Review: Almodis the Peaceweaver by Tracey Warr

 This book was provided by the author's publisher via my lady Blodeuedd's excellent blog in return for an honest review. I haven't been compensated for writing the said review in any way and the fact that the book came free of charge didn't influence me either.    

Book info: 

Format: pdf file

Genre: historical fiction

Target audience: adults

A quote that stole my heart:

“I could work as a peasant in a field and live in a small hut built into the side of the mountain.
I could hunt my own food, write a book of my life, but I would never see my children or my sister again.
 I don’t care about clothes and jewels and castles but I would miss my books.”

Synopsis:

After generations of fighting amongst the ruling families of 11th century Occitania, the marriage of Almodis, daughter of the Count of La Marche, to Hugh of Lusignan is intended to bring peace and harmony to the region. Youg Almodis, raised by her grandfather among troubadours, trobairitz (female troubadours, imagine that) , books and poetry, of course expects much more, especially that her betrothed is handsome, young an amiable. Unfortunately he is also overly religious, almost to the point of complete zealotry. He would be a great monk. Instead, he has to produce heirs with his inexperienced but far more practical bride. As you can imagine the union does’t work; that’s why, after the birth of twin boys and a daughter (don’t even ask me how it was done or possible at all, you must find out on your own), their marriage is repudiated. Almodis is still resolved to create her own dynasty. She marries for the second time, choosing a far more important and more powerful man, Pons the Count of Toulouse.

Pons is old, ugly, stupid and lascivious. His young wife suffers greatly from his attentions but, as an ambitious princess, she gives him several children. When that grisly task is over she doesn’t want to even look at Pons any longer. It makes the Count very angry. He wants to imprison Almodis in a covent ( or rather literally brick her in an anchorite cell there so she knows who rules the roost). She barely escapes and marries for the third time. Her third husband, Ramon of Barcelona, seems to have it all (finally you might add): he is handsome, he’s been in love with Almodis for ages and he has political ambitions well-suited for such a lady. However, his grandmother Dowager Countess of Barcelona is against that marriage as, in her opinion, a marriage of inclination is strongly condemned in Catalonia. Will Almodis finally find her place and happiness she deserves?

What I liked:

The story of Almodis was written with a detailed care concerning history and our knowledge of that era. The main heroine, Almodis, was a woman who would deserve more than one novel. She was the ‘peaceweaver’ but also a passionate, intelligent woman who had to fight for her right to be happy, a living proof that life of a princess could be as difficult (if not much more difficult) than a life of a simple peasant woman. I really appreciated the fact that the author didn’t condone that simple truth, showing even in the very first scene how ugly things could turn out if a princess had forgotten herself.

After all her life was full of interesting ups and downs; what’s more, she was the mother of Raymond of Toulouse, a famous crusader and a great lord. The author informs us that both Martin Aurell (1995) and Jacques Le Goff (1980) have suggested that Almodis was the canvas for the Roman of Melusine, which was associated with the castle of Lusignan (check out that Melusine if you haven’t heard about her yet!) .

The cover is lovely!

What I didn’t like:
The narration is divided into several points of view and I found it a bit misleading, sometimes really awkward, especially that all the narrative voices of those different people seemed to be very similar to the voice of Almodis herself…they were simply not distinguishable enough to add to the story. I would rather the whole novel was written in the first person.

My other reservation concerns the plot. It isn’t one smooth continuum of a narration but simply seems to consist of episodes. Things tend to be told, not shown and overall the whole pacing is rather surprising, with events running too quickly (or at least such was my impression) - in one chapter Almodis is married, in the second she already has three children with Hugh, then they annul their marriage, she is married to Pons, bear him children…a real whirlwind! It is closer to a chronicle than a novel.

I know, basically she had five babies in three years, poor woman, with more to come, but it really sounded a bit like she just jumped from one marriage to the next, spouting children all along, without thinking or pondering over her situation much. She was a grand lady, by the way, not a peasant who would have to take care of all her progeny on her own.


Finally I found such an exchange in the text:

“‘We can’t push her to it, Dia, she’d only resist,’ I say, when she’s gone out

riding. ‘You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.”

When I read it I gasped. Oh really? So it is, according to the author, something which comes from the 11th century Occitania or France? Well, I found a different etymology of that one: according to this site

[This saying] was recorded as early as 1175 in Old English Homilies:

Hwa is thet mei thet hors wettrien the him self nule drinken
[who can give water to the horse that will not drink of its own accord?] and is considered the oldest English proverb (emphasis mine). Hmmm...

Final verdict:

The narrative glitches spoiled this book for me a bit but if I find another novel about Almodis I will read it for sure!

Guest review: Deadlocked by Charlaine Harris, written by The Red Witch

This Monday I am very happy to welcome my another Internet friend, The Red Witch, who very kindly agreed to review for me "Deadlocked" by Charlaine Harris. You see, we've been both fans of the series and we've discussed it from time to time. I think The Red Witch would do it more justice than me (it is, after all, a paranormal romance).

Let me only mention that The Red Witch, a very clever, scholarly and funny lady (yes, it is possible), writes her own great blog entitled Distracted From the Now. Isn't it a nice name? The content is even nicer - go and visit and you'll see!

