‘Very fine it is. Now turn it into English.’ ‘What do you think it is?’ Hew had objected. ‘I should have said, Scots.’
Each Cullan mystery takes the r‘Very fine it is. Now turn it into English.’ ‘What do you think it is?’ Hew had objected. ‘I should have said, Scots.’
Each Cullan mystery takes the reader deeper into the history of sixteenth century England and Scotland, during the last years they were independent of each other. The inner workings of both courts are revealed. Many historical persons and events melded into the story. A good read.
“You know, upon my life, that I will take no part in a conspiracy, against either queen.’ ‘Trust me, when I say, we know that all too well. Therein lies the trouble, Hew.’
Hew continues to kick against the goads and comes out smelling like a rose. No good deed of his goes unpunished as he seeks to extricate himself from the intrigue and murder surrounding a dynastic change which alters the future of both countries.
'It was a tacit understanding of a man in public office, that the office he had paid for, or won by rank and privilege, was his to put to such advantage as could there be found.'
McKay deals with spirituality, truth and trust in a modern manner while revealing the superstitions and prejudices of that era.
‘All men follow ghosts, when they do not want to see, when they do not want to hear the whisper of their breath. They cannot help themselves.’
Merged review:
‘Very fine it is. Now turn it into English.’ ‘What do you think it is?’ Hew had objected. ‘I should have said, Scots.’
Each Cullan mystery takes the reader deeper into the history of sixteenth century England and Scotland, during the last years they were independent of each other. The inner workings of both courts are revealed. Many historical persons and events melded into the story. A good read.
“You know, upon my life, that I will take no part in a conspiracy, against either queen.’ ‘Trust me, when I say, we know that all too well. Therein lies the trouble, Hew.’
Hew continues to kick against the goads and comes out smelling like a rose. No good deed of his goes unpunished as he seeks to extricate himself from the intrigue and murder surrounding a dynastic change which alters the future of both countries.
'It was a tacit understanding of a man in public office, that the office he had paid for, or won by rank and privilege, was his to put to such advantage as could there be found.'
McKay deals with spirituality, truth and trust in a modern manner while revealing the superstitions and prejudices of that era.
‘All men follow ghosts, when they do not want to see, when they do not want to hear the whisper of their breath. They cannot help themselves.’...more
The problem with German food is that, no matter how much you eat, an hour later you’re hungry for power.
Wish I’d had this when I studied philosophy inThe problem with German food is that, no matter how much you eat, an hour later you’re hungry for power.
Wish I’d had this when I studied philosophy in college. Lame, but in a good way. Neither the humor nor the survey of philosophy are particularly deep, but a fun read. A good gift for a certain type of people.
“You seem to be one of those guys who thinks there is no absolute truth, that all truth is relative.” “Right.” “Are you sure of that?” “Absolutely.”
Published in 2006, but many jokes are unnecessarily ethnic, racial, or gender referent. The tone is (please excuse the chrono, ethnic, racial, or gender reference) of two old Boston Jews kvetching. If you can get it free, it’s worth the price.
Plato and a platypus walk into a bar. The bartender gave the philosopher a quizzical look. Plato said, “What can I say? She looked better in the cave.” ...more
Was she willing to die for her country? Yes. Would she be parachuting behind enemy lines into Yugoslavia? Probably not, but why had she been issued a Was she willing to die for her country? Yes. Would she be parachuting behind enemy lines into Yugoslavia? Probably not, but why had she been issued a suicide pill?
Engaging historical fiction. Great sense of being there—inside the heads of the principals. Recognizable people in real situations. Interleaved stories from World War Two and September 11, 2001. Clearly identifies where and when the story is and whose point of view the reader is following.
Then she listened to silence so ringing and vast that her heartbeat became a drum.
Captures the earnest Greatest Generation tone. Few today understand how those people endured the Depression, Dust Bowl, Pearl Harbor, and World War Two with such a we-can-do-this; we-must-do-this attitude. Perhaps the high-water mark of the twentieth century. Hasn’t been matched since. Love the cover art by Ronaldo Alves.
She was unable to remember whether she had ever processed the day she ran away. Such jargon. Process. As if she were cured meat. But not cured.
Quibble: Eratosthenes, not Aristotle, determined the world was a sphere. (Of course the point of view characters may have had those mistaken ideas.)
