‘And I, Jack, The Pumpkin King’
Here we are again with the Friday Face Off meme created by Books by Proxy . This is a great opportunity to feature some of your favourite book covers. The rules are fairly simple each week, following a predetermined theme (list below) choose a book, compare a couple of the different covers available for that particular book and choose your favourite. Future week’s themes are listed below. This week’s theme:
28th October – ‘And I, Jack, The Pumpkin King’! – a cover for Halloween
I admit I was a bit stuck on this one for a moment – I’m sure there are plenty of Halloween themed covers out there but they just wouldn’t come to mind! Probably because I had pumpkins on the brain. And then this one occurred to me. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving. Believe me when I say there are a lot of covers for this book. A. LOT. Below is a tiny selection:
And the winner:
Which is your favourite??
If you fancy joining in with the FFO the themes for the next few weeks are below.
4th November – Nomad is an island – a cover with a wanderer
11th November -Falling off the rails – a cover with train tracks
18th November – The sun did not shine. It was too wet to play. So we sat in the house. All that cold, cold, wet day – a cover with stormy weather
25th November – As old as the hills?? – A cover with mountains
2nd December – Oranges and lemons say the bells of St Clements – A cover with fruit
9th December – Soul Meets Soul on Lovers’ Lips – a cover with lips
16 December – Give a Girl the Right Shoes and she can conquor the world – a cover with shoes
23rd December – The first noel… – a cover with angels
30th December – Ho ho ho! To the bottle I go… – a cover with drink
The Ninth Wind (Splendor and Ruin #1) by Moses Siregar III #SPFBO
The Ninth Wind is my final book review for the SPFBO and my chosen book from batch 6. I had 30 books which I split into 6 batches of 5 with the aim of reading 1 batch per month for the first six months of the challenge:
This is a book that is a bit difficult to pin down. There’s a lot going on here, a weaving of mythology and philosophy and a lot of ‘thinking’ material in terms of Gods, conflict and magic.
At the start of the story we make the introduction of three siblings:Skye, Dag and Idonea. Their home is occupied by the neighbouring Rezzians and the opening chapters leaves the three siblings’ lives in ruins. Following these opening chapters the three of them pull together, they rely heavily on each other and their strong family connection helps them to move forward. The Andarans have found a new purpose, their men train to be warriors, they are determined to be ready for any new threats to their way of life. The country of Andara is a place filled with magic. The trees seem to be conduits and the souls of Andaran ancestors seem to whisper in the wind. Idonea seeks the knowledge of a volwa. Pushed on by her dead ancestors she yearns to know the ways of magic and finally gains the aid of a wise woman who lives within the forest. Her brother Dag, a warrior, knows of Idonea’s secret and is partly in tune with the magic of the forest himself although the pair of them keep their findings a secret – Volwa’s are not exactly acceptable being thought of as witches. Skye, also a warrior, is desperate to hear the voice of his father and ancestors to help lead him in his quest and the failure to hear these voices seems, for him, to give testimony to his lack of ability as a leader. The three of them are about to embark on a journey to try and prevent further war in their lands.
The plot starts off as a journey across land with a number of encounters and mishaps along the way. From there we travel to the land of Rezzia and then onwards again. Basically this is a search, by Idonea, Dag and Skye, for their father, or at least knowledge of whether he still lives or dies, they also hope to petition for peace. Finally we have a very unexpected and action packed grande finale.
I think for me the winning element of this story is the world building and attention to detail. Clearly the author has given this a lot of thought and that much is evident as you read. Much like our own world there are different religions and beliefs and also, much as in our world, there is fear and scorn of the unknown. This is the sort of read that makes you stop and consider things from a different perspective and I liked that about the story. More than that it takes a look at the way people treat each other – sometimes right and wrong is just merely a matter of perspective!
In terms of characters. Well, I liked and disliked them. Idonea starts out as a very intriguing character. She has the ability to be something very powerful even though she has a journey to travel before she will do so and I had high expectations for her. But, she’s a conundrum. She’s undoubtedly flawed and makes mistakes along the way but rather than making me feel more sympathetic towards her, which is normally how this would make me feel as it lends a character a certain realness, I found myself being slightly annoyed with her. I never really felt any regret from her and in a way this made her come across as arrogant and a little bit harsh. Skye is another matter completely. He’s filled with anger and passion and just plain old fear about his own inadequacies – which of course comes out as a lot of bravado and hair bristling. Then we have Dag – who is definitely the most likeable and easy to understand character of the three. I don’t know why he was my favourite – he just reads very naturally I suppose
In terms of criticisms. To be honest, although this is well written and thought provoking it needs editing to sharpen it up. It’s simply too long in terms of what is actually taking place – which is why I said it’s a ‘thinking’ piece. Yes, there is lots to think about and definitely this will provoke plenty of food for thought but I think it was a bit wieldy.
