Author Archives: Kait McFadyen

About Kait McFadyen

I am a partially employed Canadian science teacher with visions of grand travel and incredible adventures. When not immersed in work I maintain a small backyard garden, where I try to protect my crops of corn, tomatoes and other vegetables from the neighbourhood wildlife. The all-important library, my source of entertainment and discourse, is a comfortably short walk away.

The Appeal of Shoes

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I was glancing at the TV the other day and there was a segment on shoes. The hostess of the shoe was giddy about attending some sort of she exhibition. I watched some 10 seconds, where the camera panned across long tables showcasing the works of some famous designer. What struck me most was the simple fact they were all the same.

An internet image of shoes – notice how they are all The Same.

What we had were tables of high-heeled shoes in different colours and strap designs. Some had flowers or glass jewels pasted on. The underlying architecture of the shoe: the thickness of the sole and height and shape of the heel, even the roundness of the toe were all identical. It was the same shoe!

So then I started thinking of different shoe styles. There are the chunky, utility shoes of basic design. These are work shoes or running shoes or Doc Martins. There are your ballet flats; your stilettos; something called a pump (still not entirely certain on this one) and the wedge. There are pointy toed shoes (of which I am afraid to wear because I don’t want my toes crushed and bunions to develop) and boots (which are often variations of the above). I suppose we could branch out into sandals (flip-flops, strapped, and croc style). But while this list includes several legitimately different styles of footwear, most of the modern work seems to be taking one style and changing the colour or strap thickness and then marvelling at the work.

I don’t get it.

I do not have a fascination with shoes strangely typical amongst women. Typically, I rotate between two different pairs of shoes in any season: sneakers & sandals in the summer, black & brown shoes in the fall/spring, and boots & slippers in the winter. I also keep a pair of nicer, dress shoes for wearing with skirts – these are not worn all that often.

This is not the type of shoe I wear. I like the flat, sturdy kind as I am less likely to fall over.

This is not to suggest I don’t appreciate a good pair of shoes. In fact I would love to own a truly wonderful pair of shoes. But my requirements have less to do with aesthetic and more to do with function. My feet are blister prone and it doesn’t seem to matter what short of footwear I am use (with the slipper exception), I will eventually get blisters from my shoes. My hope is once my feet have blistered, they will callous over and I won’t have to worry about more blisters. This doesn’t actually happen, at least not as long as I continue to go for long walks. My current pair of sneakers, which I have had for 1.5 years have been bothering my right heel for the past month. Why did they suddenly start irritating my feet? I don’t know. But it is massively frustrating and probably adds to my general disregard for shoes.

Practical shoes are good. Sparkly shoes are amusing for many people. Expensive shoes you only plan to wear once or twice are a ridiculous waste of money. And really, what is the point of owning a closet full of shoes when you typically only wear a few pairs?

Nope, still don’t understand the fascination with footwear – particularly the tipsy tall things with tiny straps and narrow heels.

Author Review – Jessica Day George

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Recently I read a good book. It was a bit strange, as I was half certain I had already read this particular book, but as it was a fairy tale I wasn’t entirely certain. After all, everyone knows how the fairy tale is going to end and who the main characters are. This was further complicated by the fact that I know I have read more than one telling of the Twelve Dancing Princesses. In the end, it doesn’t matter if I had read Princess of the Midnight Ball before or not. I read it recently and I enjoyed.

Book Cover

In fact, I enjoyed it so much I checked out the other titles by the author Jessica Day George. It my utter delight she had written two other Princess books: Princess of Glass and Princess of the Silver Woods. Both books were retellings of fairy tales – Cinderella and Red Riding Hood respectively. I enjoyed both.

The first book focusses on the classic story of twelve sisters forced to dance every night until their shoes are worn out. The helpful strange, cloaked with invisibility is the only one able to follow secretly after the princesses, discover what they are doing and help free them. As I said, the tale is classic. The author told it in a world like and unlike ours, set in some fantasy medieval period. It was filled with tiny kingdoms and a bit of magic. If there was any complaint to make I would say that the story lacked depth. It felt simplistic and flitted between several characters without the depth I would have preferred. In this manner the characters moved across the pages, playing their respective roles. Yet, I never felt drawn into their personal conflicts. I suspect this is in part due to the fairy nature of the story and the emphasis being placed more on the world than the inhabitants.