 Ok, here my ramblings end, let's progress to the review itself:

Deadlocked is the twelfth volume of the very popular Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris that was turned into the wildly popular HBO series True Blood. Originally, she had a contract to write ten books in the series but in the fall before the tenth book came out, Harris revealed that she had agreed to write three more books.  It is difficult to say how she would have written it had there not been a commitment to write three more, but the ninth book introduced Sookie's vampire lover's maker, a Roman from the time of Christ named Appius Livius Ocella. 

Eric Northman (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

        Eric, a Viking, was turned by Appius around the turbulent time of the North’s conversion to Christianity, although Eric was a heathen at the time he became a vampire. In the ninth book, Dead and Gone, Harris gave out some of Eric's backstory(including that he had been married and had children) but neglected to identify what country he was from. He was also given Northman as a surname but it really only describes what he is; he should have been called Eric So-and-So's-son but I am nitpicking. Most people would not know or care.

        In Dead in the Family, the tenth book, Appius showed up at Sookie's house with Eric's 'brother' and he made a cryptic pronouncement just before his final death that Sookie would never keep Eric. In the eleventh book, it became increasingly clear what Appius meant by this and the twelfth book Deadlocked is largely concerned with the problem of Appius having betrothed Eric to a vampire queen. In spite of Sookie knowing that Eric cannot disobey a direct order from his maker, thanks to the strength of the blood bond with Eric and the odd feelings it gave Sookie when Appius showed up at her house, Sookie feels Eric has betrayed her by not outright refusing the queen. Harris wrote in Dead and Gone:

Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin) is the main character of the series. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

        "As I felt his fear roll through me, I understood that Eric had to physically perform whatever Ocella ordered him to do.  Before that it had been an abstract concept. Now I realized that if Ocella ordered Eric to kill me, Eric would be compelled to do it."

That was in Book 9, by Book 12 Sookie would forget all that and insist that Eric break off the engagement because Appius was dead, even though Freyda was a powerful queen whom it would be risky to offend and Eric is in trouble with his own king, Felipe, for having killed second in command Victor Madden. (Book 11)

        Complicating the situation is the fact that Sookie's fairy great- grandfather Niall likes Eric and approves of him and had revealed to him that Sookie had a way out for both of them - the mysterious cluviel dor, a magical fairy object that Sookie's fairy grandfather had given to her human grandmother as a token of his love. It could be used for one wish, one wish only, and must be used for someone you love.

        Eric is too proud to ask Sookie to use the object to save him because he thinks, if she loves him, then she will offer. She thinks that he should not need saving and if he loved her, he would simply refuse to marry Freyda although she should know how dangerous and impossible that is for Eric as well as herself.

        Sookie is getting older and her friends are all settling down to married life and starting families. She clearly longs for a child but this is something that Eric cannot give her. In spite of her desire to avoid vampire and shapeshifter politics, those politics draw her in against her will and threaten her life once again.

        At the end, we find out how Sookie chose to use the cluviel dor(a choice which no doubt left some fans very unhappy) but the difficulty between the two lovers would not be resolved. That will have to wait until next year when the last book comes out. Harris has announced that it will be called Dead Ever After and has even mentioned that we will be introduced to Eric's other progeny who is named Karin. I, for one, can hardly wait.

Ancient Roman Marble (Photo credit: Swamibu)

Silent Saturday, retro edition

Review: The Courtesan’s Lover by Gabrielle Kimm

Book info:

Form: Kindle e-book

Genre: historical romance

Target audience: adults

Synopsis:

16^th century, Naples, the south of Italy. Francesca Felizzi has been a courtesan for ten years now. She earns a lot, owns two houses  and generally enjoys a great popularity among men due to her stunning beauty and intelligence. She has several rich and influenced patrons, sumptuous dresses and three servants. Still, when she falls on the street people jeer, catcall or feign indifference at best. Nobody wants to help her. She is a sinner, the lowest of low. No courtesan ends well, no matter how popular or rich she is during her best years.

One evening Francesca, dressed up as a respectable young widow and accompanying one of her regular clients, discovers an entirely new world – the world of true friends, decency, propriety and peace of mind. And she falls in love at first sight with Luca della Rovere, a scholar and a respectable widower with two adult sons. It seems everything should divide them but Luca cannot forget that lovely, quiet widow and soon enough he is courting her like a man at least 20 years younger. What will happen when he finds out the truth about Francesca? How couldn’t he find it out?

What I liked:

I am really impressed by the amount of research done by the author. Her sixteen century Naples (Napoli) came to life for me and I was delighted by all these tidbits concerning ships, dresses, renaissance houses and habits of Italians, inhabiting them. I learned a lot!

In the first part of the book I liked Francesca Felizzi. She was definitely better than an ordinary whore and she took care of her daughters while working hard, almost too hard, to ensure her girls have a better future. When she returned from that fatuous evening during which she fell in love her reaction was heartrending. I also liked Modesto, her castrate friend and servant who also acted as her pimp and advisor. It was very touching that these two broken souls could count on each other even in the most difficult moments.

Also Carlo, a secondary character and a baddie through and through, seemed somehow nicer than he should. Maybe I felt so because he was a deceiving brat, a ‘Loki’ type and I always fall for them.

Oh, and the cover is lovely.

What I didn’t like:

I asked myself different minor questions while reading this one (translation: had several WTF moments) but I admit my biggest problems began in the second part of the book, after our lovely, hard-working courtesan fell in love with Luca. I know, love is basically a mental illness but does it have to make you so completely naïve and stupid? Does it, really?

