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Review – The Forever Queen

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The Forever Queen

By Helen Hollick

Source Books

ISBN: 1402240686

4.5 stars

Emma was 13 years-old when her brother, the Norman King, married her off to the English King Æthelred.  Besides her being anointed Queen in her own right, it’s a terrible match that at times humiliates and terrifies Emma.  Her husband, who spent his life being ruled by his mother, has no idea what it takes to be a king let alone a decent man.  When Danish invaders take control, he capitulates and later dies a sad and very lonely death.  Not knowing what will become of her or her children now that the Danish king is in control of her land, Emma offers herself in marriage to Cnut, the Danish King, making him through her the new English King.  Her second marriage is much happier than her first and she and her country spend many content years with Cnut as their king.

When Cnut dies, Emma fears the loss of her crown and understands deeply the threat her country faces the day that Cnut’s son from his first marriage appears to lay claim to the thrown which he believes to be rightly his.  When her son with Cnut, Harthacnut, does not return to England to fight for the crown, she recalls her long abandoned sons from her first marriage, Edward and Alfred, to return with disastrous consequences forcing Emma to once again fight to keep her crown and position as Queen.

I usually don’t write such long descriptions in my reviews but I felt this one, being as long as it is (793 pages on my Nook) and the length of Emma’s rule, deserved a longer than normal introduction.  Emma, while not a likable character — she’s disgusted by her husband and her sons from her first marriage, isn’t motherly, is outwardly cruel to her husband and sons (the husband deserving though), and cares in some cases more for her crown and title as Queen above all else — is intensely interesting.  Her life is anything but boring; sad yes, horrid in some cases, lonely, and when she finds happiness there is always something that threatens it (another wife, more sons).  While I still don’t know if I liked her, I couldn’t put this book down wondering what would happen to her next.

Hollick is a great writer of historical fiction and since reading her Arthurian legend trilogy last year, she’s shot up my list of favorite authors.  While there were a few slow parts and an incredible list of characters to keep track of, I still liked this book a lot.  She picks subjects and characters whose parts in actual history may have been forgettable but gives them a fictional voice that makes them unforgettable.

Review – The Lost World

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The Lost World

By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

B&R Samizdat Express

E-Book

After reading The Lost City of Z by David Grann last year, I immediately downloaded The Lost World to my Nook.  Grann references the book in his story about Percy Fawcett whom Conan Doyle credits with the idea for his story that became The Lost World.  On a night when I needed something to read and was craving more non-fiction than fiction but couldn’t even feign hope in the book I picked, I browsed the Nook and found my copy of The Lost World.  A short book, my version is a mere 174 pages, I thought it would be the perfect distraction.

I was right on one level — it was distracting but in a good way.  Conan Doyle, is known better to me as the author of the Sherlock Holmes novels and short stories, surprised me in that the story he was telling felt familiar and foreign all at the same time.  The Lost World is the story a newspaper reporter looking for his big story break and thanks to a tip from an editor, he finds himself wrapped up in the tale of Professor Challenger who believes he found a prehistoric world on a plateau in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.  And if you’re wondering, yes it comes complete with caveman and a t-rex.

What makes the story work is the length.  Conan Doyle’s stories were published in segments and you can easily get the feel of that here but it works without feeling punctuated.  The four men that take on the expedition, Professor Challenger, Professor Summerlee, Lord John Roxton, and Edward Malone are interesting characters.  Challenger and Summerlee both have agendas and are out to prove something — for Challenger it’s to prove the world he’s been ridiculed for discovering exists and Summerlee is out to prove Challenger is the fraud he believes him to be.  While Malone is chasing the story of his life to appease the woman he loves with the hopes of a marriage, Roxton is the true explorer who wants to satiate a curiosity.  The four men, and yes it’s a story all about men, come together to form an interesting tale that will keep you interested even if you know the end.

This year I’m trying to delve deeper into author backlists and while my Sherlock Holmes knowledge is still rather shallow, this was a fun little story and I’m glad I took the time to read it.

Review – The Last Pendragon: A Tale of Dark Age Wales

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The Last Pendragon: A Tale of Dark Age Wales

By Sarah Woodbury

Smashwords Edition

EAN: 2940011110184

3.5 stars

Rhiann’s father, the King of Gwynedd, is a cruel man and sees her only virtue as what she can bring him through marriage.  She spends her dreary days turning down any available man her father brings to his hall.  As a bastard child, her choices are running low and she may find herself married to the next man her father brings to his hall.  When Cadwaladr (Cade), the last of the Pendragons, is drug bleeding into her father’s hall, she’s stunned by his appearance.  When she is sent to help him with his wounds and he refuses her help, Rhiann finds she wants to help him even more.  With the help of her stepmother, who also happens to be Cadwaladr’s mother, she escapes with him.  She soon finds out that he’s not exactly who she thought he was.  He’s brave, prepared to fight, a man born to lead men, and he’s also not quite human.