It was as if all he’d seen—the bereft families in Yugoslavia, his years of trying to predict where the next dangers would arise—were at that moment running through him, and all the importance he and Margie’s ghost could sift out of his life was this moment: little Bella returning the love Lucy had offered her.
Full disclosure: I participated in the early stages of this project. It’s so much better now. A good read....more
“We’re all thieves in this world of suffering. Honor and faith are not virtues, only excuses for stealing more.”
Better-than-average anthology, which “We’re all thieves in this world of suffering. Honor and faith are not virtues, only excuses for stealing more.”
Better-than-average anthology, which is a low bar. Published in 2017. Skip introduction. The better stuff was front loaded. Though the trajectory of the first story is obvious, it’s well done.
“There is no ledger.” “Meaning what?” “You cannot wash one man’s blood off your hands using another’s.”
Noticeable drop in quality in second half, including the closing G R R Martin piece. A couple have nothing to do with swords. I couldn’t force myself to finish several, most needed another editing which they perhaps didn’t receive because the authors or editor didn’t care.
“King Aegon I Targaryen, as history records, took both of his sisters to wife.”
Martin’s “the Sons of the Dragon” provides Song of Ice and Fire fans historical background. Like The Silmarilion with the fun parts taken out.
Young thieves think luck and knee joints are meant to last forever. ...more
“We forgot to correct for the tail.” “What tail?” “The gas that extends behind every planet with an atmosphere, in the direction opposite to its motio“We forgot to correct for the tail.” “What tail?” “The gas that extends behind every planet with an atmosphere, in the direction opposite to its motion. You didn’t know that?”
Interplanetary Robinson Crusoe. Excellent early science fiction. Published 1959, two years before first human orbited Earth. A first-contact story, highlighting how little we know about ourselves, let alone inhabitants of a different planet.
“Each intervention on behalf of what we hold to be good and right will end the way our last excursion did: with the use of the annihilator. We can always justify ourselves, of course, argue self-defense, and so on—but instead of helping, we’re destroying.”
Modern readers will wrestle with the many historical, technical, and scientific (not to mention literary) errors, but most enhance rather than ruin the story. Like watching original Star Trek television shows. Bulbs, cigarettes, chalk. Colored chalk. No women, few names, hilarious gaffs. Better than much of what currently passes for science fiction.
“That’s absurd!” “Not at all. Even on Earth there are certain things not admitted publicly, though everyone knows them. In the area of social life, for example, a certain amount of hypocrisy is indispensable. But what for us is a limited phenomenon is central, universal, here.”...more
“Here at the Fall Line, the beloved land breaks, and begins its long slope down to the sea.”
He survived the war to save the nation, now he must surviv“Here at the Fall Line, the beloved land breaks, and begins its long slope down to the sea.”
He survived the war to save the nation, now he must survive its Reconstruction … and his own inner war. Intriguing historical romance set in Reconstruction Virginia. Flawless revelation of that time and place. Inner voice of point-of-view character rings true yet reveals his flaws as much as his ambitions. Trusts readers to understand and draw appropriate inferences for both facts and emotions.
“With a last, soft mumble, the thunder retired, leaving the world to sigh itself into a green wet sleep."
Deep immersion into a South still divided by the recent Civil War, but realistic personal lives of relatable people. Thorough historicity of people, place, customs, and industries adds verisimilitude.
"Louis hardly dared breathe, so tentative were her words and yet breathing immense strength beneath the overburden of what a woman might say to a man neither husband nor kin."
Self-consciously poetic. Poetry knits people. Naming a minor character Mourning slightly confusing, but Huets lets the reader work it out. Quibble: the epilogue is good, but unnecessary.
"The girlchild’s blood, running hot through his clothes onto his skin, had run clean against the darkness of himself, his man’s body, his own body enslaved by turns to wrath, to war, to adultery, to soul-deep apathy."
(Full disclosure: Jean and I are members of a writers group and read very early portions of this novel.)...more
‘Sunbringer.’ It was not enough, not yet. He needed more. He needed a nation. He must become a god.
Not as good as Godkiller. Good storytelling, but a‘Sunbringer.’ It was not enough, not yet. He needed more. He needed a nation. He must become a god.
Not as good as Godkiller. Good storytelling, but a very disjointed narrative. Following five points of view leaves the reader with a stop-and-go narrative.
Your safety means nothing. You kill what you love.
While Kaner invented a new, culturally appropriate expletive, she still loads the text with several dozen of the old. Modernisms abound which detract from the spell of the story.
