Novel: Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan

I have a new favorite author!

I literally could not bear to put this book down and stop reading it.
I loved, loved, loved, Miranda Grey, the heroine of the story.
She is tiny and beautiful and incredibly talented. She is terribly vulnerable, but also incredibly strong. She starts off tortured by her powerful gift of empathy which she has no idea how to control. She's a musician living in the city of Austin, TX, and the only way she can bear her empathy is to channel it through music. But, she is so tortured by sensing other people's emotions that she is slowly being driven mad.

One night after performing in a bar, she is brutally raped and very nearly killed. If you are particularly sensitive to this sort of thing you probably won't want to read it. I found that it was a graphic scene and very upsetting to me.  But, she is saved by David, (the "Prime" male vampire in charge of the Southern parts of the USA) who takes her back to his vampire "Haven" in the Texas Hill country. There he patiently helps her to heal, and teaches her to control her gift of empathy. The two of course fall in love, but try with all their might to resist the attraction, very nearly to the end of the story. I gave the book extra bonus points for this factor. This isn't one of those stories with gratuitous sexual scenes oozing all over the place. It is definitely more about the story and character development which I prefer.

In the meantime, there is a deadly war among competing vampire factions to be fought. Miranda and David try a separation thinking that it will save her life. They do everything that they can to try and forget about each other for months (which thankfully, they finally realize is impossible). While David is trying everything he can to outwit his elusive enemies, Miranda works on her music, becoming ever more famous and successful, and she also studies Martial Arts. Having studied JiuJitsu during my University days I was *very* into Miranda's Martial Arts training.

By the end of the novel Miranda has been completely transformed from the frightened, mousy, nerve-wracked empath out of control to a supremely powerful force to be reckoned with. The end was a total triumph and I was standing up cheering for "Queen Miranda!"

Four Talons. A keeper. I won't forget this story, or it's author.

My latest stack of novels to read

Just picked up from the library today:

Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan
Wolf's Bluff by W. D. Gagliani
The Woods Are Dark by Richard Laymon
Midnight's Daughter by Karen Chance
Destined For An Early Grave by Jeaniene Frost

I've started off with Queen of Shadows by Dianne Sylvan. Only 6 pages in and I can already tell I'm going to eat this one right up. It's well written. It's dark urban fantasy (set in Austin, Texas), it has a strong female protagonist, and it has vampires. Ok. I'm off to devour it...

Novel: Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey

This novel was the best one out of the most recent batch. It was "hard-boiled", dirty, nitty gritty, rough and tough. It was very well written, with a refreshing style all it's own. Think dark, extremely violent, modern-urban, sarcastic, cynical, supernatural, bounty hunter/spaghetti western, mystery, horror and action all rolled into one.

The protagonist James Stark survives as a hitman in Hell for eleven years. Somehow he escapes Hell and returns to Earth for revenge against some very nasty old "friends". He can take some serious beatings and come back for more, over, and over, and over again. How and why he's survived so far is a total mystery to everyone in Heaven, Hell and on Earth, including himself.

Turns out he's a nephilim - half angel, half human. He's got special powers all his own and he uses them to dish out mighty a** whompings of all evil creatures that get in his way, demon, vampire etc. In the end he manages to stop the apocalypse and save everyone. Hoo Ra! Did I say I liked this one? Well, I did. Three Talons. A percher, but not a keeper.

Ok. Now I can return all my overdue novels, pay my fines and get out some more books.

Novel: Legend of the Jade Dragon by Jasmine Galenorn

Prolific Wiccan fantasy author Jasmine Galenorn cranks it out again. I think I'd call this one a supernatural mystery "cosy".

The protagonist Emerald O'Brien owns a quaint, charming, and successful tea shop where she also offers psychic readings. She is also a hereditary witch, and a single mom of two children.

A troubled customer arrives for a reading and leaves her shop only to be hit by a van. Just before dying, he hands her a mysterious and valuable Ming dynasty jade dragon which carries a terrible curse. And, we are off on another Galenorn adventure.

It was fun and light, but not so deeply memorable and moving that I'd want to read it again. I was mildly amused but nothing more than that. So, this book barely registers on my Talon vs Owl Pellet rating system. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. It was just..."ok".

