last kingdom

The Last Kingdom is not the latest Cotton Malone novel by Steve Berry, but it's pretty recent. I picked up this copy from the book sale at my library, which discarded my copy after the rush for this title calmed down (I assume.)

I've read a bunch of the Cotton Malone stories, because my wife likes them, but I haven't read all of them, nor have I read them in order, but it seems to me that Steve Berry is working on spinning off a new character; Luke Daniels. I don't recall the last one of the Cotton Malone stories I read, but Luke Daniels may have made an appearance in that one. I've been a little lax in keeping up the blog, and unfortunately, not every book makes it on here as it should

Maybe its just that Berry has written Cotton Malone as a more mature character, and now he's aging out. He's essentially retired, owns a small rare bookstore in Amsterdam, or someplace... sorry, you can read it if you want the details has new young wife, or girlfriend ibid and the new guy, Daniels, is a much younger man. Young enough that he looks to Malone for help. So maybe, its a passing of the baton, rather than a new series?

This one had a little of that Dan Brown or "National Treasure" feel to it. The Last Kingdom has Malone and Daniels trotting around the Bavarian region in Germany searching for information about this local legend. They soon discover that they aren't the only ones looking, so the sub-plots, plot twists, double-crosses (and triple-crosses!) ensue. This was a fun romp, but didn't have me glued. I can usually tell based on how long it takes me to read a book; if it isn't a great book, I don't go out of my way to keep reading. Some books keep me at the breakfast table for an extra 10 minutes, or I stay up to finish a chapter before I go to bed. Great books have me skipping other things to find more time to read. This book took weeks, so, average read.

golden enclaves

That's Book Three: done and dusted. The Golden Enclaves is the third book in the Scholomance Trilogy by Naomi Novik, which I banged out is pretty quick order, for me. That normally means that the books are engaging enough that I'm going out of my way to find reading time, rather than just reading a little at breakfast, and when I go to bed. That methods usually ends up turning your average novel into a two to three week ordeal.

Novik did everything right here: compelling characters and storyline, some drama, some hooks, some fun, some romance, some action, some surprise, some death, a smackerel of foreshadowing, see what I did there? and as I said in my review of the first book, an original and engaging view of how magic works in this version of our world. And that magic and how it works is not just interesting, but it plays heavily into the story, and how the witches and wizards that use it need to manage its needs and implications. Reminds me a little of Isaac Asimov's three rules for robots. Once he came up with the rules, he wrote a series of short stories (I, Robot) to test them and see how they might function is 'real life' settings. Novik does the same thing, she pokes a prods at magic through her characters to see what it will do, testing the rules and implications.

If you enjoyed the Harry Potter series, enjoyed The Magicians books even more, but weren't as much of a fan of Narnia Series, then this is probably for you. The Bone Season has some similarities as well, in the interesting view of magic in our world, but the Scholomance is much better written.

Novik crushed it. Read this book.

 

last graduate

Part two of the Scholomance Trilogy is called The Last Graduate. Naomi Novik is pretty well practiced at multi-novel story arcs, she has a series called Temeraire, that has 10 books in it. You can find more about that, and Naomi Novik, as well as some kind of web interactive trip to the Scholomance on her website.

I had to wait for this book at the library as it was reserved by someone else, but I banged out a few others while I waited, but now that this one is done, I've started on the third book, as I bought a surplus copy at my library's book sale. Unlike a lot of middle books in trilogies, The Last Graduate is really the second part of a longer story, and it really does pick up right where the first book left off. And sneak peek: the same is true between the second and the third. I'm not sure if these books would read so well if taken alone, or out of order, but then, I don't think any writer assumes that will be the case, and any subtle summarizing of the earlier book is probably done to catch up those who have had to wait a year, or however long its been, since the earlier book was published.

Book two develops the main characters in more detail, and we watch them grow in this book from the juniors they were in Book one, to the seniors they are now, getting ready to graduate from the Scholomance. This story took some turns I wasn't expecting, but I guess that is the plan. I don't normally spend any time while reading trying to work out the ending, but in some cases I'm not surprised, and in others, I am. This was one of the latter type, which is always fun. Novik does a pretty good job of convincing you of one thing, along with the protagonists, only to then change your mind, and win you over about something you didn't think you'd ever change your mind about, taking you on the same journey as the characters. That's tough to do, and can sometimes seems clunky. The worse of which is just the explainer, whether to a supporting character, or even worse, in inner dialog.

I reserved judgement on this when i wrote about the first one, because I wasn't sure where this was going to go, but I'm going assume the third book is going finish this story up nicely, and say Read this Book.

 

On a side note, this series has the backbone that I think people look for in a movie premise, or more likely a TV series. I can imagine something with a fair amount of production value that might be pretty good on the small screen. Diverse cast, international scope, and enough intrigue to pull in various types of viewers.

sea of tranquility

Sea of Tranquility was on the New York Times Bestseller List, according to the cover of this paperback I picked up at my library's book sale while waiting for my shot at the second book in a trilogy I just started. That's not why I bought it, it was because the blurb on the back cover made this one sound like a wild romp with some Cloud Atlas vibes.

