Author: Tad Williams
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Epic Fantasy
Pages: 824
Words: 288K
Publish: 1988

Ahhhhh, this was good. Williams was pushing the page count for epic fantasy while Sanderson was still scarfing down peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches. This is yet another of those books I grew up on and am still enjoying re-reading.

I had forgotten just how vexing and whiny Simon (the main character) starts out as. He’s a 14 or 15 year old boy who is a daydreamer and man, I wanted to slap him so many times. The good thing is that he doesn’t automagically just “change” and become a Gary Stu. He has some horrible experiences and you can see him growing through those experiences. He doesn’t become another person, he slowly changes. Williams knows how to write characters and it is a joy to watch.

There was so much detail I had forgotten since I last read this in 2011 that it “almost” felt like a new book. I like that feeling of knowing the general outline of the story (which is comforting to me) and mixing it with that new feeling (which is exciting). Having them both at the same time is just great. When I was done with the book I seriously considered just writing a review consisting of “I loved this!” with a synopsis from Wikipedia. And really, if you parse down everything I’ve said so far, that’s the essence here :-)

Not everything by Williams connects with me. But when it does, it’s electric. I never even noticed how long the page count was until I started this review. I just knew I was enjoying the story the entire 800+ pages and it never dragged or was “world build’y” to pad things out. That’s success in my books!

The main reason I am reading this Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy again is because Williams has recently finished up a sequel series, “Last King of Osten Ard”. I want to read that but am concerned that I will need a recent read of MST to know what’s going on. Considering how well this went, I don’t think that is going to be a problem at all!

★★★★★

From Fandom.com

For eons the Hayholt belonged to the immortal Sithi, but they had fled the great castle before the onslaught of Mankind. Men have long ruled this greatest of strongholds, and the rest of Osten Ard as well. Prester John, High King of all the nations of men, is its most recent master; after an early life of triumph and glory, he has presided over decades of peace from his skeletal throne, the Dragonbone Chair.

Simon, an awkward fourteen year old, is one of the Hayholt's scullions. His parents are dead, his only real family the chamber maids and their stern mistress, Rachel the Dragon. When Simon can escape his kitchen-work he steals away to the cluttered chambers of Doctor Morgenes, the castle's eccentric scholar. When the old man invites Simon to be his apprentice, the youth is overjoyed - until he discovers that Morgenes prefers teaching reading and writing to magic.

Soon ancient King John dies, so Elias, the older of the two sons, prepares to take the throne. Josua, Elias' somber brother, nicknamed Lackhand because of a disfiguring wound, argues harshly with the king-to-be about Pryrates, the ill-reputed priest who is one of Elias' closest advisers. The brothers' feud is a cloud of foreboding over castle and country.

Elias' reign as king starts well, but a drought comes and plague strikes several of the nations of Osten Ard. Soon outlaws roam the roads and people begin to vanish from isolated villages. The order of things is breaking down, and the king's subjects are losing confidence in his rule, but nothing seems to bother the monarch or his friends. As rumblings of discontent begin to be heard throughout the kingdom, Elias' brother Josua disappears - to plot rebellion, some say.

Elias' misrule upsets many, including Duke Isgrimnur of Rimmersgard and Count Eolair, an emissary from the western country of Hernystir. Even King Elias' own daughter Miriamele is uneasy, especially about the scarlet-robed Pryrates, her father's trusted adviser.

Meanwhile Simon is muddling along as Morgenes' helper. The two become fast friends despite Simon's mooncalf nature and the doctor's refusal to teach him anything resembling magic. During one of his meanderings through the secret byways of the labyrinthine Hayholt, Simon discovers a secret passage and is almost captured there by Pryrates. Eluding the priest, he enters a hidden underground chamber and finds Josua, who is being held captive for use in some terrible ritual planned by Pryrates. Simon fetches Doctor Morgenes and the two of them free Josua and take him to the doctor's chambers, where Josua is sent to freedom down a tunnel that leads beneath the ancient castle. Then, as Morgenes is sending off messenger birds bearing news of what has happened to mysterious friends, Pryrates and the king's guard come to arrest the doctor and Simon. Morgenes is killed fighting Pryrates, but his sacrifice allows Simon to escape into the tunnel.

Half-maddened, Simon makes his way through the midnight corridors beneath the castle, which contain the runes of the old Sithi palace. He surfaces in the graveyard beyond the town wall, then is lured by the light of a bonfire. He witnesses a weird scene: Pryrates and King Elias engaged in a ritual with black-robed, white-faced creatures. The pale things give Elias a strange gray sword of disturbing power, named Sorrow. Simon flees.

Life in the wilderness on the edge of the great forest Aldheorte is miserable, and weeks later Simon is nearly dead from hunger and exhaustion, but still far away from his destination, Josua's northern keep at Naglimund. Going to a forest cot to beg, he finds a strange being caught in a trap - one of the Sithi, a race thought to be mythical, or at least long-vanished. The cotsman returns, but before he can kill the helpless Sitha, Simon strikes him down. The Sitha, once freed, stops only long enough to fire a white arrow at Simon, then disappears. A new voice tells Simon to take the white arrow, that it is a Sithi gift.