Novel: Night Souls by L.H.Maynard & M.P.N. Sims

This horror novel has a different interpretation of the vampire myth. Vampires are not "the undead", but a different race from humans completely which have always co-existed alongside of man. They are called "Breathers". They feed not only upon blood, but also upon the inner organs, and the soul energy of humans using special feeding claws in their hands which puncture the body, a feeding tongue which can enter the mouth and throat and extend deep into the stomach, and if a male even the sex organ becomes a feeding tool. They have split off into  different factions which want different things. One wants to keep the status quo and continue to feed off humans. The other wishes to develop a special hybrid race which can exist without feeding on humans and wipe out the human race completely.

A secret UK Government organization which specializes in the paranormal becomes aware of the Breathers and their threat to the human race and sets out to battle them.

It was an ok read. Not thrilling or terrifying for a horror novel. I never felt a moment of unease or fear while reading it. Maybe I'm just jaded and spoiled, but I wouldn't bother reading it again. No talons, and no pellets. Just all Ho Hum De Dum.

Novel: The Seventh Witch by Shirley Damsgaard

I have stolen an extra hour or so from the day so I can catch up on my novel reviews.

This novel is set in a small Southern town, complete with a magickal family feud between rival witch clans. I thought it was quaint and cute, fluffy and cosy.  It wasn't frightening or challenging or exciting in any way.  I guess I'd call it supernatural "lite". It's definitely not something I'd read again. Kind of boring actually. Snore...

Yikes! I have really fallen behind!

It's been far too long since I made an entry here. I've been sooooo busy! I have a stack of four novels that I have read through and are waiting to be reviewed before I return them to the library. They are probably overdue by now. I will have to log on to the library system and renew them if I can. Anyway, I intend to make an entry if not today, hopefully tomorrow.

Novel: The Warded Man by Peter Brett

The Warded Man (aka The Painted Man in the UK) is Peter Brett's first novel. Four Talons! This one is a keeper for sure.

The hero grows up on a planet where the days are safe, but filled with backbreaking work to survive. The nights are filled with terrible danger from demons which rise from the core of the planet to wreak havoc, destruction and death upon all humans. The only defence the humans have against the demons are written symbols or wards which they place on their doors, windows and walls. Most humans have grown used to huddling behind their wards at night. However, sometimes the wards weaken and fail and the demons get past them and then the humans are defenseless.

The protagonist grows up wanting to fight the demons and the story is all about his search for a way to fight back and defeat the demons. He goes through a mostly solitary journey of discovery and personal metamorphosis. In his searches through ancient ruins of past civilizations destroyed by the demons, the hero discovers a way to tattoo both the defensive and offensive wards right into his skin.

Then he goes out into the night armed with warded skin and warded spears and other such weapons which he creates. In helping and rescuing others, and teaching them how to fight the demons, he becomes the subject of legend and prophecy, although he resists being called the long prophesied "Warded Man".  Along the way he also finds an ally in a young woman who has been trained as a Herb Gatherer and Healer. I found myself really liking both of these strong male and female characters.

The writing is very well done. I was totally drawn into the story and could hardly bear to put the book down. I was honestly very disappointed when the story ended, and now I can hardly wait to hunt down and read the already published sequel The Desert Spear.

I have read on Brett's website that there is a possibility of a movie coming out of this story! It may be produced by the same people who made the Resident Evil series which is a favorite of mine. (Go Alice!)

You can find the author and his works at www.PeterVBrett.com

As an aside I find it interesting that with the last two books I've read, tattoos have been magically significant in both. This isn't anything new, but it is a fascinating subject. Tattoos have had mystical and magickal significance in many cultures throughout history.  Whoever is the artist of the one below, I want his number! Gorgeous work!

Novel: Night Myst by Jasmine Galenorn

Night Myst is the first in a series about the Indigo Court. This novel was a real hoot! I couldn't put it down, and I was very disappointed when it ended all too soon and left me hanging. The next book in the series won't be out until next summer! Booo! It's like having to wait for the next season of True Blood.

