Review: The Governess Affair (Brothers Sinister #0.5) by Courtney Milan

Book info: 

Form: Kindle format, e-book

Genre: historical romance

Target audience: adults

Synopsis:

The Duke of Clermont was so bored one evening that he raped Serena Barton, a governess hired for his unborn child, as, quoting his words, she had the bad luck of being the closest thing to a real woman (read: decently pretty) in his household. Serena protested but not loudly enough – her living and reputation was at stake. When she got pregnant she was shown the door unceremoniously. However Serena proves to be a much bigger problem that the Duke has ever imagined. You see, she has brains and she doesn’t hesitate to use them.

Knowing the Duke’s weakness, she starts pestering him by sitting on a bench in a park opposite to his London house, clearly visible to anybody, inspiring plenty of gossip. The Duke is seriously worried – if his wife gets a whiff of another scandal his father-in-law will stop giving him money. The Duke has significant debts to be paid off and he likes the comforts of aristocratic life. Serena Barton must disappear as soon as possible, before her pregnancy will be visible, leaving little to the imagination.

That’s why Hugo Marshall, the Duke’s problem shooter known as the Wolf of Clermont, has to intervene. He approaches the injured party with the worst intentions on his mind and he finds himself trapped by Serena’s intelligence, intrepid character and perseverance. They fall in love with each other. He has a duty to perform. His future depends on the happiness of the Duke. The Duke demands that Serena and her child go to hell and never return. What is Hugo going to choose - his love or his ambition?

What I liked:

I have read and reviewed many Milan novels so far. I could repeat in this section roughly the same I’ve written previously: I liked the main heroine who was intelligent, knew how to defend herself, decided to act against all odds etc. I could add that Hugo Marshall was also a kind of hero I usually love reading about: complex, not without faults, with dark shadows in his past. I don’t like repeating myself though so let me say just this: I really LOVE how Courtney Milan takes every romantic cliché and turns it upside down.

A damsel in distress? Surely but not such a defenseless damsel even though Serena’s only weapons are her brain and stamina. A cruel, egoistic rapist? Yes, but also a man who is dependent on the purse of his father-in-law and despises every minute of it. Of course not squandering money is out of question, he is a duke and it is his birthright, but the more he squanders the nicer he must be to his wife…and he becomes the more frustrated as a result. Try to be nice to your wife AND to have a mistress. A brutal henchman? Yes, Hugo can be brutal and ruthless but he is also shown as a man with conscience, a real knight who wants to defend Serena despite himself. And they have no secrets since the very beginning! What a bliss! Can you imagine that? A romance novel and no pesky secrets - he knows she is pregnant, he knows who the father is, she knows he knows because she told him like any sensible person would... nicely done! Very nicely done indeed!


The cover is lovely!

What I didn’t like:

It is a short novel or a long novella. I would like it better if it was longer. Now I must wait for the rest of the series.

Final verdict:

I am a fan. I recommend Courtney Milan’s books to everyone. I am almost ashamed of this eulogy but what can be done…Let me tell you one more piece of good news. The author officially allows her readers to share this novella with  friends. Finally a sensible approach to the well-known problem of piracy and related issues. 

Silent Saturday

Review: A Lot Like Love by Julie James

Form: pdf format

Genre: romance, contemporary fiction

Target audience: adults

Borrowed from a friend that shouldn't be named.

Why I read it:

I have sadistic friends. Some of them keep borrowing me copies of romantic fiction, especially when I am planning to go away for a day or two. I am a compulsive reader, I am an addict, I read everything, good, bad and ugly and they take advantage. Sometimes I shrug these offers off, sometimes I succumb to them. This one had good reviews on Goodreads so I thought: “why not? A freebie for a dull train trip…it might be actually fun…” Right.

Synopsis:

It is a truth universally acknowledged that that a single woman in a  possession of a good fortune (like several millions and a wine shop not to mention a fine prospect of inheriting more when the daddy kicks the bucket), must be in want of a husband. Or at least a steady boyfriend. Or two. Jordan Rhodes finds herself in such a position – she is incredibly beautiful, young, rich, educated, intelligent, independent, down-to-earth, not spoiled at all and so very conspicuously single you really have to wonder what’s wrong with that girl. Something must be wrong with her, right? Some skeletons in a closet full of Gucci shoes?  It’s not that she has no social life because she has to work 24/7 to feed her twelve illegitimate children and an alcoholic mother, paying off her mortgage all along, right?