I preferred the second of the books which was surprisingly a sequel. The main character was one of the twelve dancing princesses visiting a different character. I liked the different and not entirely flattering portrayal of Cinderella. I was also surprised by how much I liked the Princess as she reacted to the trauma (forced dancing) of her childhood. Here there was more emphasis on characters than setting and I enjoyed the story much more for it. I also appreciated the link to the first book.

The third book in the series also followed one of the original twelve dancing princesses – the youngest. It was a different twist on Red Riding Hood which was good, but not great. I feel that the author missed a fantastic opportunity to really play with the Red Riding Hood characters. I also wasn’t whelmed to the continuation of the first book’s plot. I understand why we came full circle to the main problem of the first story, I just wasn’t enamoured with it. I would have preferred more of a character piece, which I think is the strength of the author.

Overall, these are good, fun, fairy tales. A great young adult read. As such I was then tempted to read move of Jessica Day George’s books. Her Dragon Trilogy was great original fun. I liked the dragons and who they fit into the world. I liked the main female and her love of sewing (another thing I liked about the Princess books was the incorporation of knitting – being a knitter myself).

Another Book Cover

By far the best book in the series was the first: the Dragon Slippers. This is where we were introduced to the main character, to the world and importantly to the dragons. The dragon hoards are the very best part of the series. The following two books, Dragon Flight and Dragon Spear where good but not as great. The first book held mystery and adventure. So many things happened. When I reflect back on the story, things that didn’t make sense at the time or seemed like the author pushing the story ahead were actually explained. These events didn’t just happen because. They followed in world logic and plot making a cohesive and tight narrative. The second two books lacked the complexity of the plot.

If I had to choose I would place preference for the Princess books over the Dragon books. Why? The Princess books are written for a slightly older audience, the stories feel slightly more complex as do the characters. Also, I have a bias towards retellings of fairy tales – my new obsession.

In summary, Jessica Day George is a good author of children/young adult fantasy adventures. Her writing is fun and imaginative and her characters have some scope. Her work is set in comfortable fantasyland, that may not be revolutionary it is extremely appropriate for these stories. I would recommend her books.

My Garden

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First you must appreciate that I am not really good at gardening. It is something I am learning to like – in small quantities. I mean, I like the look of gardens but I am not fond of the work. Certainly I am not good at the constant, expected maintenance required for a truly beautiful garden. I generally find myself interested in the garden for a day or two in the spring. Otherwise, I want to look at not weed the plots.

At one time I would purchase annual flowers from the local store, faithfully plant them in the ground and watch as they died over the course of the summer. This death was partly due to the fact they were annuals and destined only to live for one short growing season and partly because I am not good at caring for plants. I really have a Darwinian approach – once placed in the ground the plant will either live or die as it sees fit.

My focus now is vegetables. After all what good is a pretty plot if you cannot eat it? I enjoy mixed success with the species I plant. Cherry tomatoes tend to do very well. Last year I had a crop of tasty peas, but I was unable to replicate that success. Instead, this year I am happily harvesting beans. While I am stubbornly attempting to grow corn, I have yet to actually harvest any cobs from the plants.

Not my pumpkin vine, but very similar in appearance.

One of the most fascinating members of my garden is the pumpkin. I am constantly astounded at how large and sprawling the plants become. I have tried starting them as seeds indoors and sowing them directly into the ground. This year, two of my three plants appeared to sprout from a section of soil where I know I didn’t plant any seeds. They are also the healthiest of my three plants and the snaking stalks have stretched some fifteen feet across the lawn. Because the plants have such massive leaves, the pumpkins send out tendrils to help anchor the plant. This has the added bonus of helping it climb over any obstacle that might otherwise hem in its growth.

One of my pumpkins is trying to gown into the small raspberry patch. In my effort to separate the two species and mow the scraggly grass beneath the pumpkin I made a new discover. Pumpkin plants send out additional roots from their stems as they grow. Now doubt these secondary root clusters help to further anchor the plant, thus provide support for the large dinner-plate sized leaves, as well as absorb additional nutrients and water from the ground. I had previously thought they had only the one set of roots at the base of the long stems.

This discovery was almost as remarkable as learning that pumpkins have both male and female flowers. Only female flowers can potentially develop into the actual orange pumpkins (a fruit for those who didn’t know). My plants are always full of male flowers, but very few females. I have seen a couple on my larger plants, so fingers crossed I will get some carving pumpkins by Halloween this year.