Not only are there the big bad vampires of the Crimson Court, there are the even more bigger badder vampiric Fae of the Indigo Court. All the vampires are pretty darn scary - powerful, bloodthirsty predators that they are.

Obviously you can tell from my blog that I love owls. Well, wasn't I chuffed to discover that the protagonist Cicely Waters (who is as tough and brave and streetwise as they come) just happens to be a human-fae hybrid wind witch who is from a line of fae who changes into owls! Hoot! Hoot! :D She also has some pretty hot magical tattoos (wolves and owls). Also, looking at the cover, wouldn't I kill for a set of abs like hers! The cover artist did a nice job!

Her lover is a full Fae who changes into a wolf. He also has magical tattoos. Unfortunately he's been turned by the Indigo Court.

The author Jasmine Galenorn is able to write about magic and the supernatural with convincing ease and comfort  - and no wonder since she is a witch in real life. She's also a very prolific author with several supernatural series under her belt.

Well worth checking out. Three Talons!

You can find her at www.galenorn.com

Novel: Daemon's Mark by Caitlin Kittredge

Daemon's Mark is the fifth in Kittredge's "Nocturne City" series. The protagonist Luna Wilder was bitten and turned into a werewolf in her teens then grew up to become a tough female cop working supernatural crimes. The world that she lives in is full of supernatural creatures like magicians, selkies, trolls, and harpies. Throw in some Russian mobsters trafficking in supernatural females for the sex slave industry, and some supernatural bio-engineering and it's a suitably creepy, fun and entertaining novel. It's not badly written. It took me "away" while I read it so it was a success. I didn't mind my escape ride into Luna Wilder's world at all. I'll be on the look out for more of Caitlin Kittredge's books. I'm perching on three Talons out of four!

From her back cover photo she is young and cute and dresses just a little bit Goth.

She has a website:  www.caitlinkittredge.com

Enjoy!

Next on my list to read: a dark supernatural novel by Yasmine Galenorn (who besides being a prolific fantasy author is also a Shamanic Witch in "real life".)

TV series: True Blood, Haven, Lost Girl, Boardwalk Empire

So, "True Blood" is over until next spring/summer. Boo! *long dark sulk*

I guess I'm just going to have to make do by catching up with "Vampire Diaries", "Haven", and the new succubus/fae show "Lost Girl". The interesting thing is that "Haven" and "Lost Girl" are both Canadian made productions. I caught a glimpse of one our  red Toronto streetcars in one of the scenes of the series premiere this past Sunday. Haven is shot out on the East coast.

I might give Boardwalk Empire a go as well. It's not anything supernatural, but it is about prohibition, mobsters and flappers (aka, booze, violence and sex). I'll temporarily make do with that if I can't have my supernatural fix.

Novel: Wild Hunt by Margaret Ronald

Wild Hunt is Margaret Ronald's second book in a series. Her first book was Spiral Hunt.

The first question I always ask myself after finishing a book is, "Would I read it again?" I think if it was a few years later and I found it on a library shelf and I couldn't find anything else to read at the time I'd check it out again. It wasn't so thrilling that I'd go and buy it from a bookstore and keep it on my shelves, but yes, I'd read it again, so that means it was a decent read. I'd also get the first novel out the library to read as well.

As is usual for my preference, the protagonist Evie Scelan is a strong, independent, kick-a** female character. She works as a mundane bicycle courier in Boston. Her supernatural nature is that of a "Hound" and it comes down the family line from the "old Irish" (whatever that really means - the author isn't historically or culturally specific enough). She isn't exactly a shape-changer, but she has all the abilities to "scent" and track and chase down whomever she needs to. Since taking down the corrupt Fiana organization who ruled the Boston "undercurrent" in Spiral Hunt, she is now the de facto person in power of the city. Her boyfriend, irony of ironies, turns out to be a very reluctant werewolf. (He is also a nerdy graduate student with a miserable TA job. This brought back memories for me of being in the same situation so I felt quite sympathetic towards him). And then there is the stolen horn of the Wild Hunt. So there is lots of magickal canine influence afoot, anose, and atail in the city of Boston. Woof!

