In preparation for reading Connie Willis's latest novella, I Met a Traveller in an Antique Land, I went back and read Percy Bysshe Shelly's fam[image]
In preparation for reading Connie Willis's latest novella, I Met a Traveller in an Antique Land, I went back and read Percy Bysshe Shelly's famous Romantic-era sonnet Ozymandias, which is the source for her title and informs her story. Here's the poem in its entirety:
I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair! Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away.
I think this is my favorite work by Shelley (I studied quite a few of his works back in my college English major days). His imagery is wonderful: you can see the ancient, broken statue in the middle of a desolate desert. The dual meaning of the word "despair": Ozymandias (a Greek name for the Egyptian pharaoh Ramses II) means for everyone else to fear his might and power, but now we despair because nothing man-made lasts forever, no matter how great.
Shelly made up his own rhyme scheme for this sonnet (for the curious, it's ababa cdced efef, rather than something more typical like the Shakespearean rhyme scheme, abab cdcd efef gg). It adds to the general sense of unease this poem leave you with.
A couple of other insights: Note Ozymandias's use of the phrase "King of Kings" to describe himself. It's a phrase used in the Bible in reference to Jesus Christ ... so Ozymandias considered himself near-divine. Shelley also uses alliteration to great effect in this poem, with phrases like "cold command," "boundless and bare," and "lone and level."
The message of this poem is a great lesson for our day as well, slashing at the pretensions and self-grandeur of political leaders. And that's all I'm going to say about that. :)
But I have to say, I'm still trying to figure out what exactly Shelly was trying to convey with the lines "The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed." Scholars are still scratching their heads, so I'm in good company. It does seem to be the sculptor's hand and heart, rather than Ozymandias's, as I originally thought? (*ETA: See comment 2: I've changed my mind again.) Feel free to comment.
There are some great illustrations for this poem. Here's another:
Medieval Russia comes to life in Katherine Arden’s WINTERNIGHT TRILOGY, which began in Lesnaya Zemlya, a small village in northern Rus’ in The Bear and the Nightingale and continued in The Girl in the Tower. Vasilisa (Vasya) is a young woman with the rare ability to see and speak with the natural spirits or chyerti of the hearth, stables, and lands and waters of Rus’. Vasya has gained the attention and respect of the winter-king Morozko, god of death, who has helped her along the way as she fought and bound the demonic Bear, traveled from Lesnaya Zemlya to Moscow, and undertook a dangerous masquerade as a boy while fighting to protect Moscow and her family from both an evil sorcerer and the Mongol invaders.
The Winter of the Witch begins in the aftermath of a huge fire that burned much of Moscow. The distraught people of Moscow are whipped into a rage by Vasya’s nemesis, the priest Konstantin, who blames Vasya for the fire (with some justice). Vasya is captured by a mob and nearly burned to death as a witch. Though she escapes, a tragic loss leaves her reeling, and now a terrible price has been paid on her behalf. The Bear is on the loose again, pulling Konstantin into his plans for war and chaos, and Morozko has disappeared into some hidden prison. The vast Tatar armies, the Golden Horde, are still on the move against Moscow, and Vasya has perilous journeys to make through magical midnight lands as she tries to save her country and the humans and spirits that she loves. Vasya has gained in personal strength and magical power from her beginnings in the village of Lesnaya Zemlya, but she still makes some serious mistakes along the way.
In the WINTERNIGHT TRILOGY, Arden has proved herself particularly adept at weaving together folklore and actual history. The Winter of the Witch focuses on the events leading up to the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380, but puts a fantastical spin on it. As the country lurches toward war, Vasya is guided into the midnight realm of Polunochnitsa, or Lady Midnight, where she meets not only one of her ancestors ― a famous Russian folklore character in her own right ― but the mythical firebird, Pozhar (whose other form is a golden mare), and a delightfully opinionated mushroom spirit that Vasya called Ded Grib (Grandfather Mushroom). Pozhar and Ded Grib represent the high and the lowly among the chyerti, whom Vasya is trying to protect along with the humans who inhabit Russia. Even Medved, the fearsome Bear who played such a terrifying role in The Bear and the Nightingale, becomes more understandable and sympathetic, or at least much more entertaining as a character. It’s a nice reminder that even villains have some positive characteristics.
He spoke of Russia. Not of Muscovy, or Tver, or Vladimir, the principalities of the sons of Kiev, but of Russia itself, of its skies and its soil, its people and its pride.
She listened in rapt silence, eyes vast and filled like cups with shadow. “That is what we are fighting for,” said Sasha. “Not for Moscow, or even Dmitrii; not for the sake of any of her squabbling princes. But for the land that bore us, man and devil alike.”
The tensions between Christianity and the old pagan ways, humans vs. chyerti, are ultimately resolved in a way that I hadn’t expected, but that I found profoundly moving, and Arden’s writing style is entrancing. The Winter of the Witch is not just the coming-of-age story of a girl with magical powers, or a romance, though it has both of those elements; it deals with larger themes, like love of country, individual worth, self-sacrifice, and cooperation with those who are different. The WINTERNIGHT TRILOGY was a wonderful series from beginning to end, and I give it my highest recommendation.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for review. Thank you so much!!
Initial update: Five stars! SO, so good!! Amazing wrap-up to this fantasy trilogy set in medieval Russia. I love how this weaves Russian folklore into actual history, and deals with larger themes, like love of country.
Plus it made me cry.
If you haven't read this trilogy yet, I highly recommend it!
Initial post: YES! I finally got the ARC of this last book in this trilogy (which began with The Bear and the Nightingale)!! Now can I keep my hands off it for a couple of weeks while I read a few other books in my urgent TBR pile? We'll see ...
Content notes: a fair amount of gritty violence and a non-explicit sex scene....more
Guns of the Dawn, originally published in 2015, was my favorite fantasy of 2016 … and I read a lot of fantasy. But I'll admit to a huge soft spot for Guns of the Dawn, originally published in 2015, was my favorite fantasy of 2016 … and I read a lot of fantasy. But I'll admit to a huge soft spot for anything that reminds me of Jane Austen, though this book is a lot more hard-hitting than hers.