The dwarfish newcomer is a troll named Binabik, who rides a great gray wolf. He tells Simon he was only passing by, but now he will accompany the boy to Naglimund. Simon and Binabik endure many adventures and strange events on the way to Naglimund: they come to realize that they have fallen afoul of a threat greater than merely a king and his counselor deprived of their prisoner. At last, when they find themselves pursued by unearthly white hounds who wear the brand of Stormspike, a mountain of evil reputation in the far north, they are forced to head for the shelter of Geloe's forest house, taking with them a pair of travelers they have rescued from the hounds. Geloe, a blunt-spoken forest woman with a reputation as a witch, confers with them and agrees that somehow the ancient Norns, embittered relatives of the Sithi, have become embroiled in the fate of Prester John's kingdom.

Pursuers human and otherwise threaten them on their journey to Naglimund. After Binabik is shot with an arrow, Simon and one of the rescued travelers, a servant girl, must struggle on through the forest. They are attacked by a shaggy giant and saved only by the appearance of Josua's hunting party.

The prince brings them to Naglimund, where Binabik's wounds are cared for, and where it is confirmed that Simon has stumbled into a terrifying swirl of events. Elias is coming soon to besiege Josua's castle. Simon's serving-girl companion was Princess Miriamele traveling in disguise, fleeing her father, whom she fears has gone mad under Pryrates' influence. From all over the north and elsewhere, frightened people are flocking to Naglimund and Josua, their last protection against a mad king.

Then, as the prince and others discuss the coming battle, a strange old Rimmersman named Jarnauga appears in the council's meeting hall. He is a member of the League of the Scroll, a circle of scholars and initiates of which Morgenes and Binabik's master were both part, and he brings more grim news. Their enemy, he says, is not just Elias: the king is receiving aid from Ineluki the Storm King, who had once been a prince of the Sithi - but who has been dead for five centuries, and whose bodiless spirit now rules the Norns of Stormspike Mountain, pale relatives of the banished Sithi.

It was the terrible magic of the gray sword Sorrow that caused Ineluki's death - that, and mankind's attack on Sithi. The League of the Scroll believes that Sorrow has been given to Elias as the first step in some incomprehensible plan of revenge, a plan that will bring the earth beneath the heel of the undead Storm king. The only hope comes from a prophetic poem that seems to suggest that "three swords" might help turn back Ineluki's powerful magic.

One of the swords is the Storm King's Sorrow, already in the hands of their enemy, King Elias. Another is the Rimmersgard blade Minneyar, which was also once at the Hayholt, but whose whereabouts are now unknown. The third is Thorn, black sword of King John's greatest knight, Sir Camaris. Jarnauga and others think they have traced it to a location in the frozen north. On this slim hope, Josua sends Binabik, Simon, and several soldiers off in search of Thorn, even as Naglimund prepares for siege.

Others are affected by the growing crisis. Princess Miriamele, frustrated by her uncle Josua's attempts to protect her, escapes Naglimund in disguise, accompanied by the mysterious monk Cadrach. She hopes to make her way to southern Nabban and plead with her relatives there to aid Josua. Old Duke Isgrimnur, at Josua's urging, disguises his own very recognizable features and follows after to rescue her. Tiamak, a swamp-dwelling Wrannaman scholar, receives a strange message from his old mentor Morgenes that tells of bad times coming and hints that Tiamak has a part to play. Maegwin, a daughter of the king of Hernystir, watches helplessly as her own family and country are drawn into a whirlpool of war by the treachery of High King Elias.

Simon and Binabik and their company are ambushed by Ingen Jegger, huntsman of Stormspike, and his servants. They are saved only the reappearance of the Sitha Jiriki, whom Simon had saved from the cotsman's trap. When he learns of their quest, Jiriki decides to accompany them to Urmsheim mountain, legendary abode of one of the great dragons, in search of Thorn.

By the time Simon and the others reach the mountain, King Elias has brought his besieging army to Josua's castle at Naglimund, and though the first attacks are repulsed, the defenders suffer great losses. At last Elias' forces seem to retreat and give up the siege, but before the stronghold's inhabitants can celebrate, a weird storm appears on the northern horizon, bearing down on Naglimund. The storm is the cloak under which Ineluki's own horrifying army of Norns and giants travels, and when the Red Hand, the Storm King's chief servants, thrown down Naglimund's gates, a terrible slaughter begins. Josua and a few other manage to flee the ruin of the castle. Before escaping into the great forest, Prince Josua curses Elias for his conscienceless bargain with the Storm King and swears that he will take their father's crown back.

Simon and his companions climb Urmsheim, coming through great dangers to discover the Uduntree, a titanic frozen waterfall. There they find Thorn in a tomblike cave. Before they can take the sword and make their escape, Ingen Jegger appears once more attacks with his troop of soldiers. The battle awakens Igjarjuk, the white dragon, who has been slumbering for years beneath the ice. Many on both sides are killed. Simon alone is left standing, trapped on the edge of a cliff; as the ice-worm bears down upon him, he lifts Thorn and swings it. The dragon's scalding black blood spurts over him as he is struck senseless.

Simon awakens in a cave on the troll mountain of Yiquanuc. Jiriki and Haestan, an Erkynlandish soldier, nurse him to health. Thorn has been rescued from Urmsheim, but Binabik is being held prisoner by his own people, along with Sludig the Rimmersman, under sentence of death. Simon himself has been scarred by the dragon's blood and a wide swath of his hair has turned white. Jiriki names him "Snowlock" and tells Simon that, for good or for evil, he has been irrevocably marked.

• Dragonbone Chair (2002 Review)

• Dragonbone Chair (2011 Review)