It was, but not AS out there as Cloud Atlas.

Emily St. John Mandel tells a pretty good tale. She probably best known as the author of Station Eleven, which they apparently made a mini-series out of over at the HBO Max, which, in case it isn't obvious, I haven't seen. St. John Mandel is also the author of The Glass Hotel, a blurb of which is included in the backmatter of this book, and if i understand that paragraph correctly, that book may include some of the same characters as this one. Another reminder of David Mitchell.

And I just needed to read the first line of this book to know that St. John Mandel is a funny woman.

Sea of Tranquility did nod in the David Mitchell direction, for me, but the story line was completely original, albeit with some time traveling antics that I guess we've all seen before, but how they're woven together here was a treat. This was a good one, and I'll keep my eye out for books by Emily St. John Mandel.*

Read this book.

 

* Moments after publishing this post, I was cleaning up by closing browser tabs and read at the very top of Emily St. John Mandel's website, these words, "St. John is my middle name. The books go under M." I guess that's pretty clear, and apparently happens often enough that its the first line on her page. Mandel is a funny woman.

gawain and the green knight

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Pearl & Sir Orfeo are three poems translated from Middle English by J.R.R. Tolkien. The first two were discovered contained in the same manuscript, along with two other poems, written in the same hand, around the year 1400, according to the introduction, edited by Christopher Tolkien from a number of sources which original with his father, including notes, transcripts from broadcast interviews, etc. Sir Orfeo is contained in three extant manuscripts, and the one Tolkien used is dated to the 1330s, inscribed, probably in London. The original authors are unknown.

Tolkien worked on the translations a number of times from the1920s up through at lest the 1950s according to the preface by Christopher Tolkien, and in some case in collaboration with other experts in the field. In some cases, Christopher found multiple versions, and made an effort to use the most recent updated forms for this publication. The copyright is dated 1975 and held by Tolkien's long time publisher, George Allen & Unwin, Ltd. and published in 1980 by Ballantine Books, of New York.

The trickiest part of the translations, according to the front matter, is the rhythm, not the strict iambic metrical foot used in other forms, such as Shakespeare, but a more loose rhythm of stressed and less stressed syllables, more closely matching natural speech, combined with alliterative sounds within many of the lines, such as this example given in the Appendix (also credited to J.R.R. Tolkien, and edited by Christopher):

Tirius went to Tuscany         and towns founded*

In this line, I've bolded the stressed syllables in red, and obviously, Tirius, Tuscany and Towns alliterate. I've added the break in the line, as the example in the aforementioned appendix did, to illustrate that each line is composed of two chunks, according to Tolkien.

The trick is apparently finding the words in moderns English that both tell the same story, give the same intended meaning, maintain the meter and rhythm, and don't damage the structure of the poem or its speech patterns so much that it is no longer a worthy representation of the original.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the longest poem, at about 80 pages, Pearl is about 33 pages, and Sir Orfeo is shortest at about 15 pages. Each seems designed to be spoken aloud, as one assumes that not many in the 1300s and 1400s could read, and they each seems to be focused on a story that is both exciting, and includes lessons on life and strong moral. They each extol the glory of God and being good, and the rewards that come from keeping both of those aspirations close at heart. Each also has a sprinkling of magic, often dressed as dream or phantasm brought on by sleep, drink, or love. All of the ingredients for that which Tolkien was trying to restore to England, its lost native mythology, which he imagined was as rich and diverse as the Greek, Roman, Egyptian, or any other ancient civilization that didn't suffer the losses brought on by England's northern, damp climate, which is so hostile to things like old parchment manuscripts.

What I found most fun was the similarities in some of the themes from the adventures themselves that were clearly the inspirations,** at least in part, for some of Tolkien's fiction. That itself, is worth the price of admission.

* Sir Gawain, stanza 1 

** Tolkien fans out there will have heard the comparisons between The Lord of the Rings and Wagner's Ring Cycle (Der Ring des Nibelungen) which Tolkien denied, and still many try to say that it is at least partially inspired by Wagner, regardless of the author's dismissal. But Wagner was himself inspired by an old Middle High German poem from around 1200, called Nibelungenlied (The Song of the Nibelungs), which is in turn, based on oral traditions that likely go back to Old Norse sources, which Tolkien did study. In his 2011 essay on this comparison, Jamie McGregor provides a quote from Tom Shippey's work on Tolkien, indicating that Tolkien has a distinct dislike for Wagner (and other authors, including Shakespeare) and felt that they "had got something very important, not quite right." That, to me, explains why the similarities are present, i.e., they used the same source material, but Tolkien's inspiration, and what he took from the texts and traditions he studied, could be his own.***

*** One of Tolkien's friends--and a member of the Inklings, which they founded with their literary friends--C.S. Lewis, was described by Roberts Giddings, again, according to McGregor's essay, noted above, as a "rabid Wagnerite" and in his mind the source of the Wagner "taint" in Tolkien's work. Not having read Giddings work myself, I can't tell you if that theory is supported by any evidence, but in absence of that, I'll only add that it may be that Lewis saw these associations himself, and may have even brought them up to Tolkien himself, and if he did, I assume that Tolkien's response was the same to Lewis as it was to more public comparisons, altho, I also assume, perhaps more pointed.