The story begins in media res, as gentlewoman Emily Marchwic fights her first battle in muggy, oppressive swamplands, as a new conscript in the Lascanne army. There’s a brief, inconclusive battle with their enemies, the Denlanders, who are almost impossible to see in the impenetrable murk until they are upon her and her friend Elise. Emily, shocked to the core by her up-close contact with death and killing, flounders away with her unit when they retreat, leaving dead on both sides behind in the swamp.
From here we flash back three years, to when the war between the countries of Lascanne and Denland first began. Their long alliance fractured when the king of Denland and his family are killed in an uprising that becomes a revolution. With their royal family exterminated, the Denlanders form a parliamentary government, but then word passes around Lascanne that the Denlanders, now intent on remaking other countries in their republican image, are invading Lascanne. A protracted, bitter war begins, and the King of Lascanne begins drafting men from every household to join the army.
Emily Marshwic lives with her siblings Mary, Alice and Rodric, and Mary’s husband Tubal and their son, on the Marshwic country estate. Though they are minor gentry, the Marshwics have been living in reduced circumstances since their father committed suicide after a succession of business failures. First Tubal joins the army, sinking his savings into a lieutenant’s badge, and then Rodric, with patriotic fervor, joins as soon as he turns the minimum age of fifteen. By that time all able-bodied men are being drafted into the Lascan army, with a few exceptions like the Mayor-Governor of their town, the dour, clever Mr Northway, whose underhanded dealings contributed to the suicide of Emily’s father. Despite their years-long bitter feud with Northway, Emily visits him to beg him to spare her brother from the army. Her pleas are in vain, although Mr Northway begins paying Emily some rather unwelcome attention, along with supplying her household with more welcome supplies of food to stave off wartime shortages.
The war drags on, becoming increasingly desperate, and eventually the King’s messages proclaim that each household is now required to supply one woman for the army. Unlike other wellborn ladies of Lascanne, Emily feels it’s her duty to go, rather than appoint a servant in her place. So Emily joins the army, after one last fraught meeting with Mr Northway. A few weeks of rather ineffective boot camp, and Emily is sent off to the swamps of the Levant front, thrown into battle with other unprepared recruits, hit with the reality of how hellish being in the midst of war really is. Emily finds refuge in her friendships with a few of the other women and with the members of the “Survivor’s Club” in their camp, including her brother-in-law Tubal and Giles Scavian, an attractive young warlock she had once met at a party. Most unexpectedly, Emily finds some comfort in her correspondence with Mr Northway. Between his clear-eyed cynicism and refusal to lie to her, and Emily’s experiences on the battle front, Emily begins to question this war with Denland. The swamps of the Levant aren’t the only thing that’s murky. Truth becomes a valuable and increasingly rare commodity.
While Guns of the Dawn focuses mainly on Emily’s wartime experiences ― and make no mistake, this is frequently grim and gritty reading ― it also deals with politics, friendship, family relationships, and romance. Adrian Tchaikovsky has created several well-rounded characters. People often surprise you in this novel, revealing unforeseen depths to their personalities as we get to know them better, and as their experiences change their views and priorities. Emily Marshwic has some similarities to Jane Austen’s Elizabeth Bennet, and Tchaikovsky has commented in an interview that Emily’s “bureaucratic nemesis Mr Northway is very much a Mr Collins homage.” Perhaps my memory of Pride and Prejudice fails me, or Tchaikovsky is thinking on a far more subtle level than I am, but the cold, corrupt and ambitious Northway is so much more intelligent and self-aware than Mr Collins that I find it difficult to see substantial similarities between them. Most surprising to me was that Northway unexpectedly becomes a sympathetic person, despite his many character failings. His attraction to Emily compels him to make adjustments to his life:
'But do not cast so much blame my way, Miss Marshwic, for I do what I can. What would you do if all you could accomplish were little evils to ward off worse?'
'You have not scrupled at little evils previously, I think,' she said, but her tone was not as harsh as before.
'But those were for my own good,' he told her, and a ghost of his smile returned. 'Now I am soiling my soul for others, and it does not sit half so well with me.'
'You are candid, Mr Northway.'
'I have always spoken the truth with you, Miss Marshwic,' he said. 'Possibly because I so enjoy your expressions of outrage.'
There’s a limited amount of magic in the world of Guns of the Dawn, which doesn’t touch most people in their day-to-day lives. Muskets and swords are their primary weapons in battle, but the soldiers are aided by warlocks who are magically gifted with powerful flame-throwing abilities ― highly useful in war! ― that they received from the touch of the king of Lascanne. There are also a few glimpses of non-human races, particularly the small native indigenes who live in the Levant swamps, understood and appreciated by only a very few humans.
The publisher describes Guns of the Dawn as a “pseudo-Napoleonic historical fantasy adventure,” but that only scratches the surface. This novel is set in a fantasy world roughly equivalent to 18th century Europe, in the early industrial age, but the quasi-British society has more of a Regency-era atmosphere, while the political aspects echo bits of the American and English civil wars. The battlefield scenes and military elements call to mind variously the Napolean wars, the French Revolution, the Vietnam war, World War I and World War II. Using this grab-bag of European military and social history, and adding to it a touch of magic, vivid imagination and insightful writing, Adrian Tchaikovsky has assembled an engrossing, enchanting novel. This is one stand-alone novel that makes me deeply hope for a sequel.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review. Thank you!...more
Great comfort read if you like romance-oriented fantasy. Plus a library! This fantasy world (or more specifically, this country in this fantasy world)Great comfort read if you like romance-oriented fantasy. Plus a library! This fantasy world (or more specifically, this country in this fantasy world) has kind of a Victorian era vibe to it, with just a little magic.
2016 update: I'm bumping this up to 5 stars on reread. This is one of my favorite fantasy romances; I keep pulling it back open again every few months. It just hits all the right buttons for me, and for that it gets all the stars.
Servant of the Crown is a steampunk-flavored young adult romantic fantasy by Melissa McShane, published in July 2015. It's set in a well-imagined Victorian-era type of world where magic plays a lesser and socially suspect role. Alison, the young Countess of Waxwold, is summoned from her city to be a lady-in-waiting to the Dowager Consort of the kingdom for six months. This seems like a prison sentence to Alison, who enjoys her work in the budding printing industry and as a theater patroness, has no taste for court or social games, and no inclination to "sit around in an uncomfortable dress and keep the former Consort company" for half a year. But the royal summons from the queen cannot be gainsaid, so Alison grits her teeth and heads to the capital city of Aurilien, consoling herself with the thought that at least she’ll have access to the famous royal library with its vast collection of rare books.