Francesca abandons her profession all of a sudden, right after one evening spent in the company of her beloved. That much was at least understandable - she was in a shock and she didn’t want to be unfaithful to him even before they went to bed. However her complete lack of apprehension when it came to the reaction of her former patrons was surprising to say the least of it. After all she knew the best that they were a bunch of unsavoury (although rich and influential) types who hardly accepted a ‘no’ for an answer; still she thought that if only she informed them about her decision, writing a letter or sending her faithful Modesto with a verbal message,  they will meekly thank her for her troubles, kiss her hand gently, leave a good-buy gift and find themselves another courtesan. Oh lady, who do you think you're fooling? I did wonder how you survived in that ruthless profession for 10 years at all and remained such a gullible, unpractical creature. In my humble opinion Francesca's best course of action would be lying low for some time, conducting business as usual or even better, feigning a venereal disease or, in fact, any disease (I know, I am cruel but it would cool down even the most libidinous customer, don’t you think?) and then, after selling her houses secretly she should have fled the city even before any of her clients got wind of her real intentions and sudden change of heart.

Then her next, surprisingly stupid blunder: she informs her two servants, Ilaria and Sebastiano, that they would be made redundant soon and then… she leaves her precious twin daughters in their tender care because she has to go on a much-expected date with Luca. No doubts, no second thoughts. Hello, earth to Francesca, have you ever heard of spiteful people who bear a grudge ? No? There are no spiteful servants in Napoli? Not even when they find out that after two years of more or less acceptable service they will be shown the door? Oh dear…and you are a courtesan, right?

Finally I was very surprised by Luca’s easy acceptance of Francesca’s past. It was highly uncharacteristic for a man, even a man madly in love so in a state of advanced stupidity. I would summarize his attitude this way (it is a bit spoilerish so highlight to read or omit it): 
“Ok, sweetheart, so you had two extramarital kids with some old, rich creep, you have screwed a countless number of people for money and half of the city knows you as basically an exclusive whore? Not a problem. We don’t have to go out at all or keep decent company, your past won’t influence my position at the University  and I’ve always wanted to sleep with somebody like you. You took the virginity of my younger son? Oh, simply peachy, it was basically a favour, great to know he was in such professional hands his first time. He is in love with you and would like  to repeat that experience? Puppy love, it will pass in no time. I trust you and I know you love only me, you are such a sweet girl, all forgiven and forgotten, now come and kiss me, darling…”

To me it rings hollow, especially from the psychological point of view. People need time to accept such earthshaking truths; people living in the 16^th century were overall definitely more conservative and more observant when it came to religious laws and customs.  Perhaps a complete libertine would actually enjoy such a situation but nothing suggested Luca was a libertine and even if he was he still had to think about his reputation, his colleagues and superiors at the university, his everyday aquaintances. I wouldn’t be surprised if that guy needed months, even years to accept such a colourful past of his beloved. Once again it would have been far more believable and easier if they (Luca and Francesca plus their families) had left Naples and started anew in another city.

Final verdict:

A nice novel which could have been better if not for the maudlin, improbable plot, especially in the second part, and some psychology glitches. If you like historical romance and those saccharine-sweeet HEA endings you might enjoy it. For me it had too high sugar content.

Review: Headhunters by Jo Nesbo

Book info:
Form: Kindle e-book
Genre: thriller, crime story
Target audience: adults


“An artist who maintains that he has been misunderstood is almost always a bad artist who, I’m afraid to say, has been understood.” (loc. 773)


 “The world is full of people who pay serious money for bad pictures by good artists. And mediocre heads on tall bodies.” (loc. 518) 


 “Noble, loyal souls are often handicapped by loyalty to even the basest of individuals. Well, especially the base individuals.”

Synopsis:

Roger Brown, the narrator of this novel is one of the best Norvegian corporate headhunters. In his humble opinion he is of course the very best. Unfortunately he is rather short (1.68 m or 5.5 feet) and let’s face it, in his little world size and first impressions matter.

Roger has many ways to compensate for the missing centimeters. He lives in an enormous vintage villa, he has a lovely, supermodel-thin and even quite intelligent wife (of course far higher than him), Diane, who has been given an art gallery from her loving husband. He has a mistress (of course far shorter than him), Lotte, who is a sad, suppressed, miserably lonely translator (but quite good in the sack). He has even a kind of hobby, if stealing different pieces of art and selling them on the black market can be called so. It is still not enough. He must prove himself he is the best every single day. By the way his career, no matter how profitable, simply can’t support his luxurious lifestyle and the fledgling art gallery of his demanding wife. That’s why for Roger stealing is as much a necessity as a thrilling hobby.

One day our headhunter spots a perfect business opportunity – it is called Clas Greve, a former co-owner of HOTE, one of Dutch telecommunication and surveillance companies. Roger wants him to become a new CEO of a similar company in Norway which produces sophisticated GPS devices. Up to a point everything is going very well: Clas, after initial reluctance, proves to be quite willing to take up the new job and, to his own delight, Roger finds out that his mark even owns a very expensive if not priceless Rubens masterpiece, allegedly  lost since WWII. Hobby and work combined in one highly profitable bundle - what cheer! While stealing it from Clas's unfinished apartment Roger accidentally finds out that Mr. Greve most likely knows Diane far more intimately than he was supposed to. With this discovery all the hell is let loose - Roger finally finds an opponent on a par with himself when it comes to stamina, hunting skills and manipulation. Their vicious, dirty fight for supremacy will include a couple of murders and a lot of excrements.