deadly education

On a recent visit to my local library's book sale shelf, I found what ends up being the third book in a trilogy, about young magicians enrolled in a magic school of some kind. I was intrigued, but after discovering it was book three, I decided I should check out the first books before committing to the two-dollar purchase price my library was looking to collect for a used hard cover. that's frugality, right there

I found the first two volumes in the library catalog, and because my library is currently under construction, and I was standing in the gymnasium of a former elementary school which currently serves as the temporary home for my library, I needed the librarian’s help to collect the book from the closed stacks. That was just a few days ago.

I sailed through this book. 

It was an easy, well-paced and exciting read. I returned the book just a few days later, and immediately tried to secure the second volume, only to find that the one copy the library has is currently out, and another patron had a hold on it, when it returns. So I added my name to the hold list, and then picked up a few more books from the book sale in the meantime.* I’m currently enjoying once of those, while I wait for my turn at book two of the Scholomance Trilogy, called The Last Graduate.

Book one is called A Deadly Education. Naomi Novik has written a few other books, including a whole bunch of books in her Temeraire Series, which seems to be about alternate history, dragons, and whatnot, but I don't recall ever reading any of her stuff. Novik also has a number of fantasy short stories that are often included in fantasy anthologies, so maybe I've run across one or two of those.

The Scholomance is the name of the school these young magical folks attend. This ain't Hogwarts or Brakebills. I was gratified to read Novik's take on a magical school, and how different it is from so many other's. It seems that when a particular literary archetype has been written about enough, the traits become so standardized that if a vampire doesn't cringe at garlic, we're all thinking, "That can't be true!" Its refreshing to read a story that breaks that mold, and Naomi Novik has built a world where magic, what powers it, and how it is taught is different from the other books I've read. There will be some hard-core magic  readers out there who've read everything is this genre magical realism? fabulism? swords & sorcery, sans swords? who beg to differ, and please do, I just haven't read anything quite like this before.

Book one is fast paced, well plotted, and exciting, with spots of action, trauma, classism, and a kind of teen rage-angst that could blacken stars and end worlds. 

Maybe that will be in part two... [rubs hands together like an evil spirit watching politics.]

* When I went back to return book one and reserve book two, the third book was still on the book sale shelf, so I bought it, along with a few others. cue more hand rubbing

fallen

The Fallen is a novel by David Baldacci in his Memory Man series. I’ve read a couple of these at this point, in no particular order as I’m usually grabbing one of my wife’s books when I don’t have anything else to read.

I’m not sure if was just this book or if it’s a pattern with Baldacci but this book has a really high body count, and like a lot of similar and unlikely storylines, the Memory Man just happens to be in town on vacation when he and his partner stumble into a multiple murder, which just happens to be murders 5 and 6 in what looks like a small town serial killing. 

 

Not oddly coincidental enough for you? Did I mention that memory man is on vacation with his female FBI partner, with whom he does not share an intimate relationship, and she is visiting her family. What, you don’t do that with your co-workers? Did I mention that the murder scene is the house directly behind the sisters house, where they are all staying?

 

I’ve used the Murder She Wrote comparison for this before: Jessica Fletcher is visiting and old friend that she hasn’t seen in years, and we’ve never met on the show, and on the first day of her three day stay, the golf pro who lives next door happens to get murdered in his hot tub with a golf iron. Good thing Jessica is there…. She’s like the four horsemen rolled into one, in a hip length sweater and sensible shoes. 

 

Dame Angela Lansbury... this must have been season 1

I get it, let’s just set the stage and get this mystery started. Folks pound through these books like a weekly TV series, and they’re willing to suspend disbelief enough to settle in and enjoy themselves. I’m there too, I just can’t read too many of these without mixing it up with something a little more carefully crafted or even challenging. 

 

Is this a solid entry in the series? Yep, as far as I can tell. If you’ve enjoyed others in the series this one is just fine. And I know I’ll end up reading another one, I just won’t go to the store or the library looking for a book like this. 

 

I think I just said I’m lazy. That what you heard?

 

 

[Note: This is another late one, I started this draft on October 17.] 

portrait of an unknown woman

My wife bought a bunch of Daniel Silva’s books, used, a while ago. I think she just wanted to catch up on the Gabriel Allon stories that she missed buying them whenever she saw them. Portrait of an Unknown Woman is not one of those books though; she bought this one new as it is a recent installment, with a title similar to one of the other books. The woman in this title is the subject of a painting, a painting that takes Allon and his associates on a chase around Europe and to the US to try and find out what they can about this painting and why people are dying because of it.

Silva has done nice job telling a different type of tale to keep things interesting for fans of the series. If you’re one of those fans, I think you’ll enjoy this one. If you aren’t, this is probably not the book I would start with.

 

Note: I'm behind on posting, this post is from a draft I wrote at the end of August, when I finished this book.

number 9 dream

This may be David Mitchell's second book. [I guess I could look that up... Yes, it is, published in 2001.]