Trouble begins when the Dowager gives her son, Prince Anthony North, a well-intentioned suggestion to dance with Alison at the first ball she attends. North is drop-dead good-looking and knows it, and during their dance makes a rather drunken indecent suggestion to Alison. He picked the wrong girl. Alison, who has a very sour taste in her mouth from prior romances where she found the men wanted her only for her title, wealth and/or looks, immediately slaps him across the face and storms off. Unfortunately for both Alison and North, this causes a minor sensation, and Queen Zara, the Prince’s older sister, orders the two of them to go on public dates once a week until the scandal dies down.
So far Servant of the Crown reads like a straight fantasy romance, although it has more well-developed and complex characters than usual. But when the main characters’ choices and natures lead to a crisis halfway through, it is followed by some surprising but logical turns in the plot that lead the reader down some unexpected pathways. These developments raise this novel above the typical romance and make it well worth recommending to readers who enjoy reading romances that are more thoughtfully written.
Early-technology "Devices" like printing presses and lights are powered by the magical battery-like "motive forces," giving the steampunk feel to this world, which fits in well with the Victorian-type social atmosphere. The vast royal library is almost a character in itself, with unexpected literary treasures hidden in neglected shelves. It becomes the linchpin in a political battle for power between the Queen and the powerful group scholars who have been running the library and other governmental agencies, with Alison and her assistants caught in the crossfire.
This is a fairly light but thoughtful fantasy novel that combines a clean romance with some compelling political intrigue and royal court maneuvering. I’ve read many self-published novels in the last few years, but Melissa McShane’s fantasies are complex, layered and well written, making her one of the very few self-published authors whose works I would unreservedly recommend to other readers.
P.S. There's also a bonus short story at the end about Queen Zara, who is a secondary but important character in the novel. It throws a major curve ball at the reader. I'll be really interested in future stories about this world!
********** Initial reaction: This was a fun read, a nice mix of light fantasy and a more-thoughtful-than-usual romance. It's hard to go wrong with a heroine who loves the theater and books, and a medieval-ish library!
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It's a fun read that hit a lot of the right romance-loving buttons for me, but this book also contains a lot of political intrigue and royal court maneuvering, which I also love, along with a great saving-the-royal-library plot and some amazing-sounding books that I wish were really part of my world and in my own personal library. The romance content is pretty much clean: not squeaky clean, but I'd feel okay giving this to my 17 year old daughter. And I probably will. :)
I received a free copy of this book from the author for review. Thanks!...more
He's especially bored with family and friends who try to get him to do things he doesn't want to do, like, The Marquis of Alverstoke is bored.
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He's especially bored with family and friends who try to get him to do things he doesn't want to do, like, say, put on a massive ball to launch his nieces in society. So when a distant, not-wealthy relative, Frederica Merriville, shows up, introduces herself and asks him to help introduce her beautiful younger sister into London society, he's really not inclined to help.
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But then Frederica's young brothers show up, and 13 year old Felix quizzes the Marquis on the latest fascinating technology, like locomotives and blast-pipes and pneumatic lifts, and after that her sweet and gorgeous (if rather airheaded) younger sister Charis appears, the epitome of all that is Regency-era loveliness, and it occurs to Alverstoke that it would be quite amusing to hold that come-out ball and launch Charis into society along with his nieces. Charis's beauty will outshine his nieces' and that will give his bossy and insistent sisters absolute fits. Hah--serves them right!
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The Merriville family is lively and likeable and a little bit crazy, and as they get into one scrape after another and Alverstoke somehow ends up being the one who rescues them, time after time, he finds himself getting more and more attached to all of them. Particularly to Frederica herself, who is so busy trying to keep all of her younger brothers in line and rescue them from their escapades and get Charis married off to a sharp and well-off man and keep her away from the men with pockets to let (i.e., not rich), that she never notices Alverstoke is gradually getting very interested in her.
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Or if she does notice, he can't tell if she really likes him in a romantic way or not, or if she'll accept his suit. And suddenly the bored Marquis of Alverstoke is no longer bored.
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This is a delightful and charming novel! The Merriville family is the best, adventurous and lovable and a little off the wall. The romance is pretty understated (typical for Heyer). Some interesting history about hot air balloons and other technology of the time, brought to you courtesy of Frederica's young brother Felix. Additional fun adventures courtesy of the noble if occasionally ill-behaved Baluchistan hound.
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4.75 stars. My only quibble: (view spoiler)[The romantic scene at the end was rather disappointing; Frederica was too oblivious for a smart woman in her mid-twenties. (hide spoiler)] Even if she does kind of have tunnel vision about her family concerns. :)
Update: Feb. 2018 reread, just because I needed a literary pick-me-up. This solidified Frederica as one of my top 3 Georgette Heyer books. The main characters are intelligent, a little older (24 and 37), and their dialogue as they tease each other is hilariously witty. Frederica doesn't try to play Alverstoke; she just wants to be friendly, and he finds her so unusual among his acquaintances that he can't help being intrigued. And then ... well, read it for yourself. :)...more
The Good Master, a Newbury Honor book written in 1935, is set in the Hungarian countryside in the early 1900s. If you like nostalgic, heartwarming chiThe Good Master, a Newbury Honor book written in 1935, is set in the Hungarian countryside in the early 1900s. If you like nostalgic, heartwarming children's fiction, this book is SO good. I recommended this book to a GR friend for her young granddaughter, and started reminiscing about how very, very much I loved this book when I was a young teen. I read it so many times when I was a 10-15 year old bookworm that I'm surprised my copy of the book stayed in one piece. I hid it in my school desk so the teacher wouldn’t notice I was reading instead of listening to the lesson (yeah, I was that kind of kid).
Think Farmer Boy set in old-time Hungary, and then add Kate, a feisty, mischievous cousin from the big city of Budapest, who is sent to stay with her country cousin Jansci and his parents because she's so spoiled and unmanageable that her single dad doesn't know what to do with her any more. A good dose of country living, farm chores and firm love help Kate turn around, but she keeps her mischievous streak!