Many re-tellings of Arthurian legend tend to include some form of the supernatural.  It’s sometimes magic used by Merlin, some form of a seer, the sword which in some stories is pulled from an enchanted stone or is given to Arthur by a goddess.  In others, Morgaine or Morgan le Fay, Arthur’s sister, is the one in possession of the magical abilities and there is usually a goddess that has chosen Arthur, or his decedents, for the task of reuniting the people of his land, and more often than not, Saxons are involved.  Woodbury includes most of these elements in some fashion, and while I tend to prefer the non-magical Arthurian legend stories, this one has an interesting twist that made it appealing.  Cade is a form of a daemon which makes him invincible to a degree baring his head doesn’t become dislodged from his body or his heart pierced.  Cade also feels drained by the sunlight and while clearly not a vampire, felt a little too close for me in terms of symptoms/afflictions.

I like character driven stories and once I become attached, even if I was a little leery, I stayed till the end.  One thing that did bother me, and bothered me a lot, was this — the names were all very similar.  I appreciate that the author was staying true to the story by using Welsh names, even if I can’t pronounce them, but they were all too similar and it took me a long time to get them straight.  Even Cade’s horse’s name (Cadfan) was too close to his own name for me.

I was in a slight reading slump when I picked this one up.  I was thoroughly relying on my love of Arthurian legend to pull me through.  It did.  It won’t rank high on my list of best of Arthurian legend stories but it was an interesting re-telling.

Review – Garden Spells

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Garden Spells

By Sarah Addison Allen

A Bantam Book

eISBN: 9780553904123

5 stars

Sarah Addison Allen is a new to me author but I don’t foresee that being the case for very long.  Her style is lyrical, almost poetic, and her characters are amazing creatures of habit that make you love their ways.

Claire Waverly enjoys her quiet life in her family’s old Victorian house in North Carolina, she loves even more the garden out back which produces flowers and herbs and when incorporated into family recipes, can bring about certain feelings in people.  A caterer in town, she’s happy to live her quiet life but when her long lost sister Sydney shows up with her five year old daughter, Bay, her life is thrown into a new orbit.  She’s no longer the sole keeper of the house, her sister is keeping some secret she won’t share, and Bay shows budding family traits of the Waverly women — magical powers of a sort with flowers and an ability to know where everything and everyone belongs.  Sydney keeps fighting her Waverly roots but soon starts to realize that she’s going to need to embrace who she is.

I don’t want to gush all over this book but I’m going to.  Claire and Sydney are sisters who don’t act like it but there is a love between them and when it grows it’s almost as lovely as the garden.  Next door, a new neighbor, Tyler, brings love to Claire and she’s a woman whose life is sorely in need of human contact, even if he is a little bit too pushy for my taste.  Sydney is a woman hurting from an abusive relationship and she doesn’t want to share anything for fear that she and her daughter might be found.  It’s a story of family, love, strength, and learning to embrace life and who you are.  It doesn’t feel odd even for all of its magical elements.  Addison Allen infuses just enough to make it work but she doesn’t make it overbearing or the focus of the story.  It all works.  Magical realism can sometimes over compensate for other story elements but here is all feels right; just life with a little extra.

This is one I highly recommend.  If Sarah Addison Allen is a new to you author, read this one.

Review – A Game of Thrones

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A Game of Thrones: Book One of A Song of Fire and Ice

By George RR Martin

Bantam Spectra
eISBN: 978055389784-5

5 stars

A Game of Thrones has been on my radar, way out there, but it was there.  I thought about reading it a few times but never quite found the time.  Then HBO announced it would be producing a series based on the book, and yet, I still put it off.  So in December I finally got around to picking it up and what can I say other than I am completely and utter in love with this book, the world, and the characters.  Without me listing, and believe me when I say it would be a long list, let’s just say everything about it is great.  Yes, it’s that good.