I don't recall if I read his first book, but if not, I'll probably look it up and put it on my list. [I guess I could check that too... David Mitchell's first book is Ghostwritten, 1999, and I've haven't read it, ,so I guess that is now on my list.] So, according to this list, I've read all of his stand alone novels except for the first, and the last. His most recent book, Utopia Avenue, I haven't read. Not sure how I missed it, but yes, that is now on my list as well.

David Mitchell is one of my favorite writers. Why? Because of the ideas he's exploring in this early work: depth of story, reliance on the reader to carry their weight, surrealism, stream of consciousness story telling, a blending of the mystical, the magical, the spiritual, and one's own reality; which importantly, may not be the reality of others.

Maybe that's a heavy lift for some; for me, I say, "Bring it. Let's do this!" I am all in, and you want to switch from dreams to waking state without a cue card? Go ahead. Do I need to be waved at to follow what you're writing about? Nope. Does that cause me to sometimes loose track? Yep, but we all loose track sometimes, and writing that reflects that reality in my life is a bonus.

If you feel that the writer has a responsibility to hold your hand, tell you it will be okay, and plot a straight (or curvy) course from the beginning to the end, David Mitchell may not be for you. If writing that makes you feel like you can predict what will happen next, or even how the story will end is important to you, David Mitchell may not be for you. If you don't want to wonder if what you're reading in this moment is actually part of this story, part of another story, part of the protagonist's story, or is related to some completely other story that you're unaware of, David Mitchell may not be for you. If you didn't love the fact that Bill Murray whispered in Scarlett Johansson's ear in "Lost in Translation," and you won't ever know never, ever know what they said, then David Mitchell may not be for you.

If you are looking for something that challenges you to keep up, and expects you to bring your thinking game AND your sense of humor, then Number 9 Dream may be for you. The title comes from a John Lennon's song title of the same name, and I have to admit, I don't know it. A popular search about that song, according to google, is "What is #9Dream about?" I took a quick listen, and its got that mid-70s, ex-Beatles vibe with a little Yoko Ono thrown in there. What is it about? Don't know, maybe google does. yeah, here's me, not looking that up for you

Lennon does make an appearance in the story tho, in Eiji Miyake's dream, as I assume you've Imagined he would. see what I did there?

Eiji Mikake is lost. Lost in Tokyo, lost in loss, lost for words, lost without love, lost and alone. Mitchell has spun a fairy tale of modern life, with glimpses at loss, grief, panic, love, determination, violence, support, and growth. Is it flawless? No. Is it worth reading? Yes.

Read this book, and then find the other things David Mitchell has written and read those too.

 

Note: This should have been published when I originally wrote it, in mid-August. I've finished a few since then, so its catch up time.

terminal list

My wife and I watched the TV show based on this book a little while ago, and after we finished it, she found this book and told me she'd read it a few years ago and thought she'd recognized the story. She said it was pretty good so I gave it a whirl.

Jack Carr is a retired navy SEAL, and like some others who have gone this route, Carr set about writing stories about SEALs. Write what you know, if the often heard advice for beginning writers, so its seems that's what he did. In the Preface, Carr tells us that because he's a retired SEAL, that of he wants to write about SEALs, or any other thing he may have been exposed to or knew about as an employee of the United States, he needs to get it cleared first, which he did. The powers that be found a few things they wanted him to take out, and rather than re-write around those items, Carr decided to leave them in and redact them; placing black bars in lieu of the original sensitive text. Its was his opinion that it would add some realism to the story, and I think it does.

When one does a search on the interwebs for The Terminal List, the first thing that shows up is the TV series starring Chris Pratt as Lieutenant Commander James Reece, rather than the book. No surprise there, I guess. Since the first book in this series, Carr has cranked out 5 more, James Reece books.

So what are you in for? Well I don't typically like spoilers, but I will say this; think of Jack Reacher, if he was put in a position like John Wick. In the acknowledgements, Carr takes a moment to thank Brad Thor, who apparently helped him out with advice when he was getting started. Its seems to have worked out pretty well for Carr, I think his James Reece character is a little stronger that Thor's Scot Harvath.

midnight library

I'm not sure when or even why I added The Midnight Library to my reading list. My reading list, by the way, is in a few forms: a list I keep on my public library account, occasionally a written note when I hear something from someone, perhaps on the radio, and most often, photos of book covers that I see in my travels. 

This one came from my library account reading list, and tho I sometimes add a note about where I heard about it, this title has no note. I'm guessing I heard about it on the radio. This book was on the NYT Best Sellers list for a while, and so it probably got some radio time.

A quick look on The Books tab here, confirms that I haven't read anything else by Matt Haig, at least in the last 14 years. This book was located with the travel books at the library, which I though was interesting. I assume that was a kind of marketing ploy, like putting some bananas near the cereal at the supermarket. There was some traveling, certainly, in this book, altho it was mainly confined to the spiritual plane between the infinite versions of the multiverse. I will concede, however, that whilst visiting said alternate realities, the physical location of our protagonist, Nora Seed, did vary on occasion.