Not epic, but basically well written, entertaining, and fun to read. This one gets three owl talons. It's a percher, but not a keeper.

Finished "The Search" and on to the "Wild Hunt"

I've been so busy lately I only have a couple of hours at the end of each day to read a few chapters. I finished The Search last night.

In general I liked the protagonist - at first - but then she gradually began to annoy me. She's a strong woman. She practices martial arts, she can shoot a gun, she runs and works out, she's independent, she has good taste, she likes to garden, she's neat and clean and organized, she can escape being tied up, drugged, and locked in the trunk of a car by a serial killer, she's told by a female FBI agent that she'd make an excellent agent, and basically she's an all around intimidatingly efficient alpha female. She's is without a doubt, the great heroine of the book. And she accomplishes this all without being Barbie doll perfect or gorgeous. But still, I think she turns out to be a New York Times Bestsellers List caricature of what a strong female character should be like.

The one thing I could not fault was the dog-training. The protagonist could easily have been a female version of Cesar Milan, Dog Whisperer.

The writing is slick and glossy, and I was taken in by this when I first started reading the book. There aren't any really obvious problems with the writing until you start to realize that it's the unidimensional characterizations and the really simple plot which are the true underlying faults. Then the book starts to taste like the Fruit Loops that the protagonist likes to eat for breakfast -- all white sugar and no nutritional substance boxed in cardboard.
The protagonist captures the second maniacal killer (in training by the first), hands him over to the police, and accepts the wedding proposal of the hunky man at the end of the story. Too pat for me. Don't you just hate such a cliched happy ending?
She doesn't really grow or change at all during the entire novel. She's too strong, too independent, just "too, too, too" to be believable, or to have any sympathy or empathy for her. She's like an unassailable mountain.
The two villains aren't scary to me. To me they are just too flattened out and simple.
Her boyfriend/fiancee isn't really all that complicated either. He's good for sex, making furniture, and using his fists on the face of the would-be killer at the end.
There isn't an ounce of supernatural mystique or danger to the story at all. It seems I am hardwired
to need an element of "otherness" to my stories.

Owl Pellets for this one!

Ah well, on to the next novel - which IS a proper dark urban fantasy novel set in Boston with a nitty gritty tough heroine who while dangerous, isn't unassailable, and there's lots and lots of magick in it. It's called Wild Hunt. (And no it's not the one by Jane Yolen - who is another one of my fave authors).

The only thing that The Search and the Wild Hunt have in common is the basic theme of "Sniff Rover, go find!" Both have dogs (or hounds) which chase down and find things by scent. I hope that's not giving away too much.

By the way, (totally random factoid inserted here), I attended my first Belly Dance class last night. Woo Hoo for me! Fun Wow!

Spiritual Sensuality in Writing and Music

I went to the library yesterday and picked up three new novels to read.

Strangely enough, one of them is not "dark fantasy" at all. It's a Nora Roberts book called The Search. It has search and rescue dogs. I work with animals. It has a woman living independently in a cottage on an island which is very close to my own lifelong dream. She trains search and rescue dogs. Can I ever relate to her frustration at trying to teach people how to interact with their dogs! She enjoys blogging everyday on her dog-training blog. Hello! I have caught the blogging bug! There is an unusual, intelligent, attentive, creative, and intriguing man as a romantic interest. There is a diabolical serial killer on the hunt for the main protagonist. That's close enough to a vampire if I stretch it I suppose. At least it adds just that necessary bit of danger to my reading. But, I'm glad I don't have any serial killers after me in real life! It's written fairly well -- meaning that none of the sentences or paragraphs set off any of my bleep-o-meters. So it gets a pass even though it's not dark fantasy, and I'm only 143 pages into a 488 page novel.

As I lay in bed reading myself to sleep last night I realized a salient point. More than anything else, Robert's use of everyday, earthy, sensual details to keep the reader grounded, engaged and interested appeals to the Pagan and Witch in me. Part of the slowly simmering seduction between the protagonist and her love interest involves teaching the man to relate to his puppy through the senses of a dog. Another part involves healthy, homemade food like a crock-pot of minestrone, a loaf of rosemary bread, good red wine, and a dish of olives. (YUM!) He makes wood into artful furniture and convinces her to let him uproot an old stump which he wants to make into a massive sink. She agrees only if he will buy and plant a new tree in the void left by the removal of the stump. What makes the story and the characters come alive for me is their perceptions of the quality of light, the time of day or night, taste, smell, hearing, and feeling, their concern for their environment and the interconnection of all things. How much more Pagan can you get?