Now for the dilemma — how do I describe this book?  It’s epic fantasy, it’s long (over 700 pages on my Nook), it’s also violent at times but so fantastically told that it’s almost impossible to put the book down.  I don’t want to give too much away (which is very hard for a person who loves spoilers) so my description will be short and somewhat vague.  The story takes place in a medieval world that resembles England.  Kings, queens, knights, court politics, and drama infuse the story with a richness that rivals any good bit of historical fiction.  But there’s something more.  In the world of the Seven Kingdoms, the king rules from the Iron Throne.  When King Robert calls upon Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell to act as his councilor, all hell breaks loose in the realm and no matter what Stark does, there will be no way to keep a war from starting.  The political struggle for the throne is the main story which all others revolve but there’s also a Wall that looms heavy in the background.  What lies beyond the Wall that was built to keep the realm safe is an army of the dead and while not much is offered up on what and who they are, they add a dark overtone to the story that can only be bad.  In the Seven Kingdoms, winter can last decades so when people say winter is coming it adds a foreboding to the amazing world that makes you want to dive into the next book immediately.

So, are you confused now?  Maybe a little frustrated with me for not offering more?  Please don’t be.  I’m a person who loves spoilers but I think this a book that has to be read to understand the amazing world created by Martin.  Yes, it holds true to basic fantasy (witches, spells, and dragons) but the weight added by the political drama brings the story to a new level.  Each chapter is told from the perspective of a single character which I’ll add was a little daunting in the beginning because the cast of characters and references is long and complicated, and while it may take a minute to adjust, it flows smoothly from there.  From Eddard Stark who is called to court to be the Hand of the King, to understanding the dreams and persistence of his daughters who came to court with him, to his wife Catelyn who suffers heartache over their young son’s injury, to his son Robb who must rule in his place, to the annoyances of the King, the lives of Queen’s brothers, to the brothers who protect and patrol the Wall, and the life of a forgotten ruler’s daughter who is poised to attack to regain a lost kingdom.

Yes, there’s a lot going on in this book but don’t let that deter you.  Martin manages to walk a fine line that threatens to spill into overindulgence, but it never happens.  What does happen is pure enchantment.  His world building is amazing and it doesn’t take long to get sucked into it.  It’s dark, violent, and bloody, but fits with the story and never feels overdone.  If you’re looking for a great fantasy novel, A Game of Thrones is it.

Review – Jane Eyre

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Jane Eyre

By Charlotte Bronte

Barnes & Noble Books

ISBN: 1442168528

5 stars

Jane Eyre is a book I’ve owned for many years.  My mother bought it for me as part of a boxed set of classics that included Wuthering Heights, Great Expectations, and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.  Well meaning that I can be sometimes, I wanted to read it, but something new always appeared on the shelf and I never got around to it.  A few weeks ago I decided that I would read it, and assuage a little guilt as well since I was starting to see it each time I looked at the shelf and realized that once again I hadn’t read it.

Jane is a young orphan being raised by an aunt who can’t stand her.  After an incident with her cousin, her aunt sends her off to Lowood School where Jane finds a life as a teacher.  Wanting a new experience, she sets out to find a governess position and unexpectedly finds a home, a life, love, and heartbreak.  In the midst of her most heartbreaking moment, she stumbles upon unknown family members, rebuilds herself but knows that in the end she must follow her heart even if it means ruin for her battered feelings.

Those few sentences were so difficult to write.  I realize many people already know the story so I didn’t want to drone on about the plot and I also didn’t want to give too much away for the few of you out there that were like me and kept putting it off.  There are so many wonderful moments in this story that in order to truly appreciate how lovely, haunting, and beautiful it is, you must read it.  Which brings me to a new dilemma — how do I talk about this book without getting all saccharine and sloppy on you?

You see, I adored this book.  I adored Jane.  She’s feisty, stubborn, generous, loving, understanding, and loyal.  As a child she hates her family, with good reason as they are abominable people, but when she arrives at Lowood School, despite a cruel headmaster, she flourishes.  She finds friends who believe in her, her kindness shines like a beacon, and she’s adventurous wanting to experience life outside of the comfortable walls of the school.  When she arrives at Thornfield to become a governess to a young French girl, she’s strict yet fun making Adele fall in love with her.  The servants at the house become a family of sorts to her and for the first time in her life Jane enjoys being at home.  The master of Thornfield, Rochester, however, is another issue.  Jane explicitly describes him in a way that makes him seem revolting but she herself is in love with him.  You see through her descriptions to the love she feels but when it ends in heartbreak, she leaves and you want to cry with her.  In her darkest moments, she still feels loyalty to those she loves and I wanted to yell at her.  She’s too smart for her own good but that’s why she is so likable.  When things are most horrid, she somehow perseveres and that staunchness is something you come to appreciate.