Confused yet?

Its simple, really; The Midnight Library is an examination of lives unlived. Its a what-if book, that allows Nora Seed to examine how her life may have been were she to have made different choices; and through her, we are encouraged to examine our own lives, our regrets, and our potential alternate lives. Think of Ebenezer Scrooge, and how he was able to reexamine his past, present and future lives as an outside observer, and to take from that what he could. Nora Seed is given a similar opportunity, sans ghosties. sort of

Its hard to give you a better idea without spoilers, and perhaps I've gone too far down that road for some. This was an entertaining, fast read. It started out rather depressing, but I had a feeling it would be okay in the end (I'm an optimist!) It did get better, but it was cloudy day or two at the beginning. If you are already depressed, this may help, but you've have to slog down into the valley before coming up into the sun on the other side. Stick with it, if you think you're up to it.

Based on some of the other titles from Matt Haig, this is his sandbox. I'll leave it to you to decide if you want to read more of his stuff. If this one helps, the others may as well. For me, I think it helped me to understand depression and regret a little bit more, but, like A Christmas Carol, it puts too rosy of a glow on what the possibilities are for folks that are struggling, and if I were struggling, I'm not sure if I'd see this as a positive, or if I'd see it as sweet, but unrealistic fantasy for those who have to deal with regret and despair. cheer up bunky! it could be worse, and it might even get better!

Yeah, I'm not sure that's the kind of thing depressed and/or despairing folks can effectively onboard, but I'm not an expert, you do what's right for you. On balance, I enjoyed it.

code of conduct

Scot Harvath is at it again, in Brad Thor's new spy/counterterrorism adventure, Code of Conduct. Well, I say new, but its just new to me. The copyright date is 2015, so I'm assuming this book has either been kicking around the house a while, or my wife bought in (along with a handful of other adventure books, I assume) on a more recent outing and I just found it. Either way, this is the kind of book my wife likes to read, and I read by default. 

I'm not complaining, I enjoy the spy/crime/intrigue novel as much as the next person, I just find that this isn't the type of book I actively go looking for at the library or the book store. I do buy books like this when I find them at book sales and the like, because I know that my wife and I will both get to read them. My wife is not likely to read the fantasy, or scifi, or surreal books which tend to be my first choices when I'm doing the aforementioned active looking.

Scot Harvath fills the role of  kick-ass guy in Thor's adventure series, commonly referred to as the Scot Harvath Series. I wouldn't worry too much about what the series is called, it doesn't look like Brad Thor has another series. Its working for him, so why mess with it. Code of Conduct is book 14 in the 22.5 book series. yeah, I don't know, that's just the way its written

This book--again, copyright 2015--is about a pandemic that spreads around the world pretty quickly, infecting folks from the poorest to the rich and powerful. So its a little eerie to think of him banging away on his word processing app writing this story of a pandemic 5-years before COVID, and just to get the conspiracy theory junkies all juiced, Thor's pandemic is a man-made terrorist attack, with some megalomaniacal, new-world-order sauce thrown in there. 

This isn't the first time Brad Thor has written a Harvath book that seems to predict the future either, sooo...

In my review of the last book I read in this series I said that Scot "Harvath is your standard super secret agent man..."* I had the same feeling about the Harvath character in this book, as you can see above. I'm not sure that's a big problem, Thor is writing a pretty good action story and doesn't get too wound up about the backstory or supporting characters so much, but I did get the sense that there was some depth to these characters, its just that I think you'd have to read a bunch of these books in order to understand that.

* Yeah, I just quoted myself. Get your own blog.

 

amina al-sarifi adventures

I was first attracted to this book at the library. It was on the shelf, face out, in the new fiction section, not far from where I had recently found The Priory of the Orange Tree, and then The Day of Fallen Night, both by Samantha Shannon. The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi is by Shannon Chakraborty,* so there is a similarity in the names, but not just that, the illustrations on all three of these books seemed similar, so I picked up Al-Sirafi thinking that it was another book by the same author.

Similar name (Shannon)... similar artwork... but no, this is a different adventure. One I turned out to like, but the similarity in the illustrations was uncanny. I figured that it had to be the same person.

Yep.

Ivan Belikov did the cover art for all three of these books. Belikov does these rich, crisp illustrations of mystical beasts that made him a great choice for all three of these adventures.

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi is the first (I'm assuming) in a new series of adventures for Shannon Chakraborty. I haven't read her stuff before that I can recall, but she established herself with another fantasy series known as the Daevabad Trilogy. I say the first in a series, but this actually read like the first book is a series, which has also intentionally left plenty of room for prequels, if this series does well. I guess you might call that savvy.

This story does--perhaps because of the need to leave room in both the future and the past--spend some time and text on both world building and backstory, but the adventure makes up for that, especially when one considers that there is probably more to come, and that backstory is going to be helpful in the future. and the past? the future-past? past-of-the-future? 