And this realization made me create some connections outside of the novel. My last thoughts before I turned out the bedside table lamp lingered on how early it got dark last night. We are just in the beginning of September, and it was pitch black at 8:30 pm. For a Pagan, the amount of light or darkness one has each day as the Wheel of the Year turns is extremely important. Every day, with all of our senses, we pay attention to the Sun, the Moon, the Air, Fire, Water and Earth.

This summer I re-kindled a fixation upon Kate Bush's music and it is this same focus on The Sensual World (the title of one of her albums) which also grabs the Pagan in me. To illustrate, below are the lyrics to her song "Nocturne" which is on her Aerial album. The lyrics intertwine the sensuous and the spiritual all at once - which the Pagan in me knows is the best way to have things. It seems that both Nora Roberts and Kate Bush feel the same way. So here's to the spiritual immanent within the sensual!

"On this midsummer night
Everyone is sleeping
We go driving
Into the moonlight

Could be in a dream
Our clothes are on the beach
These prints of our feet
Lead right up to the sea

No one, no one is here
No one, no one is here
We stand in the Atlantic
We become panoramic

We tire of the city
We tire of it all
We long for
Just that something more

Could be in a dream
Our clothes are on the beach
The prints of our feet
Lead right up to the sea

No one, no one is here
No one, no one is here
We stand in the Atlantic
We become panoramic

The stars are caught in our hair
The stars are on our fingers
A veil of diamond dust
Just reach up and touch it

The sky's above our heads
The sea's around our legs
In milky, silky water
We swim further and further

We diving down
We diving down

A diamond night
A diamond sea
And a diamond sky

We dive deeper and deeper
We dive deeper and deeper
Could be we are here
Could be in a dream

It came up on the horizon
Rising and rising
In a sea of honey, a sky of honey
A sea of honey, a sky of honey

Look at the light
At all the time it's a changing
Look at the light
Climbing up the aerial

Bright, white coming alive jumping off the aerial
All the time it's a changing like now
All the time it's a changing like then again
All the time it's a changing
And all the dreamers are waking"

So busy!

I can't believe it. I've been so busy the last week or so that I haven't had time to read a book! Now that *is* busy! I usually have the time to read something. But, between work and my new gym work out routine I have no time and energy for anything else. I finish this one job on the 19th. After that I will have more time to read, and post in this blog. In the meantime, I was thinking I might go back over some of the novels I read in the past and write up a bit about what I can remember. It's not as good as writing right after reading a book, but it's better than writing nothing at all. Apologies to all following if I'm boring you!

TV Series: True Blood - Season Three - Episode 12

We are one episode away from the end of the third season of True Blood. Since next weekend is Labour Day weekend we will have to wait for the following Sunday for the season finale. Then it will be over for another year while we all wait for season four to be cooked up.

As a real life Wiccan, I have a particular pet peeve and that is about the character of Holly.  I was not at all impressed with her portrayal of a Wiccan ceremony last night while she cast a spell for Arlene to have a miscarriage. First of all, she drew her circle widdershins (meaning right to left or counter-clockwise). This is a huge "no no". The only time we ever move widdershins might be in banishing a circle, not in creating a circle. Second of all she used her athame to pierce Arlene's skin and draw blood. This is another serious error. The athame is never used to draw blood or to physically cut anything. In fact athames are usually blunt edged just so they cannot be used to cut anything. The only rare exception to this might be during a Handfasting if a couple wishes to cut their wedding cake. Otherwise, the athame is only ever used to direct metaphysical energy.

So for the first time in this show I had some serious concerns that I will not like it -- because of the way Wiccans and their ceremonies may be portrayed. I thought that Charlaine Harris did a fine job in her books drawing the line between bad witches and good witches as well as the fact that there is a difference between Wiccans, and Witches. Wicca is a religion with a set of morals and ethics to "Harm None" that involves magick. Meanwhile, people can be Witches (good or bad) who use magick without the religion.