Soon you find out. Beware, it is shocking, even heartrending. You see, her twin brother, Kyle, has created a kind of Twitter crisis when his ex-girlfriend  broke off  by posting a  video of herself giving another guy a blowjob. Yuck. Small wonder poor little Kyle hit the roof, hacked into the system and immobilized the whole site for 48 hours or so. Imagine that. No Twitter. How people communicated during that period? Texting? Sign language? Skype? Snail mail, perish the thought? Really, a terrorist attack, nothing less!

Anyway now Kyle, like every other criminally-inclined citizen, is serving his time. As you perhaps know (or maybe not) a prison is not exactly a health spa. Our poor millionaire is being on the brink of mental breakdown, not to mention the fact that his inmates pick on him constantly, (complete dumbasses all of them but they have to be that way so the story continues). When two FBI agents in their government issue dark suits and glasses appear in Jordan’s posh wine shop’s door, offering to release Kyle from prison if Jordan will take an undercover officer to a wine tasting party, she doesn’t feel she has a choice. Not really. You see, she is not only a great girl (see the section above) but she also loves her bro insanely. Aww…

Off she goes to a party organized by a certain Xander Eckhart, a restaurateur who is doing business with gangsters or mafia and secretly nourishes other plans concerning Jordan (guess what). Her partner for the night a.k.a male arm candy is, despite initial complications, a smolderingly handsome undercover agent extraordinaire, Nick McCall. Nick, his manly charms, intelligence and bedroom skills notwithstanding, hasn’t found what he is looking for (U2 anyone?)  in the prospective wife department so he also remains conspicuously single…Awww…two stars collide, angels are singing “All You Need Is Love”, St. Valentine is smiling benignly from one fluffy cloud and white doves are crapping on your car while kissing furiously…sorry, just a daydream.

I am pretty sure even a ten-year old girl playing with her Barbie would know what happened next. It’s always the same old scenario. Jordan and Nick fall for each other. They find they are simply compatible, there is no other word for that. They cannot get enough of…each other of course (pst, pst, yes, they go to bed!). Jordan saves her brother, Nick saves Jordan’s life, the sun is shining, the grapes are ripening in Napa Valley, summertime and the livin’ is easy, fish are jumping and cotton is high, oh your da is rich, your mum is good-looking…wait it’s from another story.

Eh.

What I liked:

Not much. It was a DNF to tell you the truth so perhaps I really appreciated the fact that I could stop reading this book at any given moment and I wasn’t compelled to start it again as if I was a completely normal, addiction-free person. Every cloud has a silver lining. ;)

What I didn’t like:

• The main heroine. She was simply obnoxiously perfect. No women are like her, neither in real life nor in good books. Once again a plastic Barbie doll comes to my mind. A study in pink…
• The main male lead. Nick was so incredibly boring in his special-operative routine that I gagged from time to time. Not to mention the fact that he, supposedly a great FBI agent, never hesitated to reveal his real identity to any of his casual sex partners which created quite a commotion at one point.
• His relationship with Jordan lacked psychological reality. One moment he is such a macho agent with a big black gun who won’t allow any chick take any decisions, billionairess or not,  the next moment he goes meekly on an expensive trip, completely funded by his girlfriend and, sipping a glass of expensive wine, he discusses his FEELINGS for heaven’s sake…when did FBI agents actually acquire feelings?
• The plot. It was so very predictable. I’ve watched and read the same story like I can’t say how many times –certainly enough to make me nauseated at the mere whiff of it.
• The Kyle-in-prison situation was simply artificial and false. Any millionaire would buy his way out of trouble but not Kyle. Why? Saving up for another Maserati? Or rather another Mac?
• The novel contained too much backstory (infodumps et all) to make the plot really fast-flowing and interesting to me even on a completely superficial level. From time to time the well-known landscape outside my window seemed to be far more compelling. A dog barking. A cat scratching its ear. A rat in a dustbin. An old car coughing loudly on the road. Children eating ice-cream. Fascinating stuff, especially when compared to this book!
• No good sense of humour to alleviate my boredom.