‘He had my heart and lost it. My head is not on offer.’
For Godkiller, three stars included a penalty; for Sunbringer, three stars is a gift. Two data points make a trend; no need to try the next book. Your mileage may vary, but you’ve been warned.
“I think we deserve to be beaten out of our beautiful houses with a scourge of small cords—all of us who let tenants live in such sties as we see roun“I think we deserve to be beaten out of our beautiful houses with a scourge of small cords—all of us who let tenants live in such sties as we see round us.”
Amazing. Exquisitely told nineteenth-century soap opera with extended musings on the character of the principle young men and women, and society in general. Historical fiction set in the late 1820s and early 30s, published in 1871. Deeper complexity than Jane Austen or Charles Dickens. Not easy reading.
“It is troublesome to talk to such women. They are always wanting reasons, yet they are too ignorant to understand the merits of any question, and usually fall back on their moral sense to settle things after their own taste.”
How could anyone miss that this was written by a woman? Deep, insightful analysis of the workings of her characters. Most chapters start late in their action, then relapse into telling what happened before. Peppered with pithy epigrams, as follows:
We begin by knowing little and believing much, and we sometimes end by inverting the quantities. But we all know the wag’s definition of a philanthropist: a man whose charity increases directly as the square of the distance. You have not only got the old Adam in yourself against you, but you have got all those descendants of the original Adam who form the society around you. On the whole, one might say that an ardent charity was at work setting the virtuous mind to make a neighbor unhappy for her good. Severity is all very well, but it’s a great deal easier when you’ve got somebody to do it for you. Disagreeable people who only thought of themselves, and did not mind how annoying they were to her.
Critical insights softened by affection of midland English society. Classical and literary allusions, deep characterizations, politics, and religion. No violence, no sex, no profanity, but plenty of racial and class slurs. No one is a villain to himself, even if he finds himself surrounded by despicable characters. Irritating habit of opening sentences with conjunctions.
For the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs. ...more
“I want to help her. I’m scared for her.” Then [redacted] smiled crookedly. “Now, I’m a little scared of her.”
Great concept, good worldbuilding and “I want to help her. I’m scared for her.” Then [redacted] smiled crookedly. “Now, I’m a little scared of her.”
Great concept, good worldbuilding and storytelling. Pleasant, if routine medieval swords and magic setting. With a huge side of the supernatural. Readers are engaged and drawn in to the four storylines. Successfully closes this volume with sufficient hooks to draw the reader into subsequent.
“Ask a god’s business and become a god’s business.”
Distinct voices and points of view adds verisimilitude; however one character utters several dozen variations of the lazy writer’s favorite expletive, but she’s one of the four protagonists. (Late in the story Kaner uses Kissen’s inclination to casual profanity to highlight when she doesn’t swear.) Lost a star. Contrary to assertions, not suitable for young readers.
Her breath slowly fell into a deep, steady rhythm, and he knew she had fallen asleep. He kept his arms around her, feeling deeply alone.
Distorts medieval setting to fit modern sensibilities. It’s Kaner’s invented universe, but anachronisms knock serious readers out of the spell of the story.
“I am not safe. I am dangerous. And I am going with you to avenge my mother, to avenge [redacted]. This is the last time I will be left behind.” ...more
It was lovely. Too lovely. There had to be something wrong with it. There was.
Excellent first-person narrative of survival in post-apocalyptic North AIt was lovely. Too lovely. There had to be something wrong with it. There was.
Excellent first-person narrative of survival in post-apocalyptic North America. Gritty in a way that engages rather than panders. Refreshing lack of insults to the intelligence of his readers. Contemporary writers could learn about focus from Leiber.
“I ask you now, is any little thing like being damned eternally a satisfactory excuse for behaving like a complete rat?”
Modern readers may miss how original and creative this text is. Published in 1960. Early in the Cold war. Before ICBMs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, before Vietnam. Eisenhower was President. Laser new that year. Computers used tubes. Integrated circuits invented 1959.
“I’ll grant you they got a monopoly of brains. Not sense, though. “Intellectual snobs. I know the type and I detest it.”
Leiber is associated with swords and wizardry fantasy, but this is even better than Ill Met in Lankmar, which is no small feat.
“Every culture is a way of growth as well as a way of life, because the first law of life is growth.” ...more
“They wanted what I had; I was basically dealing with addicts. But I knew they’d kill to get it, too.”