What I liked:

This novel is a stand-alone, not another installment of the Harry Hole series (its first part I reviewed not so long ago) . As usual with Nesbo the plot  was like a rollercoaster ride– very fast, very entertaining, riveting to the end, a page-turner, nothing less. The author has a storytelling talent, there is no doubt of it. Apart from that Nesbo's keen knowledge of human nature and sharp, dry  sense of humor make this thriller far more readable than your average novel of this genre. Yes, it includes a bit of bathroom humour (be warned – no eating while reading certain scenes!) but all things considering it remained still palatable, even if barely so.

Beside the very high amusing factor this book pushed my other buttons. It mentioned some famous paintings and, generally, art. It explained in a very funny way a method of recruiting and/or interrogation called Inbau, Reid and Buckley’s nine step model (yes, it is real and used).

Ok now something about the main "headhunter" Roger Brown. I liked him more than I should have. Let me assure you that he is a loathsome human being, but his powerful enemies are at least as clever, opportunistic, and amoral as he is. No matter whether you sympathize with his ordeal or not, you will certainly laugh with him and even root for him from time to time. Still his adventures don’t make Roger a “white hat”, not really, even though his rival is a ruthless, manipulative psychopath with special forces training.

What I didn’t like:

The first person narrative was sometimes so misleading that almost annoying. I know in such books the first person is used in order not to reveal too much too early, keeping the readers on the edge of their seats (and accordingly our hero omits important info leaving you completely befuddled and craving for more several times). After a while I admit I was rather tired by all those twists, turns and fireworks, especially near the ending. I had a feeling all was happening a bit too fast, almost as if I watched one of Disney cartoons with Tom and Jerry – all action, little sense. There were many moments when I had to suspend belief  and even then the plot seemed just too slick and shallow.

After a while (like in the second part) I started wondering: is this one of the early Nesbo novels? Perhaps it was written with a very strict deadline hovering over the author’s neck? This book definitely has a potential but, in my humble opinion, it failed to deliver. Even the baddies weren’t as fully-fledged as I expected them to be. Once again it seems that, having all the necessary ingredients, the author lacked time or will to work on that more. Small wonder this book was adapted for cinema – it is good but not overly demanding and just flashy enough to interest the widest audience possible.

Final verdict:

If you haven’t read any of Nesbo novels, you can start with this one - everything else will be only better. If you, however, have already discovered one of the Harry Hole books you can skip “Headhunters” or watch the movie. It wasn’t bad, not at all; it was a really decent thriller with all the necessary features and even more; my problem was that after some Harry Hole novels it seemed a bit tawdry to me. Still it kept me entertained. 

The Calydonian Boar Hunt by Peter Paul Rubens.
A lot of fuss and some funny people busy killing - like in this book.

Guest review: Brook Street series by Ava March

Today I am very happy to host Heidenkind, my Internet friend who writes her own beautiful blog Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Books featuring reviews, essays about books, art, and many other interesting posts. She is an art historian, specializing in 19th-century American art and early 20th- century French art. Her favorite books are romantic and deal with themes of people who are separated from everything they find comfortable or safe in life. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? 

Let me also add she writes tremendously well so I am very happy that she accepted my invitation. Almost as happy as those two gentlemen, Laurel and Hardy, dancing above. ;) What's more, Heidenkind decided to review for me a genre I've never featured on my blog before and for many reasons. One of them was that I was simply afraid. ;) Anyway time to let my guest speak about one scary series - m/m romances, nothing less! Enjoy!

Ava March writes historical m/m romances set in Regency England that feel emotionally authentic and have really hot sex scenes. (I do not say this lightly--even in romances I usually skip the sex scenes, because they tend to be idiotic; but March has some serious talent when it comes to writing sex that is super-hot, yet doesn't feel gratuitous because it advances the plot.) She's my go-to author when I'm feeling stressed out and need a story that will give me a break from reality. The Brook Street trilogy is March's latest offering and I was really looking forward to escaping into the stories. Unfortunately, I don't think the Brook Street novellas lived up to the excellence of some of her other works.

In Brook Street: Thief, Lord Benjamin Parsons has always wondered if he was gay. So, after hearing about a gay gambling club from his homophobic brother (how'd his brother hear about it, one wonders), he goes for a night on the town determined to hook up with a fellow and see if he enjoys it. That's where he meets Cavin Fox, a spry young lad from Seven Dials. After 15 (or 5?) minutes doin' the deed in a pay-by-the-hour place, Benjamin and Cavin are in love! But how in the world will an aristocrat and a thief ever get together? HOW INDEED.

There are so many cliches in this novella I rolled my eyes at least three times before finishing the first ten pages. The fall-in-love-after-a-one-night-stand story line is one I always find particularly difficult to buy into, and in this case the skeezy hook-up in a gambling hell, followed by sex in a no-tell motel, didn't help matters. Can you imagine the stains on that mattress?? Ewwwwwwww.

