Silent Saturday

Source: http://www.amusingplanet.com/2010/08/cancun-underwater-sculpture-museum.html

Review: Tempest Rising (Jane True 01) by Nicole Peeler

Book info:

Form: pdf format
Genre: paranormal romance
Target audience: adults

A quote that made me laugh:

“She liked a very particular kind of plot: the sort where the pirate kidnaps some virgin damsel, rapes her into loving him, and then dispatches lots of seamen while she polishes his cutlass. Or where the Highland clan leader kidnaps some virginal English Rose, rapes her into loving him, and then kills entire armies of Sassenachs while she stuffs his haggis. Or where the Native American warrior kidnaps a virginal white settler, rapes her into loving him, and then kills a bunch of colonists while she whets his tomahawk. I hated to get Freudian on Linda, but her reading patterns suggested some interesting insights into why she was such a complete bitch.” 

 Synopsis: 

 Once upon a time there was a girl called Jane True. She was slightly different than other girls her age. Or simply different than any other girl, period. She loved to swim. In fact she had to swim in the ocean every single day, even in winter, no matter how cold the water was - it made her happy. She lived with her father in a small town in rural America and she was very often alone because people thought she was as weird as her mom who appearead one night mysteriously during a storm and then disappeared when Jane was six. One day Jane's boyfriend, Jason, died in an ocean whirlpool; allegedly he wanted to rescue Jane (he didn't know she needn't any rescuing) and drowned instead.

After that sad incident people started blaming Jane for everything and shunning her for good. Then somebody else died in the same place (the whirlpool) and Jane found his body. That’s why a certain vampire investigator called Ryu entered Jane’s life for good. Or for bad. Many other supernatural beings followed his suit. Finally Jane felt accepted and was surrounded but equally weird company; she found out who and what she was. Will she be more happy now?

 What I liked: 

 I wanted to like so many things here and I managed to like just a few. I suppose I expected something different. Ok, let me count the good points of this novel.

 At first Jane seemed really a sweet girl, although a bit brainless. A certain sea horse seemed to be a nice idea of a pet – I would love to have one in an aquarium! Anyan, one of male secondary characters, seemed to be a nice doggy. I liked Nell the garden gnome. Certain Nagas weren't a completely bad idea. Ryu…no, I think I’ve had enough of handsome, cheeky, overly cocky vampires. The book was overall very readable even though its content was rather shallow – it took me just one evening and several hours in the morning to finish it. There were some funny scenes and descriptions (see the quote above). Here, that’s it.

The cover fits the story perfectly: adult - non adult. The girl is naked but she has the face of a porcelain doll and as much personality as a toy.

 What I didn’t like:

 As you might guess I had huge issues with the main female lead. Really Mount Everest huge. I didn't expect I would have to change into a mountaineer while reading light prose just for fun.

First our sweet Jane, a woman supposedly approaching thirty years of age, most of the time behaves like a whinny teenager without one single ACTIVE brain cell under her mop of dark hair . Let’s ponder over this: her mom disappeared when she was six. Jane knew there was something strange concerning the whole event, something connected to the ocean, a thunderstorm and water. Now Jane, after some time spent in a college mind you, is working in a bookshop. Believe it or not but she never ever tries to find on her own who her mother was and what might have caused her sudden disappearance. Why didn’t she, for heavens’ sake, think of searching the Internet or perusing/purchasing any dictionary of magical creatures, myths and legends? Not curious enough? Loss of literacy? No computer skills? Too busy being miserable? Too busy shelving all this romantic crap they sell at Read It and Weep (what a name for a book shop ‘rolleye’)? Waiting for a miracle to happen?

 Then she repeatedly claims all the people living in her little town hate her. Seriously hate. Unfortunately her credibility is damaged a bit when the reader finds out that in fact she has not only a loving father but also several friends: her two lesbian employers, the owners of Pig Sty, the only local bar, a certain elderly lady…you start wonder: why are you complaining Jane? Just because SOME people hate your guts? Well, that’s life, my dear! It can happen to even the most popular girl or boy everywhere!

 Then our sweet Jane engages herself romantically with a vampire she’s just met. Or rather throws herself at him. Her reasons? Well, since the death of her boyfriend, Jason, she’s been so lonely and her bed so cold (translation: Ryu looked good, she wanted to have sex rather badly and there was no better alternative around). Correct me if I am mistaken but an adult woman while dealing with a complete supernatural stranger should have used her brain, not her hormones. Perhaps Jane is transsexual and her brain just goes south in times of crisis. Anyway I think she mixes the notion of the right body mass index with the right personality. Small wonder soon enough she finds out  that she might have liked another guy (Anyan) a tad better. Here I hit another snag. A romantic threesome seemed to rise its ugly head very early on. Ryu is a decent guy for a vampire but of course Anyan is not bad either – who to choose? As Jane already went to bed with Ryu I am rather sure she will decide to switch her allegiance in the next installments. I am not curious enough to check whether I am right.

 Final verdict: 

 One more such position and I will have to read a scientific paper or solve some maths problems to return to sanity. Seriously.

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.