Competent report of the most fascinating spy cas“They wanted what I had; I was basically dealing with addicts. But I knew they’d kill to get it, too.”
Competent report of the most fascinating spy case you never heard of. Published 1979. The New York Times reporter who covered the trials, expended his reporting into a book.
Daulton and, to a lesser extent, Chris had grown up with just about everything a rich society could bestow on its young men. They had money, good schools, a good family and a good future. They had everything—including boredom.
Fascinating and sad. Told sympathetically but told warts and all. These were not lovable people, but their life and times were the life and times of many Baby Boomers.
“Does it make sense that an alcoholic and a Polack pot head could do this on their own?”
Personal note: I am Boyce and Lee’s contemporary: born in Los Angeles in 1946, but in working class South Gate. But my life couldn’t have been more different. Lindsey scratches the surface of how two relatively affluent, privileged young men became an embarrassment to their families, generation, and nation.
In truth, each entered the espionage conspiracy with different motives. In a grotesque way, each used the other....more
The contrariety of human nature is a subject that has given a surprising amount of occupation to makers of proverbs and to those moral philosophers whThe contrariety of human nature is a subject that has given a surprising amount of occupation to makers of proverbs and to those moral philosophers who make it their province to discover and expound the glaringly obvious.
Sherlock Holmes CSI. Self-satisfied genius. Deadpan humor. Bumbling biographer. Antagonistic and clueless police. Incipient race and class-ism. Checks all the boxes.
The newcomer, a very typical Jew of the red-haired type, surveyed us thoughtfully through his gold-rimmed spectacles as he repeated the name.
Quibbles: “I notice a number of chips scattered about between the rails, and some of the chair-wedges look new.” How does one observe the condition of the rail bed while riding in the train?
Thorndyke imitates Dr. Joseph Bell, the inspiration of Doyle’s famous detective. Published 1909. A fun read.
“And you don’t intend to enlighten me?” “My dear fellow, you have all the data. Enlighten yourself by the exercise of your own brilliant faculties. Don’t give way to mental indolence.” ...more
“Be wary of false beginnings—they will destroy you.”
Moses does Terminator. Good, if well-worn concept. Wanted to like it more. Even given this is you“Be wary of false beginnings—they will destroy you.”
Moses does Terminator. Good, if well-worn concept. Wanted to like it more. Even given this is young adult fiction, it’s pretty sophomoric. Populist royal slums with plebeians, offending just about everyone. Clunky writing; heavy allegory. Illustrations by Elena Karoumpali.
“Royal blood flows through your veins, but you are not who you think you are. Soon there is coming a day when the facade of your life will be discovered. You are set apart to turn sorrow into joy for many people and joy into sorrow for many more.”
Spoiler: Moses/Messiah. Slow start, world and character building. Needed another proofreading. Non-residential military academy, at least for the royals, who have better things to do than actually train. “Science” is Star Trek level, which is pretty low. Even the juvenile target audience may find it tedious.
Our fate is rolling in from the east and it will transform the entire climate, like another Ice Age.
An extraordinary literary event: the first-person Our fate is rolling in from the east and it will transform the entire climate, like another Ice Age.
An extraordinary literary event: the first-person report of the rape (literal and figurative) of Berlin in 1945. The journalist is an educated, well-traveled German woman who journaled her experiences in the two months from the Nazi defeat to the settling into the Allied occupation.
The women seem to have reached an unspoken agreement—all of a sudden no one is bringing up “that subject.”
While the circumstances of this journal coming to press are interesting, as the primary source it provides a window into that place and time and the sadly-too-common experience of women in conquered countries (including Russian women at the mercy of Nazi conquerors a few years before). She tells it straight as she experiences and reflects on her months of hunger, fear, and degradation. And the men blame the women for what the men did.
The widow told me she’s still having wild dreams of Russians. I haven’t had anything like that, probably because I’ve spewed everything onto paper.
While Marta Hillers is not universally accepted to be the author, the justification is explained. A literate, true report on the plight of conquered women. Includes many French quotes without translation, for which I fault Philip Bohem, the translator.
All I can do is touch my small circle and be a good friend. What’s left is just to wait for the end. Still, the dark and amazing adventure of life is beckoning. I’ll stick around, out of curiosity and because I enjoy breathing and stretching my healthy limbs.
I have to run around and look for some greens along the street curbs and stand in line for groats. I don’t have time for feeding my soul. ...more
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