Furthermore, none of the characters behave logically. Normally I love thief characters, but Cavin doesn't steal A SINGLE THING during the entire course of this novel! That's like having a vampire character who never shows his fangs, or a rake character that sits at home all time reading. The reason for this lack of larceny is because Benjamin gave Cavin the beautiful gift of allowing him to pop Ben's ass cherry (see what I mean? eye roll) during their anonymous hook-up. Très romantic. Some other inconsistencies that jumped out at me: when Cavin tries to get a position for his brother in Ben's house, instead of acting suspicious of the street urchin who's about to be let loose on her kitchen and all the silver, the cook is all smiles and hugs. And at dinner, Cavin goes from wondering how to eat asparagus and use a fork, to criticizing how well-done the veal is and describing the sauce as "divine!" Get a lot of veal and specialty sauces in Seven Dials, do you Calvin Cavin?

I did like that Cavin and Ben treated one another as equals. Although Ben is in his mid-thirties and of a higher class and bank account than Cavin, the twenty-one year-old thief is more experienced, both sexually and otherwise, than Ben, so it evened out. But I found that difficult to reconcile with Ben's eventual position as the sugar daddy of the relationship, and Cavin being cool with his marginalized position in Ben's life.

Brook Street: Thief was enjoyable to read, but also (because it was?) laughably ridiculous, without the emotional touchstones I'm used to seeing inMarch's work. I wish she'd pushed the characters farther and really thought about how they would react in their situations. As it is, Brook Street: Thieflacks a ring of truth to bring me into the story completely. I still had fun with it, though, and this is probably the best book in the series.


In Brook Street: Fortune Hunter, we find out that, coincidentally, there are MORE men living on Brook Street with a love story to tell. One of said men is Oscar, a creepy nice? friend of Benjamin's who is the size of an Oompa Loompa. Seriously, I think my grandma might be bigger than him. When Ben's American cousin, Julian, visits London in search of a wealthy wife, Oscar immediately invites him to stay in his ginormous mansion, where he feeds Julian the best food, gives him a beautiful room, insists on dressing him in the most gorgeous clothes, and takes him to the best parties. This sounds like the set-up of a horror story. RUN JULIAN, RUN!!!! Julian doesn't run, however, and is soon spending time in Oscar's ridiculously large bed. But what will Oscar say when he realizes his boy toy still intends to marry a woman?

Brook Street: Fortune Hunter was more believable than Thief, but weirdly not as much fun. I wish March had gone full throttle with this story and made Oscar an outright psycho who went all Misery on Julian's ass. Since neither of the guys in Fortune Hunter were very likable, this would have been a perfect solution: Julian is insecure and spineless; Oscar is way too eager to please and a little stalker-y. Together they're the Bonnie and Clyde of Regency romances! As it was, their relationship didn't seem to develop naturally--or at all; it just happened. The characters change abruptly into upstanding citizens by the end, but it still doesn't make sense that they'd fall in love while neither of them had any redeeming qualities. And what is with the sugar daddy set-up in these books?

The best part of Fortune Hunter was when Benjamin bit one of his friend's head off for asking if he could borrow Ben's cook (Cavin). Ohhh snap. Get your own cook, bitch.


The final book in the trilogy is Brook Street: Rogues, about two beasties, Linus and Rob. They've been SUPER SUPER close friends since they were ten, and even live next door to each other on Brook Street. Linus is gay and Rob isn't (well, except for the times when he has sex with Linus, of course), and they're both playa playas. Then Rob realizes he doesn't like seeing Linus leaving parties with other men, and asks for an exclusive relationship. In response, Linus freaks the hell out and Rob has to do some detective work to figure out what his deal is.

Linus was in Fortune Hunter and came across as a total badass, but in Rogues he was kind of passive-aggressive. Instead of hashing it out with Rob, he runs to the country to avoid him; and instead of dealing with his dad's property (which he hates), he just avoids thinking about it. But I do have to say at least Linus was interesting and had more of a backstory than most of the other characters in this series.

I'm also a sucker for young love and liked that Linus and Rob had a history and didn't just fall into instalust or -love or whatever was going on with the previous two couples. This is definitely a story that could be expanded into a full novel if March chose to do so. Still, the pacing in Rogues was slow and there were some eye roll moments near the end. It needed a little more conflict to keep it going, or possibly more buddy moments between Linus and Rob. And I can't believe March passed on the chance to blow something up--wtf? You had the opportunity to plausibly set something on fire and you didn't take it?! Very disappointing.


I don't think the Brook Street trilogy is the best example of Ava March's writing (that, in my personal opinion, would either be Convincing Arthur or the Bound series), but it was okay. Thief was the most entertaining of the three, with Rogues coming in second, but unfortunately none of the novellas stood out as exceptional. If you're looking for an author to break into the m/m genre with, though, I can't recommend March highly enough.

Friday Fiction Flash

Amy C at Romance Book Wyrm and Dottie atTink's Place have come up with the idea for a Monday Morning Flash Fiction challenge. Each Monday a new picture prompt will be posted and if you choose to participate - you publish your Fiction Flash  on Friday - 350 words, give or take.

This pic was a great found of Blodeuedd. I admit it moved my imagination because you can interpret it in so many ways! As I am off my drug of choice, caffeine, I decided to turn violent.

Out of four trap dens only one was full after the required two days of sacred hunting but one was more than enough. After all it all depended on the quarry. Were it a wild boar or a deer it would be a waste of time and efforts. Meena's slaves had dug these dens and she herself constructed the trapping mechanisms with an utter precision, trying them twice on the weakest slave to be absolutely sure they would work as they should - maiming perhaps, not killing, restraining but not breaking bones. Knowing they worked well the only thing Meena needed was a bit of luck, also called  the Goddess's blessing. A visible sign that she, not the other two contestants, was designated to become the future Queen.