[image] Kate snitching the family's homemade sausages
Kate and Jansci have a delightful series of escapades and adventures, and Kate learns to love the people around her and the simpler life in the country. (Heads up on one scene that might bother some readers: in one chapter gypsies steal from the family and "kidnap" Kate, though she actually begs them to take her away with them when she discovers them stealing, so she won't get tied up and left in an empty house.)
This book is beautifully illustrated by the author, and is based on the author's own experiences as a child in the early 1900s, when she spent summers in the Hungarian countryside with her father. It's a lovely tale of life in old Hungary, a little old-fashioned, but very heartwarming.
This 1944 YA/middle grade novel is a charming, nostalgic trip to a simpler time, when kids explored the outdoors, swam in swimming holes, searched forThis 1944 YA/middle grade novel is a charming, nostalgic trip to a simpler time, when kids explored the outdoors, swam in swimming holes, searched for Indian arrowheads, and fished for jumbo catfish. A livestock auction and homemade fair with a variety show of local talent provide enough excitement for weeks. As a young teen, I learned about the Perseid meteor shower every August from reading this book. Luna moths and monarch butterflies inhabit its pages. I adored this book, and still have a huge soft spot for it. [image] This novel was first published while WWII was still in full swing, and the war provides the backdrop for the story of the four Melendy children, Mona, Rush, Miranda (Randy) and Oliver, ages 15 to 7. Though the war is in the background, there are reminders of it with metal scrap drives, rationing, and mock airplane battles, as well as the absence of the children's widowed father, who spends most of his time away helping with the war effort.
So the Melendy children (with the help of a housekeeper and a handyman), are mostly on their own for the summer and have lots of adventures. Among other things, they befriend a local orphaned teenager, Mark, who has been living with his neglectful and abusive second cousin.
There are a few sobering notes to this tale, mostly involving Mark’s nasty cousin Oren and his low-class friends, but for the most part this is an enjoyable, old-fashioned tale of a halcyon summer. There are also some delightful humorous moments:
As [Randy] swam she encountered an occasional floating leaf; an occasional struggling fly or beetle. Each fly or beetle she rescued and set upon a leaf boat to dry his soaked wings and legs. It gave her a feeling of virtue. She could imagine all heaven looking down upon her and approving. Notice Miranda Melendy; she is a kind, generous girl. She ought to be rewarded. She swam back again with a smile of sweet unselfishness; a misty radiance about her bathing-capped head.
"Why do you swim with your head way out like that?" inquired Rush. "And why are you grinning that goonish way?"
Randy grabbed her brother's ankle and yanked him in again. Naturally Rush dunked her. Naturally she dunked Rush. Heaven ceased to contemplate Miranda Melendy and went about its business, and Randy's halo fell off and was lost in thirty feet of water.
I fell in love with this book as a teenager, and it holds up well with adult rereading. It reminds me of Anne of Green Gables or maybe The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy. This is actually the third book in a series, but it's by far my favorite. You can read the others, beginning with The Saturdays, if you really like old-fashioned YA stories. But I think this one works fine as a stand-alone read, and it really is delightful. Definitely find a copy with the author's charming original illustrations.
Mrs. Mike has been a lifelong favorite book. I've got a battered paperback that's been in my personal library for years, and I've been curious to see Mrs. Mike has been a lifelong favorite book. I've got a battered paperback that's been in my personal library for years, and I've been curious to see how well the novel holds now that I'm older and a little more critical of my reading material. The answer is: very well, especially considering that this book was written in 1947.
This semi-fictional (reportedly mostly fictional) autobiographical novel follows the life, loves, adventures, sorrows and joys of the real-life Katherine Mary O'Fallon Flannigan, a 16 year old Boston girl who is sent by her family to Calgary in 1907 to visit her uncle and recover from a bout of pleurisy in the clean, dry air of Canada. (You can already tell there's some fictionalizing going on here, since the real Kathy was only 8 years old in 1907.) She meets Mike Flannigan, a tall and handsome Canadian Mountie, who - well aware from personal experience of the huge shortage of white women in the Canadian northern territories, and knowing a good thing when he sees it, even if she's sixteen - promptly sweeps Kathy off her feet. After a whirlwind romance, they marry and Mike takes Kathy off to the isolated areas of British Columbia and northern Alberta. By dog sled.
So far this sounds like a romance, but the heart of the story is Kathy's life experiences in northern Canada in the early 1900s, where civilization and doctors are far away, natural disasters and plagues can wipe out families, childbirth and childhood are fraught with danger, and people need to rely on each other. Life gets real for Kathy, fast.
There are many dealings with the native tribes, and blunt descriptions of the problems and prejudices many of the white characters have with and against them. This novel is set a hundred years and was written almost 70 years ago, and these stories are not told in a PC way, at all, but underlying that is a deep respect that Kathy and Mike have for the native people and their way of life. Their sensitivity is actually quite heartening to me, considering how long ago this was written.
The story is told in a simple and straightforward way. It's heart-wrenching and several times brought me to tears, but ultimately it's inspiring and hopeful. I enjoyed this both as a teen and as an adult.
4.5 stars, partly - I'll admit it - for the huge nostalgia factor, but I also think this is a great story with insight into life, love and the human condition, combined with some wonderful history about life in the wilds of northern Canadian, over a hundred years ago....more
This 1895 play about mistaken and hidden identities is my favorite by Oscar Wilde. One of the wittiest plays ever!
Algernon is visited in his town homeThis 1895 play about mistaken and hidden identities is my favorite by Oscar Wilde. One of the wittiest plays ever!
Algernon is visited in his town home by his friend Ernest, who intends to propose to Algernon's cousin Gwendolen. Algernon manages to dig out his friend's secret: his name is actually Jack.
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Jack has an 18 year old ward, Cecily, who lives in his country home. So he uses the name Ernest when he is in town so he can live it up a little, and then tells Cecily about his wastrel younger brother Ernest when he stays with her in the country. Algernon is instantly intrigued and wants to meet Cecily; Jack refuses.
Enter Jack's beloved, Gwendolen, with her mother, Lady Bracknell, the epitome of Victorian shallowness, materialism and moral superiority.