Chakraborty is a fan of history, according to he acknowledgments, and did lots of research to ensure that the travels, the ports, the seas, the ships, and the customs, Amina Al-Sarifi is awash in ring true. There is even a bibliography and further reading suggestions at the back of the book, including some translations of a few of the adventures this stories Al-Sarafi is based on. Most of Chakraborty's research was done in the original language, and she points out that there aren't many of those volumes that have been translated into English, so she has us (sole English speakers) at an advantage there. 

Does this book remind me of The Story of Sinbad the Sailor? Yep. Is that a bad thing? Nope. This one is worth a read, and I'll be looking for the next one.

* Shannon Chakraborty used to use the "author name" S.A. Chakraborty, which she used for the Daevabad Trilogy. Looks like Shannon Chakraborty is the name her future works will be published under.

day of fallen night

A Day of Fallen Night is the follow-up to The Priory of the Orange Tree. I guess you could say that its the second book in a series, but I'm not sure if there will be others, but I think there will be and its more accurate to describe this book as prequel. This is the third book in a row I've read by Samantha Shannon, so I guess she's doing something right. 

Fallen Night, and the last one, are part of Shannon's Roots of Chaos Series. Based on the number of books in the Bone Season Series, I'm guessing that there will be more. Shannon has built a whole world here, and this prequel tells me that she has dug pretty deep into this world's history, mythos and culture.

The science and physics of this world differs from ours in that magic is woven into the energy that powers it and the universe it which it sits. Magic and science intertwine, as natural as the tides and the seasons. Shannon told us in the first book's foreword (or somewhere) that the cultures and myths that form the foundation upon which her world building grows, come from a variety of our own world cultures and traditions. Those histories bring some of their own weight to Shannon's world building, helping to cement them in the reader's mind. J.K Rowling was good at that, as is Lev Grossman, in an interesting derivative way, building on the worlds other authors built--including Rowling's--based on our own world.

Does that mean Shannon is standing on the shoulders of those who came before? Yes, as are all successful authors, to a greater or lesser extent. 

I think it may be tricky to create a prequel that has almost no characters in common with the cast of characters from the first book in a series. Its the characters we come to know, as well as their trials, so I think Shannon may have made herself a harder task than she could have, but ultimately did a good job. Like the last book, the climax was a soft one, and the Bone Season's was as well. That seems to be her MO. If you're looking for a dynamic, earth-shattering climax to wrap up some larger sized tomes, these book may not be for you.

There are a few less pages in this volume that the first one, but not by many. This book is a little thinner, and part of that thinness, unfortunately, is the thinness of the paper stock used to print it. The pages are a little too transparent for my taste. The text bleeds through. Its a small complaint, but given the size and length of this books, its was distracting too often for me. Maybe that's on the publisher, what do I know.

This was a fun read, and I will look for the next one when it comes out. This world Shannon has created has some staying power and I think the stories she can pull from it will also be fun.

 

 

priory of the orange tree

The last book I read, was also by Samantha Shannon, and I read it because I wasn't sure if The Priory of the Orange Tree was a follow up to her earlier works. That last book I read, The Bone Season, was the first in a series, but not this series. The Priory is actual the first in a new series, The Roots of Chaos Series, and I don't know how many volumes it will have. At least two; the second book in that series is what I'm reading now.

Shannon is still working in the fantasy realm here, but she created a whole new world to set this series in, and based on this first book, she's done a pretty good job. It seems clear from The Bone Season and now this book, that for Shannon, inclusivity and equality are fundamental. Its a good place to be, but how she's done it in this book is to bake it right into the world she's created. Its just normal, and anyone who feels differently is the outsider. Its an effective tool and reminds me a little of Ursula K. Le Guin.

You can tell by the cover art that there be dragons here, but Shannon has them with a different take. In the front matter, the book jacket, somewhere there is a note that the fictional lands of The Priory were inspired by legends from various parts of the world. or something like that Shannon has taken a kit of parts provided by various myths and legends around the world and reformed them into a massive crossover that forms the basis of her world building cultures, economies, magic, and religions. Its because they are familiar, that she can lean on them to help infill the backstory. The same technique is used for place names and personal names, which are similar to those cultures that inspire them, but different enough to set them apart. Western Dragons, with the wings and fire, are set against the Eastern Dragons, which slither through the air and and more water based.

This book is a beast at nearly 850 pages, and traverses the globe Shannon has created, following the stories of people from several different countries, who eventually learn that they probably need to work together to defeat an insurmountable common foe. I didn't love this book, but I did like it. Enough to go to the library and get the next installment, A Day of Fallen Night, which, so far at least (its another big one) is a prequel to The Priory.

bone season

The Bone Season is a novel by British writer Samantha Shannon, and it may be her first. I'm not sure. It is certainly the first in a series. According to Book Series in Order, its the first of 6 books in the series, and this one was published 10 years ago. I picked up my version at my local library after hear something about Samantha Shannon's current book, The Priory of the Orange Tree, which I'm reading now. it may be a while, that book is a monster

I don't have this book on hand to double check some of these things, as I've returned it to the library, but I'm under the impression that this is Shannon's first book because of the writing. It wasn't bad, there were just a few unresolved items that I think Shannon may have known the answers to but just didn't share with us. Perhaps these are loose ends that we be wrapped up in a later book in the series, but one in particular concerning a dead flower in a jar, is mentioned numerous times, and then we're left to wonder. I could guess. After all we're in this together, the author and me as a reader, but that seems like a heavy lift. not my job, man

I got about one third of the way through this book before I wondered (not for the last time) if this was going to be a vampire story and/or if this was going to be a Stockholm syndrome-type vampire love story. I'm happy to report that wasn't the case, and I hope that remains true in the rest of the series. I guess we'll see how the Priory book goes before I decide to dig further into Samantha Shannon's catalog of books.