While my garden is not the type to garner admiration from others, I continue to find it a remarkable space. Plants are crazy in their variable designs and watching them grow, almost visibly before my eyes, is truly a wonder.

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom

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We are going a little younger in the audience of our book review today. The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom by Christopher Healy is a children’s fantasy that is enjoyably good.

We start after the fairy tales have occurred: Prince Charming has already met and ‘saved’ his princess. They are engaged and the bards speak of bright futures for the couple. However, the bards never get things right; they cannot even remember the prince’s name!

Painted like simple, empty-headed girls obsessed with fashion, the princesses do not live up to their descriptions either. No, the bards have taken the elements of their respective fairy tales and twisted the facts out of recognition.

What we find instead in this eclectic land of kingdoms are four very different princes and four unique princesses. Each has their own distinct outlook on life and a well-developed personality. With that in play we now have a story worth reading. Like all great books it is the characters that sell the simple tale of stopping an evil witch and ‘rescuing’ the missing princess.

Images of the Princesses from the book. Ok, one of them is not a typical fairy tale princess. She is still alot of fun to read about though. – Images from book, but found online.

The book is well suited to its audience. The bad guys are a little on the silly side so as not to be too scary. Even these secondary characters have been given personalities and well-defined goals. They are not just evil, they are purposely bad. The heroes do manage some heroic moments towards the end of the book but are otherwise written as people with strengths and some very obvious weaknesses. The princesses are the most surprising element. After all fairy tales generally revolve around the princess spending far less time developing the male counterpart. These women are even more diverse then their princes and the author has a few interesting twists as he reinterprets their distinctive outlooks on life. I think there is enough writing about both sexes along with a healthy dose of adventure and comedy to appeal to both genders.

Really, it is one of the best children’s books I have read in a long time (only partly because I haven’t read many children’s books in a long time).

My few complaints are … well silly. I find the book obviously childish and the plot simplistic. This is not because the author didn’t do a good job, he did. This is because the book is a children’s tale. I wonder what it would look like if it was directed at an older audience. My other quibble has to do with the narrator’s voice at the end – it didn’t jive with me. I would rather that the princes were not responsible for ‘writing’ the book. Personal preference; it just felt like the wording on the last page broke my emersion in the world.

Still, to be absolutely clear – The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom is an excellent children’s fantasy. Also the illustrations are pretty funny too!

Book Review – Nameless

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Another Wednesday and another book review. This time I am delving into the young adult section – fantasy still.

Cover for the recent book review – Nameless

A general reminder that as I review the following work, I may give away details you would prefer to discover through actually reading the book. Be warned.

Today’s book review is on Nameless: A Tale of Beauty and Madness by Lili St Crow. This book wins for not having zombies. Also, following hard on the heels of several really unsuccessful reads I found the young adult fairy tale surprisingly good.

It is a successful merge of modern world building (cars, private schools, and high-security mansions) and magic. They come together in the town of New Heaven which is supposed to be part of a larger world. Though the town ends up feeling isolated in a world not that big, I didn’t find this a problem. Most fairy tales take place in isolated kingdoms, so the setting fit for me. That the story is clearly a retelling of Snow White was another positive. It was actually interesting the manner in which the author took elements of the classic fairy tale: the seven ‘dwarves’, the huntsman, the apple, mirrors and the beauty-obsessed queen with her hunger for hearts and twisted it into something fresh yet familiar.

Snow White comes across as a princess – not a spoiled brat, rather a young woman who is well protected. Her roles in life are small and lean towards the domestic – in the manner of smoothing relations between people, calming tempers and other ladylike things. I suppose her character arc is that of growing confidence, for she physically does very little in the narrative. Mostly she quakes in fear and watches the world around her through anxious eyes. A platoon of friends and family (adopted family) actively fight to protect her from the dangers (largely physical) that threaten the Snow White’s life. Yet, while I was reading about this princess character, I was not immediately struck by how men jump to protect women; particularly Snow White. I think this had to do with the supporting cast of strong female characters; including a fierce Red Riding Hood and determined Cinderella (how do you spell sequel?).