[image] "Never speak disrespectfully of Society, Algernon. Only people who can’t get into it do that."
Gwendolen is delighted to accept Jack's proposal, but her mother refuses to approve the engagement: Jack is a foundling who doesn't know who his parents are.
"To lose one parent, Mr. Worthing, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness."
So things are at a standstill ... until Algernon sneaks off to visit Jack's country home and meet Cecily. He introduces himself as Jack's wayward brother Ernest.
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Love at first sight, and comedy heaven, ensue. Both Gwendolen and Cecily are bound and determined to marry a man named Ernest ("There is something in that name that seems to inspire absolute confidence"). You can see the clash coming, but it's even better when it happens than you could imagine.
It's a quick read, just under 100 pages on my Kindle. Everybody wants to be earnest (or Ernest) ... but nobody really is ... or are they? It's the most intriguing combination of delightful frothiness and absurdity, but with a strong streak of social satire and criticism of society's shallowness and materialism running through it. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Reading this is great, but seeing it is even better. I haven't seen the 2002 film with Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Reese Witherspoon and Judi Dench, which sounds fantastic. But I can vouch for the 1952 film, which is an absolute delight, with Michael Redgrave and Dame Edith Evans (in the role of her life as the imposing Lady Bracknell).
$1.99 Kindle sale, June 3, 2020 I really loved this YA fantasy! Review posted on Fantasy Literature:
Summers at Castle Auburn was my first exposure to $1.99 Kindle sale, June 3, 2020 I really loved this YA fantasy! Review posted on Fantasy Literature:
Summers at Castle Auburn was my first exposure to Sharon Shinn's fantasies, and it was pretty much insta-love for me (I like to think that Shinn returns my affections in a distant and anonymous fan-appreciation kind of way). It instantly set me off on a search for more of her books.
Corie is the teenaged illegitimate daughter of a nobleman who died before the story begins, but the royal family is still keeping close tabs on her. Most of the time she lives with her grandmother in a remote village, learning medicinal herbs and a bit of witchery from her. But her summers are spent with the royal family in Castle Auburn.
We follow Corie over the next several years as she hangs out with her half-sister Elisandra; Bryan, the stunningly good-looking ― and knows it ― prince and heir to the throne (and Elisandra’s intended husband, in that royal arranged marriage kind of way, which doesn’t stop Corie and a hundred other girls in the kingdom from getting wild crushes on him); and Kent, a serious young man who is the regent’s son. For a long time, Corie is totally oblivious to the fact that she, like Elisandra, is being groomed to make a strategic alliance (i.e., marriage) to benefit those in charge of the kingdom.
The plot is thickened by a subplot involving the Aliora, a lovely, faerie-like people who are hunted down and kidnapped by the humans in this kingdom, thereafter spending the rest of their lives as expensive slaves to the nobility. One of the most dedicated and effective hunters of the Aliora is Corie’s uncle Jaxon, a man she otherwise admires. They make very kind and attentive servants, and Corie loves them, but it takes her several years to realize how miserable they are in their slavery, and more to figure out whether there’s something she can do about it.
Summers at Castle Auburn is a lovely coming-of-age novel; it’s among my all-time favorites in the YA fantasy genre. Though it’s a young adult novel, it was interesting and complex enough for me to thoroughly enjoy. The romance in it is quiet and subtle, but appealing. There are some unexpected plot twists that nevertheless fit really well with the storyline. Kudos to Sharon Shinn for making (view spoiler)[ the handsome, sought-after prince slowly reveal himself as a despicable character (hide spoiler)] and Corie’s beautiful half-sister Elisandra turn out to have some unexpected and startling depth.
I recommend it highly for readers who love books like Shannon Hale's The Goose Girl. My other favorite Sharon Shinn book, BTW: Troubled Waters....more
Mara, Daughter of the Nile holds up amazingly well for a 60+ year old YA book. Set in ancient Egypt, it's the story of Mara, a bright, feisty slave giMara, Daughter of the Nile holds up amazingly well for a 60+ year old YA book. Set in ancient Egypt, it's the story of Mara, a bright, feisty slave girl who unexpectedly finds herself forced to act as a spy for both sides of a conflict over the throne of Egypt. Either side is likely to immediately kill her if her duplicity is discovered. And then her heart starts to get involved ...
I had very fond memories of reading Mara years ago, and I was delighted and, frankly, relieved when my re-read lived up to my memories, which isn't always the case when I re-read favorite books from my teenage years. (*coughrobertheinleincough*) It's not a perfect book, but I'm upping my rating to five stars, dang it, just because I can, and because I so enjoyed Mara and her duel of wits with Sheftu. Sheftu is my favorite kind of book hero, an intelligent, extremely capable man hiding behind the mask of a charming, lazy courtier in order to achieve a greater goal. (I'm such a sucker for that Scarlet Pimpernel kind of trope.)
Tomorrow, by Amon, she would have revenge. She would treat him with a smiling indifference he wouldn't be able to break through no matter how hard he tried. She would be gay—aye, charming—but oh, how remote! . . .
Mara found Sheftu's manner the next morning just as gay, just as impersonal, and so much more convincing than her own that she was out of sorts before an hour had passed. There was no outdoing him at irony, that was clear. She would have to find some other means of punishing him.
But this is more than a simple adventure and love story; the book has some surprisingly profound ideas about living for a greater cause, the power of love for your country, and how a country is made up of people, the poor and humble as well as the rich and powerful—all of whom are important.
This one's a keeper and a total comfort read....more
The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is one of my all-time favorite fantasy novels. It's a total comfort read, poetry in prose combined with an appealing storyThe Forgotten Beasts of Eld is one of my all-time favorite fantasy novels. It's a total comfort read, poetry in prose combined with an appealing story, some great symbolism, and an examination of people and their motives and how our desires and fears can make or undo us. It's one of the fantasy books I repeatedly recommend to friends.
I finished this off yesterday in one day, as part of a buddy read with the Buddies, Books and Baubles group. It's probably my third or fourth read of it, but it's been ages since I last read it, so there were quite a few details that I'd forgotten. I still love it as much as ever, though.