There is some interesting world building here, which takes place in an alternate version of Earth, which shares a history with our own, albeit modified enough to allow for a dystopian future where Scion rules over the London of 30 years from now, and anyone found with any connection to the aether,* a condition better known as 'unnaturalness' is under threat of immediate arrest, presumably to protect the public.

Paige Mahoney, our hero, has a fair case of this unnaturalness, and rather than hide, as many in her position do, she joins a criminal underground, where she uses her connection to the aether and fight against the oppression of Scion. Mahoney ends up finding some interesting allies, and the story takes some weird turns when she is captured by Scion. Arresting folks with a connection to the aether IS in order to separate them from the public, but not because they're dangerous. The real reason they are separated is much worse.

 

* There are a number of old timey terms which have made there way back into the lexicon of this story. I guess because of the unnaturalness, and the need to have terms to describe its various facets. These old timey words are supplemented by a number of invented words for the same reason. Shannon has included a glossary in the back matter to clarify many of these terms.

patriots logo - round 2

Proposed New Patriot's Logo, click for larger view

A few years ago, I suggested that it was time for the Patriots to update their logo. They've had it for about half of the life of the franchise, prior to the current, flying Elvis design they had Pat the Patriot, a guy in a three point stance waiting to pounce. Pat lasted for the for about 30 years, and flying Elvis has been at it for another 30+ years. In a 2021 article, the folks at Upper Hand did a researched article which ranked the NFL logos good to bad, based on how people feel about them, using a series of metrics based on 7 different sports sites. They aggregated the data and the Patriots, I was not surprised to see, was ranked 28 out of 32 for their logo.

Graphically, the Patriots logo stinks, and people don't like it. There are others, who just love tradition and don't want to see things change. To those folks, I say this: Washington Commanders. their logo stinks too, by the way. this isn't college ball.

So what's wrong with the Pat's logo? It doesn't hold up. Part of the problem is the team name. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to change that, but the teams that are named after a "person," simply have a harder time, unless that person has some kind of strong visual iconography attached to it. The Vikings, for example, have a little something to work with. The Raiders? Nope. What does a raider look like? The Buccaneers? myeh, sort of a privateer, which a semi-legal pirate, from the Caribbean, so... Florida Pirate-y? The 49ers? What, I guy with a shovel?

Updated Version of my 2019 Logo

 

And the Patriots: A patriotic person, of the New England variety. So a guy in a tricorn hat? Again, not a lot of helpful iconography. So my thought, in 2019, was to take inspiration from the Flying Elvis logo, which includes some red stripes or ribbons trailing from his tricorn, and the white star on his blue hat, which obviously represent the stripes on the flag, and boil that down to try and eliminate the person represented by the Patriot. I came up with something similar to this, which I have since tweaked to eliminate the odd shape I had in blue. Its much more flag, or pennant-like. But maybe too much so, and maybe too close to what the Pats currently have.

 

Proposed Patriot's Logo on a Blue Background

That's where I started, and after looking at the logos that did best according to the Upper Hand research, I decided to simplify further, and go with the letters NE for New England, similar to what San Francisco, Green Bay, and even Kansas City did, AND still use the flag iconography that's built into the current logo, and the Patriot name. I used some curves to graphically express forward motion, and to recall the shapes of a football. I ran the white stripes through the letter forms to accentuate the action, and they recall gridiron lines on the field. I used a variation of the wordmark I came up with in 2019, but I removed the additional blue outline from the star as it was too similar to the Cowboys Lone Star logo. Its bold, recognizable, and easy to stitch on a hat.

On White Background with Wordmark

return to nerax - 2023

George Gendron

2016 was the last time I went to NERAX, the New England Real Ale Exhibition, 7 years ago.* That visit was actually to NERAX North, and I went with my newly minted 21 year old. This time, it was with both of my kids, at the NERAX's new home at the South Boston Lithuanian Club. We attended the Saturday evening session, and its a fun time to go, not as crowded as the Saturday daytime or the Friday evening sessions, but the casks do start to kick pretty quickly, and there were many options we didn't get a chance to try. I say that, but I've only ever tried 5 or 6 each time I go, there are just too many options.

A quick word about this year's program cover photo. I got a kick out of telling my kids about how much fun it was to see so many familiar faces of the volunteers, staff, and founders at the event. I was able to point out the woman who was tickled to see that my oldest had just turned 21 last time, reminisced a little about her own youth and then gave Alessia a few drink passes! What a sweetheart. One who I didn't see last night was George Gendron, one of the founders of NERAX, and the man on the program cover. George passed away a few years ago and is fondly remembered in a tribute within program. Thanks to George for all he's done for this great festival!