Being a fairy tale – granted one that incorporates the modern love of vampires and other supernatural beings – the story ends much as you would expect. The path is littered with a few unexpected interpretations to keep the reader (me) interested. The writing balances carefully between engaging narrative and teen angst which can often overwhelm and destroy a YA novel. While following the typical trials of teenagers (not the most exciting of material choices) the author creates a present day world of magical possibilities. Here magic is anchored in the world and used to accomplish much of what our technology does. I like that. Never does the supernatural feel overpowered.

So, for creating a teen book that doesn’t drag, whine, or become over the top angsty, for subtly incorporating current vampire and fey trends, and for creating an interesting retelling of a classic fairy tale, I would give Nameless a solid pass. It is a good young adult read.

Failed-Book Review

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I suppose I should start posting spoiler alerts at the start of my book reviews. For this one, an alert hardly seems necessary as I never actually finished any of the three following stories. All have been abandoned for bland tales, poor writing or some combination of the two.

In an attempt to branch out in my reading I went to the internets for a book suggestion. In multiple threads several book titles were continuously flaunted. Having unsuccessfully tried George RR Martin’s unfinished series some time ago, I skipped past that title. I have heard mixed reviews for the lengthy Wheel of Time saga so I ignored that recommendation too. However, one name kept returning to the lists, The Name of the Wind. So I ventured to my local library to delve into the rich fantasy created by Patrick Rothfuss.

Failed-Book Review 1 – The Name of the Wind

Book cover so you know to avoid this poorly written specimen.

Again, I state that this book came highly recommended. I also foolish thought – for a while at least, that this was a stand-alone story. As it turns out it is one in an unfinished trilogy.

It is difficult to know where to begin with a book like this. As my observant brother has already remarked, there are no well-developed characters, no meaningful females and an excessive amount of bottle-polishing in the all black inn. Truthfully, I didn’t even notice the bottle polishing or the authors overwhelming use of black descriptors.

I did, however, notice the incredibly bland nature of the story and the inept dialogue. The scene that sticks out the most for me occurs when the young hero’s teacher goes to speak with the young hero’s parents. Sitting seriously across from the two doting individuals the teacher breaks the startling news that his pupil is actually shockingly bright. Haven’t you ever noticed, he asks the parents, how your son just picks up everything so quickly and so perfectly? With his talents he could even … [drum roll please] … attend university!

Seriously? You have to tell the boy’s parents that he is obscenely gifted and then the best he can do with his oh-so-amazing abilities is attend university? Whoot. He might even me a merchant one day! OMG – this is beyond dumb. Ok, what is really impossibly stupid is that I continued to read this painfully inactive narrative for quite a bit longer. Past the point when his parents are meaninglessly slaughtered so the young hero can experience trauma in his formative years. Of course, the child of some 12 years or so acts in the most un-childlike and ridiculous manner – uhg!

One must particularly enjoy the stories told within the hero’s narrative of his own life’s tale – so glaringly important yet so obviously disconnected with the flow of the story it hurts to read. While the Name of the Wind may lack the glittering vampires and characterless female protagonist in the horrendously terrible Twilight series, it is clearly a Mary-Sue novel (for boys). I cannot understand the appeal. I cannot comprehend how people have not only read the entire 92 chapter book, its equally long sequel and actually await the third and thankfully final installment with anything resembling eagerness.

To all those internet people I have to ask: if you thought this was the height of amazingness, what do you think actually typifies bad writing?

Defeated by The Name of the Wind before I even reached the half-way point, I moved on to something a little different. Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charan Newton was an impulse buy from chapters. I was perusing the shelves looking for something new and exciting and this was in the bargain section – was that the first sign?

Failed-Book Review 2 – Legends of the Red Sun: Nights of Villjamur

I still rather like this cover. I like the cold, hard landscape and the promice of epic sword battles it invokes.

Once more I thought I was selecting a stand-alone book. Once more I had picked the first in a series – clearly someone needs to do a better job of reading the book cover.

I will start by noting two things that I found interesting as I started my journey in this new fantasy realm. First, the world was set among an archipelago of islands rather than the typically large continent characteristic of most fantasy stories. Second, it was set in the far north where the threat of another ice age loomed in the not too distant future.