One thing that is central to the show  is the role of vampire blood and how it affects everyone in the show. Vampire blood is extremely powerful and magickal. Like anything powerful, it can be used for good or evil. It can heal, lend strength, act as supernatural Viagra, grant immortality, and give you access to spiritual realms and insights. It can also drive you crazy, give you an eggplant sized and shaped penis (Priapism in the extreme - poor Jason), make you into a Junkie, subvert your morals so that you will do anything to get it, and make you an even more dangerous and monstrous supernatural (if you are a werewolf or something similar). If you are a vampire, you become very powerful, but you have the choice of how to use your power. Power can corrupt, but you can also struggle against the corruption.

So, I am quite concerned about Lafayette and his yummy new boyfriend Jesus experimenting with "V". The moment when Jesus seemed to be wearing a malevolent "devils" mask and came at Lafayette was genuinely frightening. Then there are all the dancing, talking voodoo dolls.  It seems that the two's use of "V" may have opened up some dangerous metaphysical doors that Lafayette may have some serious trouble closing. Jesus may not be as "good" as Lafayette may have thought in the beginning. Be careful "La La"!

Finally, I have to admit that there is just something about Eric which seems to have soaked into my subconscious girly parts against all my better judgement. I've always been a Team Bill girl before now, but just on the edge of falling asleep last night I had quite a sensuous and erotic encounter with Eric. I wonder if he's been slipping some of his "V" into my evening tea? I sure hope he doesn't die with Russell Edgington out in the sun. Too bad I have to wait two whole weeks just to find out. They should both be pretty crispy by then.

Novel: Elfland by Freda Warrington

I managed to read my way through most of this novel over the last couple of days. Over all it was pretty good. I can see why it was the Winner of the RT Book Reviews Reviewer's Choice Award for Best Fantasy Novel of 2009.

Unfortunately, I thought the quality of writing was a bit spotty. While parts of it were lyrically beautiful, at times I found myself impatiently skimming over paragraphs and even full pages because there were sections where the writing was just too wordy for me. I thought better editing to cut out the superfluous material would have helped keep the flow going more evenly.

If you are like me, and you prefer your Faeries with a dash of danger and darkness, you may enjoy this story. Faeries who live on this side of the "Gate to the Otherworld" and try to pass for human are called "Aetherials". There is always a Gate Keeper who guards the ways between the different realms, but of course there is something terribly wrong with the reigning one in the story. There are seasonings of "star-crossed love", agonizingly unrequited love, painful adolescent crushes, and some warm sensuality and sex, but it is all part of the plot and doesn't ruin the story. Most of the relationships are  quite complicated, and there are plenty of the common sorts of mistakes in judgement and abysmal errors in life choices that people often make. There were moments when I got irritated with a particularly stupid move and felt the urge to knock a character on the old noggin. I suppose that's all part of caring what happens in a story.

Below is an exerpt from the Aetherial creation myth.

I like it because it describes the process of creation and destruction as I imagine it probably does occur - a cycle of implosion and explosion, a spiral inwards and a spiral outwards over and over again. I've long been fascinated with Black Holes and their potential for destruction and creation. I'm also fascinated by those huge holes that people make in their ears these days with ever increasing sizes of "plugs". Staring at such a large void in someone's earlobe seems to have the same inexorable, magnetic sort of effect on me as the Accretion disk around a Black Hole has on any matter which approaches it. I feel dizzy, as if I will fall into the hole, like Alice in Wonderland and who knows what transformation will happen on the other side?

I also love the description of the Star Goddess Estel.

"First there was the Cauldron, the void at the beginning and end of time. As if the void brooded upon its own emptiness, a spark appeared like a thought in the blackness. That spark was the Source. For the first time or the ten millionth time -- we can never know -- the Source exploded in an outrush of the starfire."

"As the star-streams cooled they divided and took on qualities each according to its own nature: stone and wind, fire and water and ether. From those primal energies, all worlds were formed."