The alert arrow arrived right after the midnight. One trap den caught something. Not trusting anyone with such an important mission Meena decided to go and check herself. When she looked down she couldn't believe her own good luck. One of the warriors. She could clearly notice his tattoos, there was no doubt of his status. Warriors were the best kind of catch - you could sell or exchange them for weapons, you could keep them as pets if you wanted to. There have  been even cases, although rare ones, when a future Queen made her favourite warrior a consort.

The warrior was injured but he could walk on his own. Meena returned with her prize to the palace and caged him in her quarters.Then one of her slaves was sent to dress his wounds, give him some food and adornments. Next day, when the presentation of catches began, she led him proudly to the old Queen. Her two cousins stood there, each with her catch by her side. No one of them was acompanied by a warrior, though. Meena smirked a bit but then her eyes went wide - her oldest cousin, Aude, approached without the necessary ceremonial greetings and pointed rudely at Meena.

"If you think you see the future Queen, you are wrong. You only see a cheat."

The silence was so deep that it ringed in your head.

"Prove it!" snarled Meena when she regained her composure a bit. Now it was Aude's turn to smirk.

"Look at this man. His tattoos are false. They are painted, not inked. It is a simple peasant masquerading as a warrior."

"Liar!" shrieked Meena.

Aude just took a cloth, soaked it in a pool and came closer to the man presented by Meena. She started to wipe the tattoos off his skin. He didn't protest, silently observing Aude's hands. The magical whorls and patterns were disappearing in no time. False. Fabricated. Painted. By whom, though? Meena didn't know but she decided an open attack was the best defence.

"What kind of catch did you bring, dear cousin? A fox? A rabbit? A shrew? My slave is still more valuable than those."

Aude looked at her and drawed her short sword in total silence. Her movements were so fast that nobody reacted. Not until the head of Meena rolled on the ground and her body fell where she stood spouting hot, red blood. 

"That was quick," said the old Queen. "Quick and clever. Aude didn't manage to capture a warrior but she prevented a cheat from having the crown. Our Goddess was silent today so it's up to me to decide and I've taken my decision. Aude deserves our gratitude. I can't imagine a better Queen."

***

Later on, after the coronation, Aude was led to her new quarters. The man who had been caught by Meena accompanied her, keeping reverently his distance. She stopped when they reached the stairs, turned and took his hand.

"Don't hide behind my back. You did well and you will be rewarded for your ordeal as I promised. You will become my consort."

That's how I imagine Aude - in the photo you see a portrait of Meena Kumari (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Silent Saturday

Review: The Batman by Jo NesbØ

Book info:

Format: pdf e-book

Genre: detective novel

Target audience: adults

Once again I have a chance to review a book which, although not exactly new, somehow hasn’t been translated into English yet. I really wonder why. As far as I know (courtesy of Amazon.com of course) it is a beginning of a series featuring the same hero (Harry Hole). Other parts have been translated and published but the first and the second novel (The Cockroaches) – no. By the way  when The Batman was published in Norway in 1997 it became an instant hit, winning the Glass Key Award for best Nordic crime novel (an accolade shared with Peter Høeg, Henning Mankell and Stieg Larsson) so it wasn’t a bad debut, quite the opposite in fact. It’s earmarked to be published this year (hey, I am anticipating a trend I suppose - go figure!) but somehow it was omitted previously.

Synopsis:

A thirtyish Norvegian policeman, Harry Hole,  is sent to Australia to help investigating a murder of a Norvegian woman and a tv starlet, Inger Holder, who used to work in a Sydney bar. Australia is not a country Harry imagined to be. He meets his very colourful local counterparts, especially one Andrew Kensington, and learns plenty about the myths and shameful history of Aborigines, the local inhabitants of that continent. Is it pertaining to the murder investigation? Somehow it is.

It seems the murder of Inger was a part of a whole series of similar crimes – strangling and raping of young, blond, single women, often foreigners. Why only a complete outsider saw and recognized that fact? How much murders will it take until the police manage to find the perpetrator?

What I liked:

It was a very interesting book – logical but also surprising. Not that it didn’t follow a well-known pattern of crime stories but the author managed to lead me astray several times with cleverly hidden clues and bright, big red herring swimming to and fro near the surface. I haven’t been entertained so much since my last Agatha Christie novel and this lady, say what you might, could complicate a multiple murder story and outwit her readers splendidly.

Of course reading The Batman (no, I am not saying why such a title, find out on your own) Dame Agatha would blush several times. It is a very contemporary book; well, relatively contemporary – the movies Harry speaks about are such that you can easily notice the relentless passage of time. Still it aged well – I bet plenty of young people, footloose and fancy-free, who are taking a year off in order to go abroad, live carefree and have fun in the sun would recognize friendly souls in their slightly older counterparts shown here, working in Australian bars, posing for a photo before the famous Melbourne Opera House and crowding Bondi beach in the evenings.

The main character is definitely a man who likes living dangerously. He has his own demons to defeat as he is an alcoholic; sometimes he wins sometimes he loses spectacularly, falling into an endless spiral of drinking and bearing the consequences. Overall a very interesting main lead, somebody very far away from prim and proper Hercule Poirot or Miss Marple. Still, he shares their brains and the passion of solving puzzles no matter how much it might cost.