Sybel is a young woman who's a powerful wizard. Raised in isolation by her father on Eld Mountain and orphaned at age 16, she's inherited a marvelous menagerie of powerful and wise magical animals. When a young lord, Coren, brings her a baby, Tamlorn, a pawn in the power plays of men, and begs her to raise and protect him, she somewhat reluctantly agrees. But twelve years later, Coren asks for Tamlorn back ... and then Tamlorn's father, King Drede, appears at Sybel's door. And Sybel finds herself very unwillingly drawn into their world.
**slightly spoilerish discussion of symbols in the rest of this review**
Thoughts on symbolism: Rommalb/Blammor, of course, is fear - that's made quite explicit. I've always thought the Liralen was a pretty clear symbol of love, but I did a little spot-checking of online reviews and saw some other people suggest that it's happiness or joy. That would make some sense, but I still think love is the better answer. For one thing, when Sybel calls the Liralen, she usually is subconsciously calling Coren.
It's an interesting idea, though, the juxtaposition of fear with love (or happiness) as flip sides to the same magical creature.
Mary Stewart is - by far - my favorite author in the romantic suspense genre. Nine Coaches Waiting is my favorite Mary Stewart book. I can't tell you Mary Stewart is - by far - my favorite author in the romantic suspense genre. Nine Coaches Waiting is my favorite Mary Stewart book. I can't tell you how many times I've re-read this book. It's not terrifically deep or mysterious, but it's well-written and a favorite comfort read, and my love for it is quite unreasonable at this point, so just realize that I'm likely to hurl insults or furniture at anyone who questions the excellence of this novel.
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Linda Martin, a young woman who grew up as an orphan, has been hired to be the governess of 9 year old Philippe de Valmy, the heir to the Valmy fortune, who lives in a luxurious but lonely chateau in the mountains of eastern France. Philippe is also an orphan, and is living in the care of his aunt and uncle. Linda's father was English and her mother French, but since she was hired primarily to teach Philippe English, Linda decides to hide the French part of her heritage and her fluency with that language. This makes for some awkward but funny situations as she tries to speak schoolgirl French and pretend not to understand when people speak it fluently.
Philippe is distant at first, but quickly warms to Linda's company, and she soon grows very fond of him . . . which makes it all the more upsetting when near-fatal accidents begin to happen to Philippe. And there are too many people who would be materially benefitted by Philippe's death: his uncle Leon de Valmy and his wife, who would own the Valmy fortune if Philippe dies; their loyal servants; and the suave and handsome Raoul, Leon's son, who has managed to quickly sweep Linda off her feet. (Yes, it's insta-love. Deal with it.)
Raoul is kind of a 50's alpha male, but he has a vulnerability that tugs at Linda's heart, even as she's afraid he'll break it. There are some really lovely Cinderella-like scenes between Raoul and Linda as she is preparing for a fancy ball at the chateau, sewing her own dress and--wait for it--losing one of her shoes, and later, when Raoul finally finds her at the ball.
Nine Coaches Waiting takes as its theme an old poem called The Revenger's Tragedy, in which "a tempter's list of pleasures" (the coaches, the palace, banquets, etc.) is "designed to lure a lonely young female to a luxurious doom." Is Linda being lured by Raoul and his father to ignore the dangers to Philippe, discounting them as accidents? This theme is followed through in kind of an amusing way with nine "coaches" or rides in planes, autos and, I think, even a wagon being taken by Linda during the course of the story.
Mary Stewart has a deft touch with humor and excels in creating sympathetic young boy characters, and Philippe is one of my favorites:
"We have got bears," confided Philippe, in the tone of one inviting congratulations. He looked earnestly up at me. "We truly have. This is not a blague. Many bears of a bigness incredible." His scarlet-gloved hands sketched in the air something of the dimensions of an overgrown grizzly. "I have never seen one, vous comprenez, but Bernard has shot one. He told me so."
"Then I hope to goodness we don't meet one today."
"They are asleep," said Philippe comfortingly. "There is no danger unless one treads on them where they sleep." He jumped experimentally into a deep drift of dead leaves, sending them swirling up in bright flakes of gold. The drift was, fortunately, bearless.
Mary Stewart is famous (or infamous, depending on your point of view and your affinity for this sort of thing) for her loving and lengthy descriptions of landscapes, and Nine Coaches Waiting is no exception. I'll confess to occasionally skimming through some of the detailed descriptions when I'm in a hurry to get to the "good parts," but Stewart does have an unquestionable talent for making you feel like you can really see the setting in your mind's eye, and that you're really there.
Nine Coaches is, like all of Stewart's books, intelligently written and spiced with literary allusions. If you like the romantic suspense genre and don't mind books that are a little old-fashioned, you really need to read Mary Stewart's novels, and I'd say Nine Coaches Waiting is the best one to start with. Not that I'm prejudiced or anything....more
*2022 buddy read in the Mary Stewart group, starting today, April 1. Join us if you're interested!*
This is my second-favorite* Mary Stewart book, one *2022 buddy read in the Mary Stewart group, starting today, April 1. Join us if you're interested!*
This is my second-favorite* Mary Stewart book, one of her best old-fashioned romantic suspense novels. Nobody does it quite like Mary Stewart.
It's about 1950, and Charity, a young English widow (her husband died in WWII), is traveling with her former co-worker, Louise. They begin their leisurely vacation with a stay in the lovely walled city of Avignon, France:
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Little do they know the murderous plots they are stumbling into, in this small, sleepy French town.
And though the part I was to play in the tragedy was to break and re-form the pattern of my whole life, yet it was a very minor part, little more than a walk-on in the last act. For most of the play had been played already; there had been love and lust and revenge and fear and murder . . . and now the killer, with blood enough on his hands, was waiting in the wings for the lights to go up again, on the last kill that would bring the final curtain down.
So, since we're talking a 1950-ish play here, let's cast the main roles: In the part of Charity, we have Grace Kelly: [image] Despite her penchant for alpha men, Charity is a capable person who spends much of the story driving around the south of France like a maniac, so:
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For Charity's lazy, "plump and fair" friend Louise, I've found this unnamed 1950's plus-size model: [image]
Cary Grant as Richard Byron, the sinister (and possibly mad) suspected murderer who chases her across half of France: [image]
Jayne Mansfield, as the French femme fatale Loraine: [image]
Louis Jourdan, as the drop dead good-looking Frenchman Paul Very: [image]
and finally, Tommy Rettig (of "Lassie" fame) as David, Richard Byron's son: [image] (use your imagination to replace Lassie with a nondescript mutt named Rommel)
So, with our all-star cast in place, back to our story: Charity befriends young David and takes him on some local excursions. David is in the company of Loraine, his stepmother, since his father was accused of murdering his best friend (with whom Loraine said she was having an affair), and David is desperately trying to avoid his father--he tells Charity his father is "mad."