Final verdict:

I wouldn’t recommend this Julie James novel to anybody, not even a romance fan, but perhaps it is only me. Ok, I can criticize my own person as well. I know why Anachronist hates romances overall and this story in particular. She is jealous like hell. She will never be a wine-sipping heiress of a  fortune. She will never drive a sports car and date handsome FBI agents. She will never wear a purple dress showing her bare back up to the equally bare bottom cheeks (see the cover) to a party or, in fact, anywhere else. That’s why she hated this book. Not because it was crap. Quod erat demonstrandum. ;)

Long live the zipper!

This image was selected as a picture of the week on the Czech Wikipedia for th week, 2007. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You use it probably at least several times a day, no matter whether you wear trousers, jackets, skirts or dresses. You don't think of it unless it breaks spectacularly, making you e.g ashamed in public. Today the Wikipedia reminded me of one of the most important invention in the clothing industry.

On its way up the zipper has passed through the hands of several dedicated inventors, none convinced the general public to accept the zipper as part of everyday costume. The magazine and fashion industry made the novel zipper the popular item it is today, but it happened nearly eighty years after the zipper's first appearance.

Swedish-born (who later immigrated to Canada), Gideon Sundback, can be called the Father of the zipper. The history of his invention is very romantic - he did it because he missed his wife... An electrical engineer, he was hired to work for the Universal Fastener Company. Good design skills and a marriage to the plant-manager's daughter Elvira Aronson led Sundback to the position of head designer at Universal. He was responsible for improving the far from perfect 'Judson C-curity Fastener.' Unfortunately, Sundback's wife died in 1911. The grieving husband busied himself at the design table and by December of 1913, he had designed the modern zipper.

Gideon Sundback increased the number of fastening elements from four per inch to ten or eleven, had two facing-rows of teeth that pulled into a single piece by the slider, and increased the opening for the teeth guided by the slider. The patent for the 'Separable Fastener' was issued in 1917. Sundback also created the manufacturing machine for the new zipper. The 'S-L' or scrapless machine took a special Y-shaped wire and cut scoops from it, then punched the scoop dimple and nib, and clamped each scoop on a cloth tape to produce a continuous zipper chain. Within the first year of operation, Sundback's zipper-making machinery was producing a few hundred feet of fastener per day.

 Today you can find it everywhere and you can even buy some original jewellery created of it.


Source:

http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa082497.htm

Review: Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson (The Baroque Cycle 01)

Book info:

Form: e-book, Kindle format

Genre: historical ficition, sci-fi

Target audience: adults

Synopsis:

The story opens in 1713 when Daniel Waterhouse, a former Puritan and natural philosopher (as scientists were then called) living in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, finds himself invited back to England, where a dispute has arisen between Newton and Leibniz over exactly who developed calculus. Yes, he is that Dr Daniel Waterhouse who has founded "The Massachusetts Bay Colony Institute of Technologickal Arts" (or, as it is known today, MIT). As Daniel undertakes his voyage, leaving his wife and son behind, we go back forty years to his youth, when, as a student, he watched his classmate Isaac Newton develop into an obsessive and eccentric genius. Newton is so absorbed by his work (mathematics, light, even alchemy, an idea still taken seriously then, you name it) that he would neglect food and proper sleep if it weren't for Daniel's care. Daniel practically serves as the young genius's butler during their school days although it was supposed to be the other way round (Daniel, as a richer student, had a right to employ poorer boys, called sizars, as his personal servants). This section takes first 340 pages give or take.
Then we move into "King of the Vagabonds," which shifts the novel's focus from the lives of English high society to society's dregs. Jack Shaftoe is the vagabond of the title, an orphan whose earliest career involved dangling from the legs of men sentenced to hang in order to quicken their deaths. As an adult he wanders the continent, eventually falling in with an army battling the Turks at Vienna. Here he rescues Eliza, who had been sold as a concubine to a Turkish prince. Jack and Eliza travel together for a time, until they reach Amsterdam. Here, Eliza proves to have a strong mind for business and money management, and she remains in Amsterdam — quickly turning into a European financial center thanks to the Dutch East India Company — while Jack (who is slowly losing his mind from syphilis) continues to France.