This year's exhibition dates were moved at the last minute due to some kind of scheduling problem, but we were informed in plenty of time, and our advance tickets were transferred over with no problems. However, that did mean that there were no food vendors this year at the exhibition, as they couldn't accommodate the late change in their schedules. We ended up bring a small box of snacks, which is typically not allowed. Thanks to the NERAX folks for allowing this, having a little food is great. As I normally do, I sampled quarter pints so that I'd have the opportunity to try a few things, and to be honest, I focused on the imports, given that my opportunities to try some of those ales without traveling is probably limited. All but one of the beers I sampled was from the UK.

There were close to 100 ales available this year

Dark Fruits Porter - Salem Brew Co., Wainfleet All Saints, England (ABV 4.4%) **

The first two beers I asked for were already kicked before the Saturday evening session started. The Dark Fruits Porter was my third choice, and it almost wasn't to be. They were able to get a quarter pint for me, and then maybe only one or two more before the cask kicked and the Reaper came out to erase it off the board, accompanied by a death knell, rung out on an empty keg. Bright black cherry on the nose, with notes of lemon lollipops. Dark, nut brown with a browned-butter colored, lacy head. Thin bodied, fruity and super smooth. There is a snappy brightness at first, smouldering to a soft, lasting bitterness. Reminded me of jam on toast!

Cross Borders Session Pale - Cold Black Label, Bridgend, Wales (ABV 4.2%) ***

Pale honey colored, with a light and wispy cream colored head. Citrusy fruit salad on the nose, which delivered in the initial taste. Full mouth flavor with a bready, sourdough finish and smooth mouth feel.

Beach Hut - Leigh On Sea Brewery, Leigh On Sea, Essex, England (ABV 4.5%)

Dried grass yellow with a frosty looking haze with a thin, wispy head like cirrus clouds and a fine ring of white foam at the glass edge. Slight funk with fruit juice on the nose, and notes of pineapple. Finely texture, creamy mouth feel, tropical fruits, and a dry, wheat cracker bitter finish. I like this one very much, and the next one I went for was from the same brewery.

Legra Pale - Leigh On Sea Brewery, Leigh On Sea, Essex, England (ABV 3.8%)

Blazing bright, warm yellow color with a fine bubbly, tatted top. Huge, juicy start. Clean, grapefruit pith astringency, and a crisp dry finish. I bragged about this one, and made a note that this would be a perfect house beer. Super drinkable and refreshing, with a low ABV so you could have a few throughout the day. Would be great for a winter party or a summer barbecue.

Sweet Stout - Well Drawn Brewing Co., Bedwas, Caerphilly, Wales (ABV 5.0%) ****

Deep brown-black that let no light pass with a caramel colored, bubbly froth. Brown bread and molasses on the nose. [All of the beers I've had so far are thin! This one too.] Rich dried fruits flavor. Prunes, maybe? Cherry cordial filled chocolate, like a Bon Ami. After after, slightly under ripe pears, with the skins still on. Long, creamy finish. There was a lot going on with this one. Dessert beer at its best.

Ishmael Ale - Rising Tide Brewery, Portland, Maine, USA (ABV 4.9%)

Call me Ishmael. The tasting notes indicate that this beer is a collaboration with New England Distillery Co. They rested the beer in American oak barrels, which had been used for a rye whisky, that was distilled from one of Rising Tide's rye based pale ales. Rich amber brown with a delicate head. Sweet, malty tones on the nose. Citrus juicy with red wine tannin and sweetness which evaporates to a dry, orange amaro bitterness. Sweet, clean burnt sugar finish. The whiskey aromas dance over the glass and on the palate. This was a great way to finish up for the evening!

 

Stefan & Alessia sampling the wares

* The first time I went to NERAX was in 2010. I just took a quick look at that post, from 13 years ago, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that I paid $15 to get in, and $5 glass deposit. Exactly the same as we paid last night! The quarter pint sample were pretty close to the same price to, if not the same. I didn't record that in 2010. What that means is that the sponsors of NERAX are stepping up to keep this longest running real ale exhibition in North America affordable for all of us.

** I think the tasting notes on this one may need some clarification. I found the Dark Fruits Porter by George Bateman and Son Ltd, Salem Bridge Brewery, Wainfleet, Lincolnshire. I think Salem Brew Co. is a subsidiary, or a brand/trade mark owned by Bateman. Bateman had their XXXB on tap for the festival as well.

*** Cold Black Label also appears to be the mother company to at least two beer labels: Brecon and Lithic. Brecon had their own three offerings, so perhaps this was a special cask for the festival. Note: Brecon's website just has a beautiful mountain scene splash page and no content, which you can find thru Cold Black Label's site.

**** Well Drawn doesn't seem to have their own website, altho I found some links to a facebook page, and a listing on Untappd, which actually includes some comments about their NERAX offering this year.