As for the negatives, well it is difficult to know where to begin. We are coarsely introduced to three separate characters in the prologue – each in the midst of uncompleted actions that loosely weave together. Their names, like those of the islands and cities are foreign and difficult to pronounce. So I found it very discordant when we are next introduced to them and two out of three bare different names than the prologue – rather confusing. More voices are introduced and more long and difficult names are bandied about without spending much time lingering on the characters before skipping to the next.

Similarly I struggled to make sense of the cities and their relationships to the each and the world at large. All told, I was not clear whether the city of Villjamur was at the centre of the empire or its edge. Was it the largest city and capital or did it actually belong to some outside force?

The mix of more modern cussing and coarse description interjected in to periods of detailed, historic-feeling description and world building did not sit well. But three things really pushed the slow-moving disjointed tale over the edge for me.

First, the mix of races found in the city: living (apparently) banshees that screamed with the deaths of others; garudas that are half-man and half-vulture (wings, beaks, and talons on a human form); and the rumel which seem to be a human crossed with a horse. Really, why? You have these bizarre combinations and one of the recurring characters worries that everyone else looks down on him because he is albino – well, he doesn’t have a tail or horse hide so I don’t see what the big deal is.

Second, zombies. Yes, they really do introduce dangerous, deadly hordes of clever undead stalking and killing the elite Night Guard (also magically or mechanically altered to be super humans – though I didn’t get far enough to learn which method was employed). This led me to the most obviously evil councilman who is not subtle in the least with his manipulations of the governing body. There was no ambiguity for his actions, not redeeming features. His little seen of bribery was so mustache twirling-evil as to be comical in other media.

Third, there was growing sense of despair that the author was going to directly connect his story with our reality setting it sometime in the future. Granted this was not explicitly stated. But there were worrying signs. It was in the nods to the Vikings with the descriptions of weapons, longboats and a direct mention of Valhalla. It was in the assertion that this was not the first ice age to sweep the lands and destroy earlier civilizations – including those that mentioned the walking dead in their records. It was in the allusions made when discussing magic as the use of ancient artifacts – magic/artifacts that caused large explosions very similar to grenades.

True these characters lacked the same obvious stupidity of those found in Name the Wind. They lacked Name the Wind’s perfect hero capable of doing everything without fault. They also lacked that hook to make them interesting; that snare to make me want to find out how they dealt with the growing problems swelling around them. Of course, because this is the first in the series, there seemed little emphasis on a clear, contained plot and more on introducing some large-picture, overwhelming problems.

One quarter into the book and I gave up. Part of me feels I should return to this tangled mess, after all, I actually paid money for it. On the other hand, I could weed my garden, wash a cat or watch some paint dry.

And so I am brought to review my third failed book. This book was actually the third in a series of undefined length. I had enjoyed book one and slogged through book two before giving up all hope on Black Powder War by Naomi Novik.

Failed-Book Review 3 – Temeraire (Book 3): Black Powder War

I actually perfer the cover of the first book in the series to this one.

The series started interestingly enough with the hatching of a dragon egg on an English navy ship during the Napoleonic war. The unfortunate Captain finds himself transferred from the respectable position of captaining a war vessel to captaining a Dragon. It is a wordy novel that you have to be in the correct mind-frame to read. Most of the action happens in the final quarter, though I did enjoy the growth of the baby Dragon and the development of both main characters that eventually lead to a fight.

While I appreciated the first book, it took time for me to start the second. It was even longer to pull myself through endless pages of sea-voyage as the Dragon and Captain travel from England to China. Again the story is crammed awkwardly into the finally half-dozen chapters. The rest of the book being detailed descriptions of the food eaten by the Dragon (not by the humans), the endless sailing (but never the supposed tensions that exist between ship crew and dragon crew) and the Captain’s lengthy worries that his Dragon would rather stay in China than return to England (he is a Chinese dragon after all).

There was little character development in the second novel. We were already acquainted with the main protagonists and the author didn’t feel the need of personalizing the dragon’s crew (each dragon is manned by an undetermined number of airmen). This lack of detail, beyond the occasional name and one line description (like: one of the cabin boys was actually a girl), meant we the reader didn’t care much when these characters were unceremoniously killed. Often during battles when they were stabbed, shot or cut free to fall to their deaths. Occasionally individuals were washed away during storms or eaten by sea monsters (not as exciting as you would think).

The long-winded style of writing, which I assume was intentionally done, does affect an aura of that time-period. However, since nothing really happens for most of the book, I feel you are better off reading the final quarter which seems to summarize everything you need to know and completely skip the first three quarters of writing.