Charity accidentally meets Richard Byron and lets slip that she knows his son. That's all it takes to begin the mad chase across the south of France, with Richard hell-bent on finding his son and Charity in a panic to avoid being caught by him and, at the same time, avoid giving him any leads back to David.
This novel, admittedly, is quite dated in some ways. The social attitudes are pretty much straight from the 1950s, although Charity has a lot more gumption than most young women of the time, and the amount of smoking is not to be believed. I think it averages a cigarette every other page. There are some pretty far-fetched coincidences, and . . . [image] It's a very exciting book, perhaps not terribly deep, but I adore the main characters, and I make no apologies for loving this escapist novel. I've read it probably half a bazillion times. It really is quite a bit like an old-fashioned Hitchcock film, and you just have to accept it on those terms. As usual, Mary Stewart includes some great literary references, which really adds to my enjoyment of the book. Every single time!
Prior review: If you like old-fashioned romantic suspense novels, this is one of Mary Stewart's best. The chase across France, where the heroine is being pursued by a sinister stranger in a fast car, is one of my favorite reads in any book of this type.
Stewart writes in a more literary style than most mystery/romance writers but for my money it makes the book much more enjoyable. Its 1950s roots show a little with the alpha male hero and incessant cigarette smoking, but I'll always have a soft spot in my heart for this novel.
This is my favorite book in one of my favorite fantasy series. It starts out a little bit slow, although it's fun watching for all the clues in the teThis is my favorite book in one of my favorite fantasy series. It starts out a little bit slow, although it's fun watching for all the clues in the text that I missed the first time I read it. But the second half of this book: it is completely made of awesome. I love every single page of it.
July 2015 reread with the Buddies Books and Baubles group.
Prior review: This book is just so brilliant and well plotted. I've noticed that of all the books on my "Favorites" list, this one has the highest overall average rating, and it's for a very good reason. I can't think of anyone I know who wouldn't enjoy this book and its plot twists.
Presumably if you're reading this review you've already read (or are thinking of reading) the first book in the series, The Thief, which is also a wonderful book, though I found it a little slower than this one. You really do need to read The Thief and The Queen of Attolia to understand and appreciate The King of Attolia, though. Personally I didn't like the 2nd book in the series (or the 4th, for that matter) nearly as well as the 1st and 3rd, but they're all worthy books. So go plow through the 2nd book, if only so you can get to this 3rd one in the series. It should not be missed. ...more
I loved this book - it's on my favorites shelf. So obviously I recommend it!
In my March 2018 buddy read with Trish (which kind of disintegrated becausI loved this book - it's on my favorites shelf. So obviously I recommend it!
In my March 2018 buddy read with Trish (which kind of disintegrated because she raced ahead and finished the whole book in like one day :p) I was impressed with how well the authors melded actual historical facts about the island of Guernsey during WWII, and people's wartime experiences, with the novel's storyline. I could see the seams a little - interesting true stories and anecdotes tend to show up in the book as random people's letters to the main character, Juliet - but I have to say overall I still enjoyed this book thoroughly. While it deals with some harrowing experiences, it does so with a fairly light hand, which some readers may roll their eyes at, but others will appreciate. It tends toward the "cozy" type of read, which isn't a bad thing in my book. There's a rich cast of characters, just a touch of romance, and some truly delightful humor. I'll definitely reread this a third time someday.
This historical fiction novel is set shortly after WWII, with frequent wartime stories being related in letters between the characters. Through these letters (this is an epistolary novel), we follow Juliet Ashton, a fairly successful author of a British humor column, who is searching for a new topic to write about, and trying to decide what to do with her life and her boyfriend. She gets a letter out of the blue from a man on Guernsey Island, Dawsey Adams, who saw her name in a book and asks her for the name of a London bookshop, and tells her a little about his local book group, the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
One letter leads to another, both from Dawsey and others on Guernsey, and gradually Juliet finds out more about her new friends on the island, what they experienced during the German WWII occupation of the island of Guernsey a few years before, and how their book club was formed and got its name. When she decides to go visit Guernsey and her pen pal friends there - upsetting her current boyfriend in the process - her life gradually becomes intertwined with theirs.
This book includes some fun and often quirky characters, quite a bit of interesting (and sometimes harrowing) WWII history, a love for literature, frequent humor, and just a little bit of romance....more
This is a wonderful, different kind of YA fantasy, set in Victorian times in England. It takes the old trope--goblin kings kidnap beautiful girls, marThis is a wonderful, different kind of YA fantasy, set in Victorian times in England. It takes the old trope--goblin kings kidnap beautiful girls, marry them and they never see the light of day again--and twists it: Goblins are lovable even if ugly and, um, prone to kidnapping women for their wives. You don't need to marry a handsome prince. And it's done in a way that's honest and appealing (the story has a great sense of humor) but doesn't pull any punches.
Kate, the main character who becomes the object of the goblin king's attention, is one of my favorite young woman protagonists ever: brave, resourceful, caring and intelligent. She does an amazing job of battling for her freedom and her rights against both her guardian, who's supposed to protect her but doesn't, and the goblins. The goblin king, Marak, accomplishes the almost impossible task of making me believe he's worthy of falling in love with, when he's got several major strikes against him: Girls may swoon when they see him, but it's because his face causes horror rather than ecstasy, and he's often brutal and pitiless. But he's also highly intelligent and considerate (when it doesn't interfere with his duties as goblin king). He has a great, resonant voice and a sense of humor, and is a natural leader. I thought the author was quite brave to even attempt this relationship, and she pulls it off amazingly well.