Portrait of Gottfried Leibniz (1646-1716), German philosopher (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The final section of the book, "Odalisque," brings Daniel's and Eliza's story threads together. Daniel has re-established contact with Newton, whose studies are veering away from the purely scientific into the metaphysical following his completion of the Principia Mathematica, while on the continent Leibniz has finally published his calculus. Eliza's reputation as a financial wizard, meanwhile, has brought her into contact with some of the most powerful people from Holland, England, and France. She finds herself ensconced at Versailles, managing the finances of virtually everyone there, which gives her unprecedented contact with people who would ordinarily be off limits to one of her lowborn class. Meanwhile, she has become a confidant first of the Duke of Monmouth (whose rebellion in England against James II fails miserably), then of William of Orange (whose succeeds), and of Leibniz, to whom she writes of her escapades in cipher.

What I liked:

I felt this first part tried to capture one of the pivotal periods not merely in European history, but one which ultimately shaped the course of the modern world as we know it. 17th century as a period cannot and shouldn't be underestimated. In the field of science, there were Newton's discoveries, as well as the first formal instance of politics and science going hand in hand with the Royal Society. The financial markets of Europe at this time set the stage for the stock exchanges that propelled economies the world over today. I found myself gasping several times when I rediscovered such obvious truths here. It was a mental challenge but also something truly enjoyable. What were Renaissance alchemists but hackers, rooting around in and trying to reprogram systems of matter? Modern cryptanalysts and programmers have their intellectual roots, too, in work done by wigged mathematicians of centuries past. The idea of a modern computer was most probably invented by Leibniz. The learned discourses of Waterhouse, Newton, Leibniz, Hooke et al contains the germs, sometimes even the clear outlines, of future scientific discoveries. Daniel refers to "a kind of net-work of information", a long time before the OED's first record of such a figurative use of "net-work" (by Coleridge in 1816, talking about property). One letter from Leibniz more or less invents Einsteinian special relativity and implies the celebrated equation e=mc2; elsewhere someone proposes gravitation as the distortion of spacetime avant la lettre; and there is a buried joke about the improbability of anyone ever believing in the idea of particles which we now know as neutrinos.I am not surprised this book was awarded 2004 Arthur C. Clarke Award. Stephenson’s prose I found very fluid and readable even when he described difficult topics; his gift can draw the reader in and can even make those knotty scientific and mathematical theories palatable.

 
His novel offers up a wide range of characters, all of them deserving a separate book, like Isaac Newton, Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz, Robert Hooke, John Wilkins, Samuel Pepys, Christiaan Huygens, the Duke of Monmouth, Benjamin Franklin, and Louis XIV himself. All of them in Stephenson's hands become living, breathing, remarkable men, not merely the kinds of stuffy cardboard portraits so often found in historical novels. You hardly know who to look first at and who to like best. It is a feast rarely found in other novels.

 Sir Isaac Newton. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As a backdrop to the birth of modern science, Stephenson presents the House of Stuart and its
 courtiers. Drake Waterhouse, Daniel’s father, is killed by Charles II himself, and Daniel makes the acquaintance of a number of future courtiers while attending Cambridge. They are colourful fellows, interesting to read about but also ones you would run from as fast as you could if you met them in real life.
It seems that the main character of the book is the Quicksilver, a mysterious substance which can represent several ideas. It’s one of symbols of alchemy, which is slowly being replaced by verifiable science; but it is also a symbol of Mercury, the messenger, who in the guise of the mysterious Enoch Root passes messages between members of the nascent scientific community in America, England and on the European continent. 

Finally the sense of humour. I loved it when great men in English politics and science, normally fighting brutally with each other (Newton and Hooke would become bitter enemies) confided in Daniel, helping to guide his career to greater heights just because they perceived him as a harmless nonentity among true giants.  If you like clever palace intrigue and the unique style of wit that only emerges from Britain you will be in seventh heaven. Usually I laugh that hard only while watching the better episodes of  Black Adder or Monty Python. Remember, laughter is good for your health.