Overall, a good read. I enjoyed the world that the author has created here and found the different systems of belief intriguing. I guess if I was going to be totally honest I enjoyed the first half of the story more than the latter half but even so an intriguing book.
Guest post: Cheryl Mahoney
27 October 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Cheryl Mahoney, The Lioness and the Spellspinners, The People the Fairies Forget, The Storyteller and Her Sisters, The Wanderers
Today I’m really pleased to welcome Cheryl Mahoney (author of recently released The Lioness and the Spellspinners) onto my blog. Cheryl very kindly agreed to write a guest post for me based on her own interest in traveling (which tends to be to literary locations) and how that has influenced the characters from her books.
Welcome Cheryl…
I want to thank Lynn for welcoming me onto her blog! When I was thinking about what guest post topic to explore, it struck me that her blog is focused on travel and books—and travel just happens to be a theme in my life and writing too.
I didn’t plan it, but every book in my Beyond the Tales series (up to four now) involves characters who travel for one reason or another. The first is the most obvious, The Wanderers, about a wandering adventurer who ends up bringing a talking cat and a witch’s daughter onto the road with him. One of the first ways my main characters connect is through a mutual love of exploring in search of new adventure, to see what wonderful thing they can find around the next turn of the road.
In The Storyteller and Her Sisters, heroine Lyra dreams of travel after a life so far spent trapped in a castle. Her love interest, Prince Dastan, dreams of becoming a wandering minstrel. You’ll have to read the book to find out if they achieve those dreams! In The People the Fairies Forget, narrator (and fairy) Tarragon has spent 500 years running from one party to another across countries. He’s perhaps the opposite to Lyra, who wants to travel in search of something; Tarry is traveling to get away.
Karina, the heroine of The Lioness and the Spellspinners, lands somewhere in between those two. She starts out traveling as an escape (though you’ll have to read some distance into the book to find out what from), but whether she knows it or not, she’s definitely looking to find something in the process.
Travel in stories, and in life too, can be a powerful metaphor. Where are we going and why is a much bigger question than simply a matter of geography! For myself, I’m a homebody who also loves to travel—but I’d never want to travel continuously the way some of my characters do. And when I do travel, I most often visit places that already feel like home—because I’ve already read about them.
I’ve managed quite a few literary pilgrimages over the years, and love visiting places from favorite books or movies. Highlights and highest-recommended include a visit to the Winnie the Pooh stuffed animals once owned by Christopher Robin Milne, available to be seen at the New York Public Library. In Paris, it’s worth climbing Notre Dame’s bell towers to visit Quasimodo’s gargoyles, and definitely worth a visit to the Phantom’s Opera (better known as the Opera Garnier) to see Box Five and the famous chandelier.
London is a literary pilgrim’s dream, if you’re me, so I keep going back. I’ve tried on Sherlock Holmes’ hat in 221B Baker Street, seen plays at Shakespeare’s Globe, done a walking tour of Shakespeare’s and Dickens’ London, and seen where the Bird Woman once fed pigeons at St. Paul’s Cathedral in Mary Poppins. I’ve also seen Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford Upon Avon, and Jane Austen’s house in Bath.
The ultimate literary pilgrimage, if you’re me, is Kensington Gardens in London, setting for one of my very favorite books, The Little White Bird by J. M. Barrie. He devoted an entire chapter to “A Grand Tour of the Gardens” and nearly everything he described (in 1902!) is still readily to be seen. Peter Pan and the fairies haunt the Gardens in the most delightful way, and Barrie’s own house can be seen (from the outside, at least) just north of the park.
I don’t think I’ve had a literary pilgrimage that disappointed yet, and I’d highly recommend all the places I’ve just described. So much of what I read is set in magical other worlds or the distant future, so any chance to visit a real setting is wonderful to explore!