My only real beef with this book is (view spoiler)[I really wanted to read more about how Kate and Marak's relationship grew from grudging respect on Kate's part to love. For some reason Clare Dunkle chose to take about a year and a half leap forward in time, totally skipping over that part of the story. So if you read books for the tender kissing moments, you'll be disappointed. There's almost none of that. (hide spoiler)]
The magical golden snake in the last half of the book--a moving tattoo that comes to life when needed--is not to be missed. I seriously want one of my own, to bite any would-be thugs and muggers and protect me from all harm, while passing out insults to all and sundry. [image]...more
About a thousand nostalgic hearts stars for this older YA novel, a delightful mix of exciting Revolutionary War stories and kindly ancestral spirits. About a thousand nostalgic hearts stars for this older YA novel, a delightful mix of exciting Revolutionary War stories and kindly ancestral spirits.
Elizabeth Marie Pope wrote only two YA novels, this one and The Perilous Gard. They're both on my all-time favorites list, and I've read them both several times. I only wish she'd written more. Even though these books were written over fifty years ago, they have appealing heroines with a can-do attitude.
The Sherwood Ring, written in 1958, is a jewel of a YA fantasy that deserves not to be forgotten. Peggy Grahame is a lonely 17 year old girl, orphaned by the recent death of her footloose and mildly neglectful father. She's sent to live in the ancestral home of her only relative, Uncle Enos, an aging and crotchety historian. Before he dies, Peggy's father tells her, very matter-of-factly, to keep an eye out for the family ghosts that live in the mansion. And in fact, on the way to her new home in New York state, Peggy meets one of these spirits, Barbara Grahame, who points her the way home and leads her to a young Englishman, Pat Thorne, who is visiting the area and hoping to meet with Uncle Enos. Uncle Enos forcefully (and mysteriously!) orders Pat off the property when they arrive, but Pat has no intentions of giving up so easily, especially since he's attracted to Peggy.
As Peggy settles in to her new home, she meets a few more of her ancestral ghosts, who tell her very amusing and engaging stories about their lives during Revolutionary War times. These stories, not incidentally, help Peggy to solve the problems in her own life, including the mystery of Uncle Enos's antagonism toward Pat, and to find happiness and love.
The Sherwood Ring is one of my very favorite youth/young adult reads, well-written with a dash of wit and humor. Peggy herself is (understandably, given her upbringing, and I think she's a little shell-shocked by the upheavals in her life) on the quiet and passive side, although she starts to outgrow that. But the characters from the past are really delightful, especially Barbara Grahame and Peaceable Sherwood, the English spy who's been driving the local patriots to distraction. There's one scene in the middle of the book where Barbara needs to outwit and escape Peaceable, with whom she is falling in love against her will, that I absolutely adore. Best. Proposal. Ever! This one bit makes the whole book worth reading all by itself, even if the rest weren't great. But it is.
I love the unusual plot and setting of this book. Aside from having spirits from the past appearing to characters, it's written in a very realistic fashion (i.e., no magic), and it gives you a nice glimpse of life in Revolutionary War times. I highly recommend this one for readers who enjoy YA fantasies....more
$2.99 Kindle sale, Sept. 10, 2019. An amazing collection of classic SF tales! Of all the very many science fiction books I swiped from my dad when I w$2.99 Kindle sale, Sept. 10, 2019. An amazing collection of classic SF tales! Of all the very many science fiction books I swiped from my dad when I was a teen, this anthology was one of the best: 26 classic SF short stories, first published between 1929 and 1964, and written by many of the great SF authors of that age: Asimov, Heinlein, Clarke, Sturgeon, Zelazny, and so on. In about 1969, the Science Fiction Writers of America (SFWA) group nominated 132 stories from the pre-Nebula award era and then voted on their favorites. So this collection could be considered the "best of the best" for older SF short stories.
Robert Silverberg, the editor, wrote a highly interesting foreword regarding the selection process. The most intriguing part of this foreword, to Teenage Me, was his disclosure of the top fifteen stories, in terms of votes received. The official top ten:
1. Nightfall (Isaac Asimov) 2. A Martian Odyssey (Stanley Weinbaum) 3. Flowers for Algernon (Daniel Keyes) 4. Microcosmic God (Theodore Sturgeon) (tie) First Contact (Murray Leinster) 6. A Rose for Ecclesiastes (Roger Zelazny) 7. The Roads Must Roll (Robert Heinlein) (tie) Mimsy Were the Borogoves (Lewis Padgett) (tie) Coming Attraction (Fritz Leiber) (tie) The Cold Equations (Tom Godwin)
Well. As a 16* year old, this kind of ordering was irresistible to me. So I read all of the stories and made my own list, writing my own top 15 in the book, in pencil, next to Silverberg's list. My top 10 at age 16:
1. A Martian Odyssey 2. Microcosmic God 3. The Little Black Bag (C.M. Kornbluth) 4. Flowers for Algernon 5. The Cold Equations 6. The Roads Must Roll 7. Surface Tension (James Blish) 8. Mimsy Were the Borogoves 9. First Contact 10. Arena (Fredric Brown)
*Actually, I have hazy recollections of first reading this book when I was about 13, and creating my first personal top 15 list at that tender age. Unfortunately 16 year old me saw fit to erase that first list from the book and replace it with my updated list. I now remember nothing about that very first list except that "A Martian Odyssey" was #1 then too and, heaven forgive me, "Helen O'Loy" made an appearance in the top 10. Well, I was only 13!
At age 24, I concluded that my tastes as a 16 year old were on the shallow side, and that I had underappreciated some great stories. So written next to the first two lists is a third top 15 list, with these as the top 10:
1. Microcosmic God 2. Surface Tension 3. A Rose for Ecclesiastes 4. First Contact 5. A Martian Odyssey 6. Flowers for Algernon 7. The Weapon Shop (A.E. van Vogt) 8. Nightfall 9. The Roads Must Roll 10. The Little Black Bag
It's a (to me, at least) fascinating history of my evolving view of what I considered a great SF story when I was younger. And now, looking at my carefully handwritten lists again, I've got a definite urge to reread these classic stories once more, and see what I would list as my favorites now, some three decades later.
But in whatever order, you really can't go wrong with this collection of stories. Several of them are pretty dated, but there's also some amazing writing, especially given the context of the times when they were written. It's still one of my favorite SF short story collections of all time, and one of the main reasons I've been a lifelong fan of science fiction.
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽
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