So, it was with considerably less eagerness that I embarked on the third part of the series. Here they destroyed the ship in a most convenient (or for the characters – inconvenient) fire, thus forcing the Dragon and his crew to travel the over-land route: the dangerous silk road. Even here, most of the pages were dedicated to the number of camels the Dragon would need to eat. As the party, a few men lighter from storms and … honestly I don’t remember any more … were first exposed to the talking, hungry, feral dragons I finally gave up in defeat. I skipped to the end, skimmed the last couple of chapters and closed the book for good.

While I appreciate period pieces to be written with the flavour of the time, you do not need to be as boring. Sure the war wasn’t all excitement, but already you have drifted into fantasy land when you had a dragon egg hatching on your ship! Now, let’s inject some action and more interesting plot and for goodness sake develop your main crew. They are so bland and forgettable the dragon doesn’t care when they die – and these men are supposed to be the dragon’s horde!

I would not recommend any of the above. However, if you have mysteriously found yourself successfully reading these books, I have two questions for you: Exactly how did you get through them? How do they end (please, summarize in four sentences or less – after all, we have already established my short attention span)?

Food in Fantasy Land

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What would life be like to live in a world without breakfast cereal?

I have recently been in a position to think deeply about the sorts of foods I eat on a regular basis. I find my tastes rather seasonal and generally very simple. I like salads and vegetables and barbequed meats during the hot summer months. During winter I tend to crave more traditional ‘comfort foods’ such as pasta – in nearly any form, roasted meats and potatoes, curries, cabbage rolls and even the occasional stew. These are usually the dinner or supper meal. Lunches are often similar as I generally consume leftovers, with the addition of a few more sandwiches. Breakfasts however, are regularly bowls of cold cereal and occasional eggs or pancakes.

However, if we were to enter Fantasy Land things would be different. According to the informative Tough Guide written by award winning author Diana Wynne Jones (she really did write excellent children’s fantasy books), my diet would consist largely of stew and waybread. This is the long way of bringing me to my point of interest; the appearance of food in books.

How many stories actually deal with eating; not just for the occasional banquet, but for the sustaining of the character’s life? How many fantasy books fall into the clutches of viscous, brown slop served with a flatbread?

This stew has more clearly identifiable meat than I would expect in Fantasy Land.

This stew has more clearly identifiable meat than I would expect from food in Fantasy Land.

There are a few stories that come to mind where the food stood out – not in a glaringly awkward way. Rather I noticed the food was something different, something regional. The first to come to mind is Zoe Marriot’s Daughter of Flames. I remember it had the main character eating chickpeas, which was different and weirdly interesting to read. Not that the author made a big deal of the food being consumed, just that when she described the meal as flavour for her world it didn’t include stew.

I suppose you could argue Harry Potter has a more realistic bend on the food issue too. Although many of the sweets are given cutesy names to fit with the fantastical world, the students often eat regular food: sausages, potatoes, eggs, toast and the like – I am sure there were vegetables in there somewhere too.

This stew has too many vegetables for Fantasy Land. Incidentally, I actually like to make and eat stew – good stew.

Just to clarify, I am not looking for vast detailed treaties on food and its preparations. Tolkien is famous for spending six pages discussing the preparation of rabbit – though was it a rabbit stew? I cannot remember. However, even this wordy narrator fell into the common trap of feeding his travellers a steady diet of waybread for much of the books. After all, the purpose of eating food is merely to remind the reader these are real people with real needs.

Interestingly, modern, urban fantasies and other adventure fiction falls victim to a similar problem of what to do with meals. I find that stew is not prevalent in these situations. Instead it has been replaced by coffee. Similar meal swaps are seen by many characters on TV. The first thing these individuals do in the morning is grab a cup of coffee – seemingly unable to function without the jolt of caffeine. When time is running short and the days long, don’t worry they don’t need to stop to eat – just drink another coffee or the occasional pop (soda for the Americans) and the character is good to save the world.

Realistic?

I hope not. Unless these individuals are also connected with nutrient giving IV drips, I don’t think they are going to have the strength to save the world – certainly not on a repetitive basis. I wonder does this also connect with or potential perpetuate eating disorders? We are in a time when the number of serious eating disorders (anorexia to obesity) is soaring and the characters in our popular media are showing serious lack of healthy eating habits.