Finally let me say that I liked very much the way the author constructed and presented the main baddie. I can’t say a lot in order not to spoil you but believe me, it won me over.

  

What I didn’t like:

Now I will have to continue that series. I got addicted instantly.

Final verdict:

Yes, I recommend this book and I hope the rest of the series will be as good as the first one. You can read it as a stand-alone btw but after finishing I am sure you will want another part even without one ugly cliffhanger urging you to do so. Consider yourself warned – Harry Hole is addictive.

Review: The Fixer: A Lawson Vampire novel by Jon F. Merz

Book info:

Form: e-book, Kindle format

Genre: fantasy, vampire detective story

Target audience: adults

I borrowed a digital version of this book from my friend - thank you very much, pchlaszachrajka! 

Synopsis:

When a bad, big, psychotic vampire called Cosgrove returns to Chicago, one thing is sure: there will be blood and murders galore. Cosgrove doesn’t disappoint his faithful allies and enemies - soon enough the Council, a body supervising all vampires living in that area, condemn him to death. Any death but the sooner the better. Lawson, one of vampire Fixers (so kind of law enforcers)  and his Control (so kind of boss) McKinley are given the order to find Cosgrove and drive something made of wood straight through his dark, scheming heart. The balance must be preserved and there is no balance with such psychos as Cosgrove.

Unfortunately killing him is easier said than done. Firstly, nobody knows what Cosgrove looks like now. Then our baddie has an interesting plan of his own and plenty of other vampires are cooperating with him secretly. When Lawson’s best friend is murdered in a club there’s no looking back, though, especially when a female assassin Lawson falls in love with, Talya, joins the hunt and is kidnapped as a result. Will vampires manage to clean their ranks? How many lives will it cost? Will humans finally find out the truth about vampires?

What I liked:

This novel was highly readable, I really was sucked inside the plot and the more I read the more I wanted to know about our sad vampire protagonist. Lawson was an interesting character mainly because he was so flawed -  an experienced law enforcer who is hardly fearless and has a very unpleasant fund of memories- anyway that’s what made this story work for me. The world Lawson lives in is dangerous but he didn’t choose his life, it chose him, and, while he would have chosen differently, he doesn’t waste a lot of time pining over it either. Well, being so very flawed and in love he whines a bit but not too much.

Talking about the love interest of the main lead I must mention Talya, a big asset of this book. She is an Asian girl – half Chinese, half Kazakh – which I found original. She used to work as a KGB secret agent and now she is a freelancer assassin, also something you hardly expect from a ‘damsel in distress’, usually met in such books. She has a brain of her own and she knows what she wants – another feature I appreciate in my heroines.

 Apart from that Merz did, in my opinion, a wonderful job of setting the fighting scenes. They seemed real and gory but not overly so. I also enjoyed several mentions of Musashi  Miyamoto, a Japanese swordsman and rōnin and bushido, the code of samurai. I like Japanese culture very much and it was like a ‘hello’ from a distant friend.

Finally let me tell you that I appreciated the idea that the vampires in this series aren't some weird type of supernatural creatures but just another species that evolved alongside of humans. That alone opens up many more doors which, I hope, will be explored in next parts.

  

What I didn’t like:

This novel was published for the first time in 2002. That’s exactly ten years ago. It makes itself felt. In other words if you look for a terribly original premise, keep looking because you are bound to be disappointed by this one.

My other complain is that this book could really do with some more extensive editing. I’m not a native English speaker and still I noticed some strange mistakes: e.g. a faulty sentence structure like "I knew your reaction would be worth coming out in this miserable rain for" or an occasional redundancy of word choice, like " Her hips ground in to my face as she rode my face..." (and it was supposed to be one hot scene, imagine that!) A rookie writer mistakes, more often found in low-quality fanfic nowadays than in officially published books (although there are exceptions to this rule).

Now my main complaint. I really couldn’t swallow that Lawson, a centenarian and a vampire with a several decades spent as a black Ops veteran, was from time to time so incredibly sloppy with his detective work. First he readily told his love interest, a human woman after all, that their mutual quarry is a vampire when the mere existence of vampires was supposed to be the biggest secret. He often took really poor operative decisions, allowing the main baddie to escape with ease and flourish. Ok, he was in love, but honestly, you should have expected a better control from such a professional. Also on several occasions Lawson describes himself as reacting "like a fourteen year old boy" to Talya. Well, doesn’t it sound silly? His background and training is given as lengthy, Marine/special forces tough, dangerous and pretty comprehensive but for all of his training Lawson doesn't seem to know what to do in a tight spot and allows situations to worsen through his own failure to deliver.

Final verdict:

 The world building was interesting but not especially original. The characters were complex but not very captivating. Still I want to give this series one more chance. Idealistic, I know...

Silent Saturday

Longleat Maze. (photo credit: Jason Hawkes)

Image by Puzzler4879 via Flickr

Friday Fiction Flash #38

Amy C at Romance Book Wyrm and Dottie atTink's Place have come up with the idea for a Monday Morning Flash Fiction challenge. Each Monday a new picture prompt will be posted and if you choose to participate - you publish your Fiction Flash  on Friday - 350 words, give or take.