"On that outrush came Estel the Eternal, also called Lady of the Stars, who created herself with that first spark of thought. Her face is the night sky, her hair a milky river of stars. For eons Estel presided over the birth of the sun and planets and hidden realms. " (Freda Warrington, Elfland, p: 62).

Below is a passage describing a city in the homeland of the Aetherials that I thought was quite lovely. I wouldn't mind visiting, in fact I wonder if I have in dreams. :

"Rosie opened the diary and said, "Dad, listen to this."
I see a city of gleaming black stone that shines with jewel-colors; crimson, royal purple and blue. I see labyrinthine passages and rooms where you can lose yourself for days, months."

"Lofty pillars. Balconies onto a crystal-clear night full of stars, great sparkling white galaxies like flowers. Statues of winged men looking down with timeless eyes. I want to stand on those balconies and taste the breeze and hear the stars sing and be washed in the light of the moon. There will be ringed planets, and below -- the tops of feathery trees blowing gently. An undiscovered land full of streams, with birch trees in spring green, and oak and hazel -- and their elemental guardians, slender birch-white ladies with soft hazel brown hair -- and mossy banks folding into water. "

"And through this citadel walk graceful men and women with lovely elongated faces and calm, knowing eyes -- with a glint of mischief -- and they are perfect and know it and they are imperfect and know it. They have seen too much. They might wear robes of medieval tapestry or jeans and a shirt but you would never mistake them for human. It's so much more than beauty. Look at them once and you can't look away. These are Aetherials in their oldest city, Tyrynaia. "

"They have been building the city for thousands of years and it will never be finished. Upwards it spreads, and outwards, and down into the rock below. Their seat of power. Their home."

"They take the names of gods, on occasion.
And sometimes they are heroic and help the world.
And sometimes they are malicious and turn it upside down.
Some might be vampires. It's hard to tell.
In the deepest depths of the citadel, a ceiling of rock hangs over an underground lake and here is Persephone's chamber. She welcomes and cares for those who come, soul-sick with despair, seeking solace, rest and sleep. Here they need not speak, only sit on the black marble lip with their feet on the thick glass, and watch the lake and the luminous fish beneath, which is like a reflection of the sky far above. If you lie down in despair, Persephone will lie down with you." (Freda Warrington, Elfland p: 519)

The following is a quote from Pablo Picasso. I think it works for both the delights and the terrors that make up fantasy:

Newspaper Article: "Publishers toss Booker winners into the reject pile" from The Sunday Times

Not that the type of books I generally read for entertainment would be considered quality reading, but still it is possible to write dark fantasy and horror and do it well. Why aren't there more writers of a higher caliber in the genre? Why does so much crap get published?

Here is a revealing article on the dismal state of modern publishing:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article784051.ece

From The Sunday Times
January 1, 2006

Publishers toss Booker winners into the reject pile
Jonathan Calvert and Will Iredale

THEY can’t judge a book without its cover. Publishers and agents have rejected two Booker prize-winning novels submitted as works by aspiring authors.
One of the books considered unworthy by the publishing industry was by V S Naipaul, one of Britain’s greatest living writers, who won the Nobel prize for literature.

The exercise by The Sunday Times draws attention to concerns that the industry has become incapable of spotting genuine literary talent.

Typed manuscripts of the opening chapters of Naipaul’s In a Free State and a second novel, Holiday, by Stanley Middleton, were sent to 20 publishers and agents.

None appears to have recognised them as Booker prizewinners from the 1970s that were lauded as British novel writing at its best. Of the 21 replies, all but one were rejections.

Only Barbara Levy, a London literary agent, expressed an interest, and that was for Middleton’s novel.

She was unimpressed by Naipaul’s book. She wrote: “We . . . thought it was quite original. In the end though I’m afraid we just weren’t quite enthusiastic enough to be able to offer to take things further.”

The rejections for Middleton’s book came from major publishing houses such as Bloomsbury and Time Warner as well as well-known agents such as Christopher Little, who discovered J K Rowling.

The major literary agencies PFD, Blake Friedmann and Lucas Alexander Whitley all turned down V S Naipaul’s book, which has received only a handful of replies.