What I didn’t like:

A replica of Newton's second reflecting telescope of 1672 presented to the Royal Society. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As any 900 page work of historical fiction this is a daunting, demanding book. Long, twisted, with several POVs and the narration switching from first person present to third person past in no time. No, it is not for everyone. There were parts which I found boring like the early history of European banking and coin-minting. It's probably not possible for a book so long to go its whole length without a few longueurs or to keep you entertained the whole time. Well, I managed to finish it and I didn’t regret doing so but it’s up to every reader to determine whether the good parts are worth persevering. The answer will depend to some extent on the reader's taste in historical fiction. Those who prefer it straight and full of anachronisms might balk at Stephenson's  attitude and laissez-faire when it comes to sticking to the historical accuracy. Characters and the narrator often knowingly use modern slang (at one point Charles II is called "a foreign-policy slut"), and there are numerous little contemporary jokes such as a reference to "canal rage" in Venice - gondoliers are increasingly involved in violent altercations, which some take to be "a symptom of the excessively rapid pace of change in the modern world" - or when Enoch Root offers a Grantham apothecary a cup of tea, which the latter considers "inoffensive enough, but I don't think Englishmen will ever take to anything so outlandish" (in fact I  LOVED that scene but I know some people might frown).

Final verdict (short and sweet):


After a break I will read the rest. For sure. I loved it, despite some boring parts and the fact that it was a very long novel. While reading such books you feel your brain cells rejoicing and multiplying. For the sheer effort of writing something so long and so good I proclaim it to be...

Silent Saturday

Falling Star (an essay instead of a review)

Erik XIV. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

It all started with a friendly discussion about the joys and dangers of HEA endings, which you can find here. Blodeuedd, my interlocutor, mentioned a certain Swedish king who dared to marry a commoner out of love/lust (imagine that!), was thrown to prison and poisoned by his own brother as a result. I got curious and started looking for more information. My sources were limited because, unfortunately, I don’t know either Swedish or Finnish. Still I managed to find enough to become even more curious. Especially the sad life of prince Gustav, the son of king Eric XIV of Sweden and the aforementioned commoner girl, Karin Månsdotter, caught my imagination. He would be a perfect hero for any novel, wouldn’t he? Actually a novel about him has been written and here I was surprised reading in Wikipedia:

 “Prince Gustav is the main character of the famous Polish novel "Broken star" by Jadwiga Żylińska.”

Hmmm…Being an avid reader, born and educated in Poland, I should have heard about that “famous” novel and its author, shouldn’t I? Only I didn’t. It piqued my curiosity though so I decided to look for that book. I got lucky – a very reasonably priced paperback copy (for a bit less than two dollars) was sent to me soon afterwards by one of Internet bookshops. I am sure they thought they've got a great deal as well, getting rid of it. By the way the title is translated badly: it should be “Falling star” or even “Meteorite” not “Broken star”. When I wanted to find an English translation I faced a concrete wall of nothingness. Maybe it was because that author was not as famous as Wikipedia wanted her to be (never, never, never believe completely any statement by Wikipedia, not unless you check it twice) or maybe because Ms Żylińska’s novel, written and published in 1985, belongs firmly to the era before e-books,  Internet bookshops and, indeed, democratic changes in the Central and Eastern Europe. I bet its subject matter and its hero (a prince rejected by aristocracy who had to work from time to time to make the ends meet) suited the communistic propaganda only too well.

Queen Catherine (1568) of Sweden (1550-1612) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 Anyway, what can be found about Gustav Eriksson Vasa? He was born in January 28, 1568 and died in February 1607. He was an illegitimate son of Eric 14^th , the king of Sweden, and Karin Månsdotter (Kaarina Maununtytär in Finnish). The career of his mother could have been written by a romance author. Karin, a daughter of a prison guard, arrived at court as a maid to Princess Elizabeth, the King’s sister.

The brilliant but unstable Erik soon fell for the lovely, gentle Karin, and made her his mistress. Like other rulers of the period, Erik had had many ladies in his life, but his passion for Karin was unique. He dismissed all his other mistresses and treated her with a generosity and devotion that baffled the court. The royal accounts state that she was given a new and expensive wardrobe and her own staff, among them her own former employer; Karin, the wife of Gert Cantor. Karin was even accused of using witchcraft and love potions to inspire this unique and single-minded attachment. 