It's been ages since I wrote a flash but this week's pic undid me completely:

Patricia was sitting on a hard, wooden chair which looked like a cross between a throne and a piece of furniture straight from a torture chamber - uncomfortable like hell, full of spikes and metal studs. Dark birds (ravens? crows? jackdaws?) were flying around her making a lot of racket and crapping on her lap and feet. She swore loudly when a piece of guano landed on her head as well. She wanted to stand up and escape those pesky birds but she couldn't move, as if she was glued to her seat. She looked up at the overcast sky. 'Dammit, it might rain any time now' she thought. Just her luck - she was wearing a sleeveless dress made of a very thin fabric (silk?) very low cut at the front and hardly anything else. It meant that if she was cold now, she was bound to be freezing pretty soon. And wet. A shiver ran down her spine.

She heard a murmur of voices and thought that finally some help might be coming her way but saw only an endless column of people with heads hung low, some of them limping, most dressed in bloody tatters. Slaves. Other people, riding horses and brandishing long, vicious whips, flanked the column.  She blinked several times hearing ominous swishes through the air and cries full of pain and horror. What was happening and what was she doing here? She made another attempt to move, once again failing spectacularly.

Somebody approached her from behind and whispered into her ear:

"We won, my princess. The darkness will rule forever and you'll marry me today as your father's promised."

She turned her head and saw a big, black raven with a human head sitting on the backrest of her chair. The head smiled nastily, showing blood-stained, sharp teeth; she screamed like mad and woke up with her mouth still wide open and her throat constricted with fear.

Next day Patricia threw away all her Goth wardrobe and accessories. She  couldn't look at them any longer. She dyied her hair brown, as close to her natural colour as she could manage, and put on a lot less of that  black and red eyeshadows than she used to. Even though she repeated in her head that it was just a spooky dream she didn't want to return to that chair, black birds and the darkness. Ever.

May Day

1st of May...if you are celebrating or simply enjoying a day off you might think it is just another tradition connected with the International Worker's Day. Well, it is not so simple.

International Workers' Day is the commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago, which occurred after an unknown person threw a dynamite bomb at police as they dispersed a public assembly during a general strike for the eight-hour workday. Strangely enough (or maybe not strangely at all)  it coincides with a much older holiday with totally pagan origins.

May Day is related to the Celtic festival of Beltane and the Germanic festival of Walpurgis Night. May Day falls exactly half a year from November 1, another cross-quarter day which is also associated with various northern European pagan and the year in the Northern hemisphere, and it has traditionally been an occasion for popular and often raucous celebrations.

The earliest May Day celebrations appeared in pre-Christian times, with the festival of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers.While February 1 was the first day of Spring, May 1 was the first day of summer; hence, the summer solstice on June 25 (now June 21) was Midsummer. In the Roman Catholic tradition, May is observed as Mary's month, and in these circles May Day is usually a celebration of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In this connection, in works of art, school skits, and so forth, Mary's head will often be adorned with flowers in a May crowning. Fading in popularity since the late 20th century is the giving of "May baskets," small baskets of sweets and/or flowers, usually left anonymously on neighbours' doorsteps.


How people celebrate the May Day? In short that depends. Here are some more interesting tidibits I found about the celebrations in different countries:

Great Britain

 (Image credit: Getty Images via @daylife)

Traditional British May Day rites and celebrations include Morris dancing, crowning a May Queen and celebrations involving a Maypole. Much of this tradition derive from the pagan Anglo-Saxon and customs held during "Þrimilci-mōnaþ" (the Old English name for the month of May meaning Month of Three Milkings) along with many Celtic traditions. Of course these celebrations can't be called "widespread" nowadays and their character changes depending on the location. Most often it will be just an open air concert.

Ireland

May Day has been celebrated in Ireland since pagan times as the feast of Bealtaine and in latter times as Mary's day. Traditionally, bonfires were lit to mark the coming of summer and to banish the long nights of winter. Officially Irish May Day holiday is the first Monday in May. Old traditions such as bonfires are no longer widely observed, though the practice still persists in some communities, such as Arklow.

France



On May 1, 1561, King Charles IX of France received a lily of the valley as a lucky charm. He decided to offer a lily of the valley each year to the ladies of the court. At the beginning of the 20th century, it became custom to give a sprig of lily of the valley, a symbol of springtime, on May 1. The government permits individuals and workers' organisations to sell them tax-free. It is also traditional for the lady receiving the sprig of lily of the valley to give a kiss in return. Nowadays, people may present loved ones either with bunches of lily of the valley or dog rose flowers. You must admit it is a far nicer custom that these rowdy marches with flags and banners. Say what you might but French people know how to make life a bit more pleasant!

Germany

In rural regions of Germany, especially the Harz Mountains, Walpurgisnacht celebrations of pagan origin are traditionally held on the night before May Day, including bonfires and the wrapping of a Maibaum (maypole). Young people use this opportunity to party, while the day itself is used by many families to get some fresh air and plan some nice trips.

Finland

Celebrations among the younger generations take place on May Day Eve, most prominent being the afternoon 'crowning' of statues in towns around the country with a student cap.

May Day is known as Vappu, from the Swedish term. This is a public holiday that is the only carnival-style street festivity in the country. People young and old, particularly students, party outside, picnic and wear caps or other decorative clothing.

Some Finns make a special lemonade from lemons, brown sugar, and yeast called "sima". It contains very little alcohol, so even children can drink it. You can also buy a similar product in all stores. Some Finns also make doughnuts and a crisp pastry fried in oil made from a similar, more liquid dough.

Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day
http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/113/article_3645.asp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_Day
http://www.theholidayspot.com/mayday/history.htm