Critics say the publishing industry has become obsessed with celebrity authors and “bright marketable young things” at the expense of serious writers.

Most large publishers no longer accept unsolicited manuscripts from first-time authors, leaving the literary agencies to discover new talent.

Many of the agencies find it hard to cope with the volume of submissions. One said last week that she receives up to 50 manuscripts a day, but takes on a maximum of only six new writers a year.

Last week, leading literary figures expressed surprise that Naipaul, in particular, had not been talent spotted. Doris Lessing, the author who was once rejected by her own publishers when she submitted a novel under a pseudonym, said: “I’m astounded as Naipaul is an absolutely wonderful writer.”

Andrew Motion, the poet laureate, who teaches creative writing, said: “It is surprising that the people who read it (Naipaul’s book) didn’t recognise it. He is certainly up there as one of our greatest living writers.”

While arguing that the best books would still always find a publisher, he added: “We need to keep the publishers on their toes as good books are as rare as hens’ teeth.”

Middleton, 86, whose books have a devoted following, wasn’t surprised. “People don’t seem to know what a good novel is nowadays,” he said. Naipaul, 73, said the “world had moved on” since he wrote the novel. He added: “To see that something is well written and appetisingly written takes a lot of talent and there is not a great deal of that around.”

“With all the other forms of entertainment today there are very few people around who would understand what a good paragraph is.”

Non-fiction: The Tribes of Britain by David Miles

A friend lent me a promising non-fiction book called The Tribes of Britain  by David Miles. I have only read a bit of the first chapter so far but it appeals to the Pagan and the Anthropologist in me, as well as the fact that my genetic heritage includes "English", "Irish", and "Welsh" blood.  It also doesn't hurt that the book is well written by an author with some functioning brain cells. 

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Here is the blurb from the back cover:

"Who are the English, the Irish, the Scots and the Welsh? -- a ragbag of migrants, reflecting thousands of years of continuity and change. 

Now scientific techniques can explore this complex genetic jigsaw; ancient Britons and Saxons, Celts and Romans, Vikings and Normans, and the more recent migrations which have created these multicultural islands. 

Drawing on the most recent discoveries, this book both challenges traditional views of history and provides new insights into who we are today."

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"Massively informative and earthily evocative, it does some of the preliminary  work necessary to understand, if not cure, our current identity crisis." Sunday Times. 

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Here is the author's Bio:

David Miles was Chief Archaeologist at English Heritage from 1999 to 2004. Previously the Director of Oxford Archaeological Unit and an Associate Professor of Stanford University, he is a Research Fellow of the Institute of Archaeology, Oxford and a Fellow of Kellogg College, Oxford. As consultant to the Historic Royal Palaces Agency, he has organized excavations in the Tower of London and Hampton Court.  His principle projects at English Heritage include Stonehenge, coastal and maritime surveys, and the National Mapping Programme, using aerial photography to explore the English landscape. David Miles is the author and co-author of many books and articles on history and archaeology including [U]An Introduction to Archaeology[/U], [U]An Atlas of Archaeology[/U] and[U] The Countryside of Roman Britain[/U]. He was a columnist for the Oxford Mail and Times for ten years and frequently broadcasts on radio and television. He is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London and Scotland. 

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Sounds good so far! Now to find the time to read it! ;)

On the Toss Pile: Wright and Chance

Just checking in with an update. I've been busy this week, with not a lot of time or energy to read. A lot of the new books I took out of the library last week turned out to be very disappointing.  I could barely make it through the first chapter before pitching each of the books aside. Unfortunately, this happens all too frequently. 


Two novels which particularly irritated me were Confessions of a Demon by S.L. Wright (sex, sex, and more sex blah, blah, yawn) and Claimed by Shadow by Karen Chance. 1. The writing is mediocre, and 2) the plot centers around a geis put on the -- sexy of course -- female protagonist by a possessive vampire. Ho Hum. It was all I could do to force myself to read the first chapter. I don't think I even made it all the way through.  My attention kept wandering. Toss. 


I hope I have much better luck the next time I go fishing in the dark fantasy pool at my local library.


Here's my vote on Wright and Chance: