Musings: The Sword-Edged Blonde

The Sword-Edged Blonde is the first novel in a fantasy-detective series by Alex Bledsoe centering on Eddie LaCrosse,  a former mercenary who now makes a living by finding missing princesses and solving other complex mysteries while trying to hide from his past.  This time, his best friend in the world, King Philip, asks for Eddie's help.  The king's wife, Rhiannon, has been accused of murdering their only son.  Only King Philip doesn't think she did it and wants Eddie to prove her innocence.  Eddie accepts the case, knowing that doing so will require him to confront all the demons from his past.

I haven't read other books in the "fantasy-mystery" sphere, but if this is an indication of what the genre mash-up can do, I am excited to try more.  Eddie LaCrosse reminded me of a young Marcus Didius Falco from Lindsey Davis's mystery series set in Ancient Rome.  He describes his cutting-edge sword, uses modern slang, has a dark past and still listens to his conscience.  It was entertaining to spend the space of a book with him, and I wouldn't mind getting to know him better.

Musings: Red Branch

There are some books that stand out to you on the shelf one day, and you have no idea why.  What is it about a book that can make it sit patiently on your shelf for years before finally your eyes glance at it and decide it's the one you want to read next?  Often, I don't know.  In this case, though, I know exactly why I picked this book up!

While reading Hawk of May, I noticed many allusions to a mythological Irish hero, Cuchulain and the Red Branch warriors.  I remembered that I had a book called Red Branch by Morgan Llywelyn (who is nothing if not Irish) and started browsing my shelves.  Sure enough, there it was on my shelf!  Where it has been waiting for me, according to LibraryThing, since at least 2006.  (I only opened my LibraryThing account in 2006, though, so maybe it has been on the shelf even longer...)  So I finally picked it up to learn more about a group of warriors who were mythical even in King Arthur's time.

Musings: Lost and Found

I fell in love with Shaun Tan after reading The Arrival last year.  Tan's artistic style- grounded in reality but with a strong dose of "otherworldliness"- was a perfect way to relate the highs and lows of immigrating to a new country.  Tan recently won an Oscar for the movie The Lost Thing, based on the story he authored and illustrated.  Lost & Found includes The Lost Thing in the collection, as well as The Red Tree and Rabbits.

The title fits perfectly.  All three stories center on the idea of loss- loss of hope, loss of wonder, and loss of culture.  What Tan does so well in all his stories is to point out how blind society has become.  How we are too busy to care about others or see the wonders that exist in the world around us.  How good things are around if we just take the time to see them and allow them to brighten our days.  I loved all three stories, though my favorite was The Lost Thing.  What follows are short reviewitas of all three stories.

Musings: Kindred

Kindred, by Octavia Butler, is the first book I ever read on my new Kindle (Sir Gawain, I've named him).  It was really hard for me to decide which book to buy.  I've downloaded some books from Project Gutenberg to read with Sir Gawain, but I didn't feel compelled to read any of them right now.  All the books I wanted to read were calling to me from my physical bookshelves.  But then I remembered Octavia Butler, that she was an author I've been wanting to read for quite a while.  And luckily for me, her famed Kindred is available on e-book!  And I'm so, so glad I've finally been introduced to this amazing author.

Octavia Butler died a few years ago, leaving a legacy as being one of the very first (and still part of a very small number) of female science fiction authors.  She's also one of thew few African-American science fiction authors.  She paved the way for so many other people, broke down many walls and helped to reshape a genre with her propensity to use fantastical elements in her stories, but never explain the science of how they happened.

In Kindred, for example, Dana's sudden and frequent time travel trips are never explained.  Why do they happen?  How do they happen?  Why do they start when they do and last as long as they do?  We never know.  And, if you're like me, you'll never care, either.  Because the time travel is just the vehicle to an incredible story.

Musings: Hawk of May

Hawk of May, by Gillian Bradshaw, is the first book in her Down the Long Wind Arthurian trilogy.  It was first published in the 1980s.  My copy is an old mass market paperback and does not have the cover shown to the right- but I was happy to find that the book has been republished after being out of print for so long!

Hawk of May  is the story of Gwlachmai (Gawain), son of Arthur's sister Morgawse and King Lot.  Growing up, he had no skill at the arts of war he was expected to learn.  Instead, he was an excellent horseman and bard.  His father didn't appreciate these arts, though, and thought Gwlachmai useless, giving him none of his time and all of his temper.  So Gwlachmai was led down the path to the Darkness by his sorceress mother, trying to use magic and evil to gain power.  It was only after one particular episode in which Morgawse went too far that Gwachmai was able to pull away from her influence and escape the Darkness that wished to consume him.  His escape and his quest after that to join King Arthur's family make up the majority of this story.

Musings: A Spy in the House

A Spy in the House is the first book in a new Victorian era mystery series called The Agency.  The Agency is a secret spy network of women in London who are called upon to investigate situations that call for discretion and observational skills- two things that Victorian women are very good at, particularly in comparison to their male counterparts.

Mary Quinn is the newest recruit to The Agency and her first assignment is to act as a companion to a spoiled brat of a young woman whose father is suspected of illegally importing opium and rare Indian jewels to England.  While with the family, Mary meets Mr. James Easton, who is investigating the family for his own personal reasons.  The two team up in hopes of quickly understanding what is happening, before anyone gets hurt.

Joint Musings: In a Dark Wood Wandering

I have had Hella Haasse's In a Dark Wood Wandering sitting on my shelf for over five years, but never brought myself to pick it up.  Somehow, a few months ago, Heather from Capricious Reader and I started talking about the book and how neither of us had ever seen any reviews of it on any of the blogs we followed, which we thought strange.  So in the interest of helping blogosphere discover the work, we decided to do a buddy read of it.  And then everyone would learn the glory of Haasse's fabulous work!

Unfortunately, though, neither of us thought the work fabulous or got much past the halfway point of the book.  So gone are our grandiose plans of sharing this wonder with you, but in case the below description intrigues you enough to give this book a try, the second half of our discussion on the book is here.  The first half is on Heather's blog.

In a Dark Wood Wandering is set in 14th and 15th century France and England, centering on Charles d'Orleans, the nephew of the mad French king.  Charles enters the frightening world of French political intrigue at a young age, after both his parents die and leave him to defend his claims to his rightful inheritance.  But France is at war with itself and Charles must navigate his life through alliances and debts that he can barely understand.  Charles d'Orleans was a real person, and is considered one of France's greatest poets.  However, I didn't get far enough in the book to actually read the poetry!

Musings: The Drawing of the Dark

I have had The Drawing of the Dark on my shelf for some years now.  I am not sure who first told me that I should read Tim Powers, but whoever it was probably knows my reading tastes pretty well.  Powers specializes in historical fantasy.  He takes real-world events and then puts a twist on them to explain what "really" happened.
In this book, he puts his spin on Suleiman's attempt to take Vienna in 1529.  That whole situation wasn't just about economics and empire-building.  Oh, no!  It was all about beer.

Well, beer and the infinite battle between East and West.

But let me start at the beginning.  Brian Duffy is an Irish mercenary living in Venice when he meets a strange old man named Aurelianus.  Aurelianus hires him to be the bouncer at his brewery in Vienna and Brian sets off immediately to take on his duties.  But strange things happen along the way.  Weird animals and monsters follow him and protect him.  Other things try to kill him.  He has strange dreams about a sword and a lake.  And all the while, Suleiman's army is advancing...