Or perhaps I am more sensitive to the overabundance of caffeine in my stories as I don’t drink coffee, tea or pop. While not as bad as my brother, my morning requires a healthy bowl of cereal to start – substituted with the occasion egg or pancake. After all breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

Bronze Gods Review

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Yes, this yet another book review. I confess to reading more than writing of late – so this is all I have to contribute. At least it is a short read.

Bronze Gods is classed under steampunk – bet you never saw that one coming – and is blessed by its complete lack of zombies! However, steampunk naturally pairs with magic/paranormal in some fashion or another (this could be due to my habit of perusing the SciFi section in book stores) and this is no exception. In this case the husband and wife writing team of A.A. Aguirre selected the fey. I have read a few good things and a few really terrible things involving the fey. This one ranks on the good side.

As I sit here organizing my thoughts I am suddenly struck by how blasé I am regarding the book. It was good. It was enjoyable. Yet, I am not filled with passion. I didn’t love it. I was not consumed by the world depicted in the pages. Why?

The world was good. It was different, a setting that was not London or some version of. In fact, it seemed that they were setting the story in a world completely original – that was until they made a few references to the vikings. Suddenly Hy Breasil is another dimension connected to our world and reality. I found such a small detail strangely disappointing.

While Hy Breasil was filled with clockwork creations it felt largely modern in design and function – well, near recent. There were a few things, the description of clothing and the structure of society that maintained a link to more historic periods. Over all, the development of technologies and their implementations in the world gave it a more current feel.

The characters, the two lead detectives were interesting and fun – and yet. Mikani and Ritsuko had been partners for three years prior to our introduction to them. In all that time they seemed to have communicated almost nothing about themselves to their partner. It was strange the way they worked well together, yet felt as though this was their first case as a team. In three years, Ritsuko never asked Mikani about his family? It is not until the reader joins this duo that they commence discussions about their personal lives. No doubt many will rave about the chemistry between the two characters – and most days I would too. Except it seems conveniently sudden and largely unprofessional. As stated, they have been working together for three years already.

However, the biggest reason I would say this book is good but not great relates to the ending. Yes they catch the bad guy (and yes, I called it well before the end), but the last page clearly states this was only a minor boss. The big boss has not yet been revelled – please level up before proceeding to the next dungeon. Sigh. Why could this not be a single, self-contained plot? One of a series of cases that are not directly related to each other? Or at the very least don’t appear connected to begin with.

There are a few things I am still uncertain about in the story itself. Can you call them plot holes when the main characters point out that inconsistances implicate a different master mind? One occurs when the suspicious man demands the list from a mob boss – how did he know about the list of names? Second, how did no one notice the old House family did not die off as otherwise believed?

I fear any sequels will drift to the magical and illogical. I foresee this series rapidly entering the circus of stupid. Either I am correct in identifying Miss Wright’s father as the master manipulator and everything is blindinly obvious. Or the authors will attempt to suprise and astound us with cunning misdirection that ultimately ruins the flow of the story.

In summary, a good first book – not a great one – and beware of the sequel. It is apt to be dumb.

A Bannon and Clare Case Review

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I have been searching for a good Steampunk novel to read and I have been failing to find one. There are novels filled with predictable atomatons, clockwork marvels and all too often zombies. I hate zombies. There are a few other Steampunk works that I have been exploring. The author of one such series is Lilith Saintcrow (aka St Crow).

The second of the Bannon and Clare Case Files.

She has started a series revolving around Emma Bannon and Archibald Clare. The first novel is titled The Iron Wyrm Affair, which I read late last summer. The second, most recent book is The Red Plague Affair. Both books are set in a Victorian-like world filled with amazing mechanicals, magical sorcerers, and mentaths (super geniuses). Bannon and Clare are clearly set up to resemble Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson – where doctor becomes sorcerous of great importance.

There are many things about these books that I enjoy. First, the author sets a good tone with her use of language. One of my great irritations occurs when authors write a period piece but use modern dialogue and vocabulary. It ruins the ambiance often more than the ludicrous plot they have slapped together.

I am also grateful the author changed the names of places and historical figures. Though generally extremely similar to their real-life counter parts, these small changes allow me to imagine a different world not completely dependent on our history. Cause the presence of magic clearly means this is not taking place in our reality.

But several things have left me feeling a little baffled. The mentaths are a weakness in the stories. The author has created a small number of super-geniuses, whose brains run on pure logic and whose minds wither to soup if not constantly stimulated with interesting things. Unfortunately the author spends most of her time telling us mentaths are super-geniuses rather than showing us. Also, her description of their methods and abilities often sounds more magical in nature than the sorcerous casting spells. She tried so hard to set up magic and mentaths as polar opposites, but in the end their extremes making them sound nearly identical.

Another aspect I struggled with while reading the Red Plague Affair was the author’s lack of introduction to her characters. On one hand it is tedious to read a sequel which summarizes all the events of the previous book(s). Yet, some introduction is necessary for those of us with poor memories. Whether it was tied to this point or just a trick of the author’s, I was not found of the way she dangled the origins of one secondary character while never actually dealing with it – even obtusely. She has left large neon signs to indicate Mikal has a dark and mysterious past which is significant without ever telling the reader how it is significant. I find this lack of information, remarked upon by other main characters, irritating.

All of this brings me to my current quandary: Do I actually like these books? Truthfully, I don’t know. I have never read something that has left me feeling so confused about my own preferences before. As mentioned the books have some good characteristics and some frustrating aspects. What I would really like is to discuss these books with another individual who has read them. Perhaps at that time I will finally decide if they are good and enjoyable or utter rubbish.

World Building: the Start of Something

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Where do ideas come from? How are worlds created? What is this elusive element that sparks a story? What is at the heart of world building?

What little I have learned suggests these are personal questions; the answers differing from one individual to the next. Though I have not a vast resume of credentials I have taken my first tentative steps along the path of world creation.

My first complete story of any length is set in the city of Darattin located half-way along the Undat River in the Valley. The story started with three desires that grew and shifted over time. It is almost comical to reflect back on earlier passages, many of which have been cut or heavily edited. At times I am left wondering if anything of the original idea remains.

Of course, the question then becomes, what was the original idea? Searching through the haze of memory I can recall three primary goals I held when I began this project: to create an exotic landscape, to include the rebirth of magic and incorporate my interest in rocks.

For a setting that was unfamiliar, I chose Egypt as my environment model. What could be so different from my own home of deciduous trees, rolling farm fields and four distinct seasons? A deep blue river snakes through my lush green valley. The green is largely planted fields, fed by irrigation canals. Rain is a rare concept, something that happens in the mountains to the south. Beyond the Valley walls are the scrublands and great sand deserts – harsh environs that few can survive. The people of the Valley are led by a single ruler, a god-king. Only recently have they been united beneath one figure and there remains tension between to the two great provinces of Kuras and Gazurn.

Magic is the more interesting of creatures when developing fantasy worlds. For me, several questions had to be answered: What is the nature of magic? What would cause magic to vanish from the lands? How can magic return and why now?

I wanted to ground my magic in rocks – geomancy. This was not to be the only style of magic in my world; geomancy was to be the form that dominated my story. What were the limitations? What were the explanations for magic? One of my favourite scenes was written between the main character and the spirit of a dead geomancer relating magic to dreaming. There were three levels: recognition, acceptance and manipulation. You must first recognize you are dreaming. Second, you must accept you are dreaming. Then you can manipulate your dream. Magic worked along similar lines: of recognizing magic in the world around you, acceptance/understanding of the magic and finally manipulation. This in turn led to the manifestation of magic: divination, small works (speeding up natural processes) and large works (creation). Most magic revolves around divination.

Since magic for me was to be inherent in the environment I did not have it disappearing from the world. Rather it was the peoples understanding and skill that was lost over time. This related to the conflict between northern Kuras and southern Gazurn. So rediscovery of magic was the discovery of ancient texts, those few pieces that had survived destruction when the northerners had conquered the south.

While the foundations of environment and magic had been present in the first written scenes, there is little doubt that much has changed over the subsequent revisions. Not only has the world become clearer and more defined, my own understanding of these two concepts has continued to develop. The greatest changes have occurred to characters and plot. It took a long time to tease out the story I was going to tell in this world. What started out as a fetch quest has evolved into something completely different. Yet, in its most simple and basic form the original ideas are present: an exotic location, the rediscovery of magic and most importantly, rocks.