Information about Cheryl’s latest book can be found below with a link to her Goodreads page here – her next book sounds excellent. Check it out:
Plot Blurb
Forrest can’t fathom this prickly, knife-wielding girl who so unceremoniously turns up in his family’s barn one morning. His life has never been this exciting. Karina can’t make herself trust the strangely hospitable villagers on this island she’s now stuck on, and when they claim they can knit spells into their garments, that doesn’t help. She knows magic exists, but that’s just ridiculous.
And no one can understand why the chickens have suddenly started laying gilded eggs, or why the horse is talking in rhyming couplets.
When the inexplicable magic goes from mere bad poetry to actual threats, when dancing becomes dangerous and the wrong thought could cause disaster, the only answers are in the past Karina is fleeing—and the only way to survive is for the knife-wielder to trust the spellspinner.
Purchase Links
Paperback: http://amzn.to/2ej5PFC
Kindle: http://amzn.to/2ehyJ7Y
Thanks again Cheryl 😀
Waiting on Wednesday: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
26 October 2016
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Neil Gaiman, Norse Mythology, Waiting on Wednesday
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine. Every Wednesday we get to highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. My book this week is : Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman. Oh my giddy aunt! Norse mythology. Neil Gaiman. Do I really need to say it again. Okay. Third time’s the charm: Norse Mythology – Neil Gaiman. Colour me happy.
Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales.
In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki son of a giant, blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.
Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Once, when Thor’s hammer is stolen, Thor must disguise himself as a woman, difficult with his beard and huge appetite, to steal it back. More poignant is the tale in which the blood of Kvasir, the most sagacious of gods, is turned into a mead that infuses drinkers with poetry. The work culminates in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and rebirth of a new time and people.
Through Gaiman’s deft and witty prose emerge these gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.
Due February 2017
“I was a newborn vampire, weeping at the beauty of the night.”
Every Tuesday over at the The Broke and Bookish we all get to look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) examples to demonstrate that particular topic. The topic this week is :
Halloween related freebie
I did a bit of humming and ahhing with this one because I do love this time of the year and so for me there are lots of topics that could be discussed. As it happens I’ve settled on books about Vampires!
- Dracula by Bram Stokes. Told in an epistolary style format with diary entries and letters. Wonderful gothic horror – maybe not the earliest vampire story but probably the most well remembered.
- The Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer – see what I did there – I went from one extreme to the other. Like or loathe it this has to be one of the most popular vampire series ever – it certainly brings a new slant to the whole mythology with sparkly vampires.
- The Danilov Quintet by Jasper Kent – I have to have this on the list – this series is amazing. These are some downright nasty vampires and they certainly don’t sparkle – they’re true dirty and smelly – the sun would never touch their skin ! Truly excellent historical horror. Twelve, Thirteen Years Later, The Third Section, The People’s Will and The Last Rite bring to us a fascinating story of vampires. Based heavily on historical fact and spanning the period from the Napoleonic wars to the Russian Revolution Kent brings to us the fascinating and fictional account of the voordalak. A creature of Russian folklore – known to us as a vampire!
- Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice. Such a good story – I’ve only read the one in the series but I loved it. Very evocative writing and Southern Gothic horror.
- Fevre Dream by George RR Martin. More Southern horror set on the antebellum Mississippi River. This is a great read and I really enjoyed reading something by GRRM before he became so well known for Game of Thrones.
- Salem’s Lot by Stephen King. You certainly can’t leave this one off the list. Chilling in the extreme brrrr.
- I am Legend by Richard Matheson – this book is absolutely iconic. It’s very dark and moody, definitely not a book filled with joy and hope but absolutely a must read. The end is amazing (and completely different from the ending in the film I hasten to add).
- The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. I think this is probably one of those books that could be hit and miss for some. It’s a very descriptive novel but I just really enjoyed the writing style, the imagery and the places that were visited along the way.
- The True Blood series by Charlaine Harris – I did enjoy this series. Lots of supernatural creatures and a main character who can read minds!
- The Fifth House of the Night by Ben Tripp – this was a fairly recent read that I absolutely loved. See if this Goodreads snippet tempts you ‘Filled with characters as menacing as they are memorable, this chilling twist on vampire fiction packs a punch in the bestselling tradition of ’Salem’s Lot by Stephen King’
- I’m cheating and having one extra – simply because I’ve just finished reading this one – review to follow shortly. Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. This book was excellent. Aztec mythology, Mexican setting and vampire realism!
I could quite easily have taken this to 20. I’ve selected a few of the covers for your delight:
That is all folks – sleep tight and don’t let the vampires bite!
Books and travelling with Lynn 