Stenrelief av Karin Månsdotter i Åbo domkyrka. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Karin bore the King two surviving children: Sigrid (1566-1633) and Gustav (1568-1607), the hero of this little essay. In 1567, Erik married Karin morganatically, and, the next year, made her his Queen. Her son became the heir to the throne. The commoner's elevation to the rank of royal consort scandalized the aristocracy, probably contributing to the atmosphere of discontent with Erik among the high nobility. In any case, shortly after Karin's coronation, Erik's brothers, John and Karl, rebelled and dethroned the King. John seized the crown and Erik, Karin and their children were imprisoned. In 1573, to prevent the birth of any more legitimate offspring with a claim to the throne, Karin was forcibly separated from her husband. Together with her children, she was transported to Finland and held under house arrest in Turku, until Erik's death, probably from poisoning, in 1577.

Princess Sigrid of Sweden (1566-1633), daughter of King Eric XIV (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 The new king was afraid that the supporters of his older brother would try to deprive him and his son of the crown so he wanted to assassinate Gustav. That’s why in 1575 the boy was secretly sent to Poland where he was placed in the household of a Polish nobleman; for reasons unknown he ran away and for some period of time he lived in poverty, allegedly working as a servant in an inn. Then he was found by one of the most influential Polish aristocrats of that time, Count Albert Laski (Olbracht Łaski) , an alchemist and a courtier during the reign of Stephen Batory.

Łaski was a very interesting personality - not only a nobleman but also a well-educated, refined man of the world, a polyglot who was famous for his international connections with different European rulers and courts. He knew personally Elizabeth 1^st and several Polish and Habsburg kings. However he was also a  man who didn’t flinch from marrying a rich widow over twenty years his senior; then he imprisoned her for 11 years, until her death, just to get hold of her significant personal wealth. He was also accused of bigamy – while the said widow was still alive in her prison he married a French lady, Sabina de Sève - this time, apparently, out of love. He really would feel perfectly at ease among the ASOIAF series characters by George R.R. Martin. Shadowy doesn’t even start to cover that gent.

Olbracht (Albert) Laski

Anyway Łaski took care of the lost princeling (according to Żylińska of course - I haven't found any historical sources which confirmed it but I must admit I didn't have a lot of time to look for them long and hard) -  Gustav was sent to an exclusive school for noblemen’s sons, led and directed by the Jesuits (small wonder at some time he became a Catholic) and then he went to Italy (Padua) to finish his studies. Apparently Łaski thought Gustav might be a good investment in the future. Gustav was a diligent, gifted student – in the novel he was made an assistant of Galileo Galilei and John Dee. He was also supposed to be a quite good copyist/painter. Once he went as a mercenary with cossacks to Sinope (Turkey) and took part in plunder. Unfortunately he didn’t have what it takes to be an aggressive, ambitious and successful pretender to the throne. Not that he lacked opportunities, it seems he simply lacked motivation.

For example Ivan IV of Russia attempted to persuade Gustav to help him in his political ambitions around the Baltic. The orphaned and persecuted prince was such a great pretext for meddling in internal affairs of Sweden and Russians have always loved meddling; initially Gustav was quite unwilling to listen to the Tzars and profit from their generosity; he preferred living in Prague and assisting the Czech king, Rudolf, with his alchemical experiments. Great men’s favours are uncertain, though, especially when your own status is rather shadowy; after some peaceful years Gustav was imprisoned by his former protector for some time and deemed as insane as his father. After such an experience he decided to listen more closely to the Russians and change the climate.

 In August 1599 he officially arrived in Moscow for a proposed marriage to another Tsar’s, Boris Godunov's, daughter Ksenia. He was showered with gifts and honours, given houses and servants, finally treated like a real royalty. It must have gone straight to his head – according to Russian accounts he started to live a self-indulgent life. He even dared to invite his old lover with children (we don’t know her real name - I will elaborate in a moment) and showed her off in public driving along in a carriage harnessed as though it was meant for the tsarina. Either he didn’t understand the consequences of his move or he didn’t trust the Tzar and his promises enough to behave. It was a major slight and the offended Tzar broke off the engagement. He didn't give up his plans though - Gustav was still kept close and considered useful.

Gustav Eriksson Vasa (1568-1607) - unfortunately it is most likely not his real portrait
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

 As compensation for the broken word he received the principality of Uglich (some 194 kilometers north of Moscow), where he lived until the beginning of the reign of the False Dimitry (1605); Dimitry ordered his arrest by the demands of his ally — Sigismund III Vasa (the king of Poland, cousin of Gustav and son of king John III) and sent him to Yaroslav jail - apparently some influential people feared the prince deep down might still nourish some political ambitions. After the death of the False Dmitry (1606), the new Tsar, Vasili IV of Russia, released Gustav and sent him to live in the small city of Kashin (Russia) with his family. His lover’s name is lost; some said it was a girl called Brita Karth; Ms Żylińska in her book calls her Otillia (Tillia). I suppose both are fictional, especially the first.

 The history about Brita Karth and her alleged children with prince Gustav was almost for sure the product of baron Adolf Ludvig Stierneld’s vivid imagination (1755-1835). The baron was a courtier and a well-known collector of historical documents, whom historians have later found also to be a ruthless forger of such documents. Wishing to claim a royal ancestry for his own family Stierneld reported having found handwritten notes by Brita Karth herself regarding her relation and family with Gustav in an old pious book that was to have been given to her by Gustav's mother, Karin Månsdotter. Oh right, a man can dream.

Gustav Eriksson Vasa died in February 1607 in Kashin and was buried there February 22. He never managed to return to his country or play any significant role. 

The coat of arms of Eric XIV of Sweden including the arms of Norway and Denmark. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Ms Żylińska in her book allows him to speak for himself – in the first part the unfortunate exiled prince, brought up among strangers and growing without any roots, presents his own version of events. I must say it was done in a believable way – Gustav doesn’t know/understand much, blaming the stars and fate for his lack of success. He runs around in circles from one more powerful protector to another and he sounds like an underdog – defeated even before he thought about fighting back seriously. It is obvious he wasn't stupid - he could have been a good scientist, painter, doctor or/and alchemist but never a prince or a king. He was simply not a politician or a strategist.

 Jean Allard, his father’s French mercenary and the most faithful supporter, would be far better suited for that role - the second part of the book consists of his memoirs. He tried to find Gustav and reinstate him as a king or a prince all his life. He was also a kind of unofficial trustee to the treasure of king Eric – chests of gold and jewellery he kept in a secret location hoping almost against the hope that one day the prince would use them to return to Sweden and defeat all his foes. Even historical records confirm Allard negotiated with Henry III of France to whom he offered a significant sum of money – 2 millions ecus, not less – to help the Swedish prince. He and adult Gustav never met although not for the lack of trying; Allard was definitely a determined man and he wanted to be faithful; if not to a dead king’s son and heir then at least to an idea he’d fallen in love with. Pity all his efforts were so pathetically fruitless.

Sources:

http://books.google.pl/books?id=x243AAAAIAAJ&dq=Jean+Allard+gustav+of+sweden&hl=pl&source=gbs_navlinks_s

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karin_M%C3%A5nsdotter

http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karin_M%C3%A5nsdotter

Musical Monday, 16 of April

Welcome to Musical Monday! 

Lately I simply cannot get enough of Florence and the Machine, especially when it comes to their latest album, Ceremonials. Here is one of my favourtie songs - Heartlines. The lyrics I included below. Do you know where is a heartline on your hand btw? ;) Not sure? Then scroll down to the picture below the lyrics!

Oh, the river, oh, the river, it's running free, 
And I'll join in the joy it brings to me 
But I know it'll have to drown me, 
Before I can breathe easy, 
And I've seen it in the flights of birds, I've seen it in you, 
The entrails of the animals, the blood running through, 
But in order to get to the heart, I think sometimes you have to cut through, 
But you can 

[Keeeeep iiiiit (you can) uuuuuup] 
(Yoooouuuuu caaaaaaan) 
(Iiiii knoooow yoooooou can) 
(You can) 

Just keep following the heartlines on your hand 
Just keep following the heartlines on your hand 
Keep it up, I know you can 
Just keep following the heartlines on your hand 
Cause I am 

(Yeah, yeah x2) 
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/f/florence+and+the+machine/heartlines_20983621.html ] 
Odyssey on odyssey and land over land, 
Creeping and crawling like the sea over sand 
Still I follow the heartlines on your hand, 
This fantasy, this fallacy, this tumbling stone 
Echoes of a city that's long overgrown, 
Your heart is the only place that I call home, 
I cannot be returned. 
You can 

[Keeeeep iiiiit (you can) uuuuuup] 
(Yoooouuuuu caaaaaaan) 
(Iiiii knoooow yoooooou can) 
(You can) 

Just keep following the heartlines on your hand 
Just keep following the heartlines on your hand 
Keep it up, I know you can. 
Just keep following the heartlines on your hand 

(Yeah, yeah x2) 

What a thing to do. Oh. (yeah x2) 
What a thing to choose 
But no-o-ooh, 
In some way, I'm there with you 
Up against the wall, on a Wednesday afternoon 

Just keep following the heartlines on your hand 
Just keep following the heartlines on your hand 
Keep it up, I know you can. 
Just keep following the heartlines on your hand, 
Cause I am

Silent Saturday

Mini review: Cry Wolf (Alpha and Omega series 01) by Patricia Briggs

Book info:

Form: e-book pdf format

Genre: Urban Fantasy with some romance in it

Target audience: adults

Synopsis:

Anna was turned into a werewolf against her will and her life has become nightmarish ever since. She had to stop her beloved music studies. Her new pack’s Alpha made of her a sex slave - available to anybody at  his every whim. Small wonder Anna tried to commit suicide. Still it is hard to kill yourself when you are one strong werewolf. Her status in the pack has never been fully explained to her – she is an Omega, so allegedly on the bottom of the pole, but she is hardly submissive. Other werewolves are drawn to her but they’ve never cared enough to protect her from the brutish Alpha or her sadistic boyfriend.


 Finally, when some young weres start to disappear Anna has had enough. She is the only pack member who decides to contact Bran, an uber-wolf, whose status of Marrok and supreme powers allow to supervise all American packs around. Marrok sends his younger son, Charles Cornick, to deal with the situation and kill who needs killing. Charles is a very powerful, old werewolf, his father’s executioner and second in command. He insists that not only is Anna his mate, but she is also a rare and valued creature every Alpha would kill to have in their pack. Anna's newfound inner strength and calming presence will prove invaluable as she and Charles go on the hunt in search of a rogue werewolf- a creature bound in magic so dark that it could threaten all of the pack.

What I liked:

Now I see why this series (and the related Mercy Thompson one) sticks out from other UF books in a positive way. The author is simply not afraid to take difficult decisions and risks. How many other UF novels feature a main heroine who’s been repeatedly raped by the members of her own pack? How many other male leads border insanity because they’ve been forced to kill other werewolves against their nature by their not-so-evil father? I am properly awed and I do appreciate such original moves. Please do not stop!

The second great point: the happy couple must work on their relationship. It seems so simple and so natural but in fiction is anything but; in too many books he and she just court (shortly) and they go to bed and their efforts to make sparkles fly are limited to that  act. How very unrealistic.

Finally the secondary characters. They are flawed, they are great, they are funny and a real joy to get acquainted with. Bran Cornick, find yourself another mate asap!

What I didn’t like:

My carping as usual is stemming from the fact that both Anna and Charles are so divinely beautiful/handsome. Honestly why people don’t queue and beg to be turned into werewolves if it means almost eternal youth and health? Why don’t they pay astronomical sums of money for the privilege? Why oh why? Just use your imagination, dear vampires and werewolves, capitalize on your potential...;p and don’t tell me it is a secret, such secrets always resurface, look at the elves…

Oh and the cover. I am not impressed. Is it a wolf or a fox? And this girl's face...pouting and somehow funny!

Final verdict:

I liked this Ms. Brigg’s book well enough to continue reading her novels. Mercy Thompson, you are next.