Characters are what make a story for me and Jane has found a place in my heart as a favorite character.  There are so many things in her path but she still finds the good in people, even ones that have hurt her, and she has incredible strength.  I admired her for her ability to calmly make decisions and stick with her convictions even when it meant living with nothing but the clothes on her back.  When Jane finds her happy ending (don’t worry the spoiler lover in me won’t say more), I also wanted to cry for her.  She had been through too much for it to be any other way.

Jane Eyre, a book that I will be reading again and probably sooner rather than later.

Thoughts – The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

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Thoughts – The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon

By David Grann

Doubleday

eISBN: 978-0-385-52922-8

4 stars

I’m writing this review several weeks after finishing the book so this is more a few final thoughts rather than a full review.  I wasn’t planning to do a review at all considering I talked about the book a few times already but I kept coming back to it for several reasons so obviously the book made an impression which is why I’m involved in this current exercise.

In case you aren’t familiar with The Lost City of Z, it’s a non-fiction account of British explorer Percy Fawcett’s last expedition into the Amazon jungle in Brazil.  He was in search of the legendary, mythical might be a better word, city of El Dorado which was supposed to be a city of gold.  He disappeared on his final trip and theories abound as to what happened to him.  Grann takes up the story and puts his own twist on it.

Grann is a journalist so the book does in many respects read like a long scientific article.  That’s not a bad thing though because in a non-fiction book I prefer a more straightforward style instead of a writer that tries to woo me with fluffy descriptions.  Also, the Amazon doesn’t lend itself to descriptions of that sort, especially when one is describing flesh eating bugs — in that case, the less fluffy, less descriptive the better.  He does have a very engaging style so please don’t let my scientific article tag scare you off of this one.  Grann has a sense of humor and laughs at himself and his lack of even basic camping skills as he prepares to trek off into the jungle in the hopes of understanding Fawcett’s, and now his own, obsession with the Amazon.  It’s well researched, as far as I can tell but I know very little about the Amazon, and feels complete even for a book on the short side.  When I finished, I did amuse myself with a bit of googling to find out more about both Fawcett and the Amazon so I think he did his job well.

If you’re looking for something interesting, pick this one up.  The story Grann tells is a good one.

Review – The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel

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The Exile: An Outlander Graphic Novel

By Diana Gabaldon

Illustrated by Hoang Nguyen

Ballantine Books

ISBN: 978-0-345-50538-5

3.5 stars

The Exile is Outlander from Jamie Fraser’s point of view.  Being a graphic novel, it took me a few pages to move past and tell the voice raging in my head that while I didn’t picture Jamie Fraser this way, someone did so get over it.  Once I moved on, it was all good and the visions in my head and those on the page began, inexplicably, to merge.  As a side note, this book is beautifully illustrated so it was hard to be all that disappointed.

However, the story itself didn’t work for me and I think it’s because I know the story too well.  In graphic novel form it feels too light and that too much information is missing.  All the basics are here — Jamie’s story is pretty much the same as Claire’s so there isn’t much that differs — but it’s the little details that I loved about the first book that I missed.  And let’s face it, Gabaldon, if you’ve read any of the Outlander books, likes details.

For those not familiar with the story: Jamie Fraser is a Scotsman returning to his homeland with a price on his head.  Claire Randall is a 20th Century woman who, while visiting Scotland and touring a group of standing stones, passes into the stone circle and goes back in time to the 18th Century.  As two outsiders, Jamie and Claire are thrown together in a marriage of strange convenience but fall in love despite their circumstances.

Jamie and Claire are true to their characters, there’s still a lot of sex, and somehow Claire is much more voluptuous than I ever imagined her to be but that might just be due to the fact that I don’t add extra boobage to female characters instinctively.  Jamie remains the hot Scottish guy in a kilt too so plus for that.

There was one scene from the original book that I wish had been left out.  At one point, Claire tries to escape back to her own time and makes a run for the stone circle that brought her to the 18th Century.  She gets captured by a British Captain who is looking for Jamie.  Jamie is able to get her back before any damage is done but as punishment, he beats her.  I almost put the book down when I first read it in Outlander and hoped that the scene had been expunged from this version.  It hadn’t.  I had an even more visceral reaction to it this time around.  I tried to explain it to myself in terms of the time frame (1700s) but it will never be something I can overlook.  I’m sure many may think I’m making too much of one rather small part of the story but it just soured it for me.

If you’re a fan of Gabaldon’s Outlander series, you’ll probably, like me, want to read this one.  I wasn’t thoroughly sold but it hasn’t ruined the series for me either.  As I mentioned earlier, it’s really beautifully done and worth a look for that reason alone.