Speak, ‘friend’, and enter….
26 August 2015
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Fantasy Review Barn, Gnomic utterances, Tough Travelling
Yes, yes, that’s not a gnomic utterance – but, I didn’t have one – so you got a translation of elvish from the entrance to the Mines of Moira – because LotRs.
Firstly – this may be only applicable at the beginning of the movie but it is a kind of introduction thing – if it was a book it would definitely be an utterance at the start of a chapter:
Today at the Fantasy Review Barn Nathan is taking us Tough Travelling through the tropes of fantasy. This week’s topic is:
GNOMIC UTTERANCES
These are traditional and are set at the head of each section. Culled from a mighty collection of wise sayings compiled by a sage some centuries before the Tour begins. The Rule is that no Utterance has anything whatsoever to do with the section it precedes.
In other words… Those quotes that always start the chapter but rarely are connected to the plot.
I confess. This one had me stopped in my tracks. Well, Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn and Way of Kings series immediately sprang to mind and then I drew a bit of a blank. I started flipping through some of my books and this isn’t as frequent as I thought! So:
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson
Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd
Watership Down by Richard Adams
I couldn’t come up with anything else – I’ve sat down and actually flipped through loads of my books – I can find lots of books with something that starts at the beginning of the book but not each chapter. I can find a book or two with chapters that end with a few words (not every chapter but a few) But basically I’m stumped. I hope everyone else has done better than me!
To finish with, gnomic utterances travels:
“My only love sprung from my only hate.” …
12 August 2015
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Fantasy Review Barn, Forbidden Love, Tough Travelling
This week over at the Fantasy Review Barn Nathan is once again taking us tough travelling through the tropes of fantasy. This week’s topic is:
FORBIDDEN LOVE
Even in Fantasyland parents are not always happy with their children’s choice of partners.
Most of the romances here are not intended to be the main story – they’re all pretty much asides. Also, there could be spoilers with some of these examples so beware.
- Hexed (The Sisters of Witchdown) by Michael Alan Nelson – I loved this it was a really good read. I will say this is not a romance novel! Not at all. But, as an aside there is a budding relationship that develops between the main character Lucifer who develops feelings for a young man accompanying her on a rescue mission. Why is this forbidden – well the rescue mission is to recover the young man’s lady love – awkward.
- Red Rising by Pierce Brown – in which Darrow and Mustang become involved in a relationship. Again, this is far from the central theme of the story. The reason it’s forbidden – Darrow and Mustang are from different ‘class’ structures all together. Darrow is a Red, born into the mines and Mustang is a Gold, born into one of the most elite and powerful houses. On top of this – well (spoiler alert) Darrow is all made up as a Gold – the treachery! Doubly forbidden.
- The Greyfriar by Clay and Susan Griffith – love in the most expected place – a vampire and a human. Absolutely forbidden – a vampire falling in love with it’s food, tsk.
- Angellfall by Susan Ee – Penryn and Raffe – what can I say, angels and humans – it won’t be the first time that the attraction has happened between humans and angels but, forbidden or denied or not, there is a lot of chemistry that is very readable taking place in these pages.
- The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon – a strange world full of clairvoyants. Paige is kidnapped and taken to ‘Oxford’ where she will become a slave to a warden, one of the Rephaim. Mm, guess what happens next. Well, obviously they develop feelings for each other. Yep, didn’t see that coming! Again though, the romance isn’t the central theme of the book and in fact book 2 actually sees the two spending very little page time together. Of course, for the treachery and betraying their own kind both of them could be put to death.
- Stolen Songbird by Danielle Jensen – in which Cecile only goes and falls in love with the Prince. Wait, hold on a moment. That sounds too good to be true. Ahh, well, he’s a troll (not a cave troll thankfully). And the trolls may have abducted her because they needed a human to break the curse they’ve been living under. Yeah, not so dreamy any longer.
Finally, can we just take a minute to consider this:
No, not Fassbender, well, ,no… – Mr Rochester from Jane Eyre, okay, not a fantasy novel – but how forbidden was his love for Jane – very much so. It’s usually frowned upon to marry, when your first wife is alive and well and living in your attic! She was a tiny bit crazy though, so..
‘But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!…’
This week over at the Fantasy Review Barn Nathan is once again taking us Tough Travelling. This week we will be paying special attention to : NEW BEGINNINGS
A new leaf, a new life, a complete change of pace for a character in fantasyland is how most stories start. Bad people get a second chance, farm kids leave the farm, or a soldier gets a new post. From there adventure awaits!
Grim from Dreamer’s Pool by Juliet Marillier. At the start of the story Blackthorn, wrongly imprisoned, escapes prison with one of her fellow prisoners – Grim. This is a great book and all about new beginnings.
Ellie from The Legend of Ellie Quinn by Alex Scarrow – Ellie is a young girl, working on a dusty colonial farm, but she has ideas and she wants to travel and see the neon lights of the city – little does she know that she has a great destiny ahead of her.
Vin from Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. At the start of the story Vin is a street urchin, part of a gang of thieves until Kelsier realises her potential and takes her away to train in allomancy and kick start her new life.
James DiGriz from The Stainless Steel Rat by Harry Harrison. At the start of the first book in the series DiGriz is finally caught pulling a con – his punishment is to work for a crime solving organisation called the Special Corps. This is definitely a new beginning and a different use of his talents.
Roen Tan from The Lives of Tao by Wesley Chu- this is probably a bit of a strange choice but Roen definitely goes down a different path to the one on which he starts the book on and changes his life dramatically – not into something quieter, for sure, but definitely different.
Ebenezer Scrooge from Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. Another unusual choice perhaps – Ebenezer doesn’t change until the end of the book. He spends his life as a miserly, curmudgeonly old sod with no friends – a visitation from three spirits are set to change all that.
Fly my pretties, fly!
Flying Monkeys
This week over at the Fantasy Review Barn Nathan is once again guiding us through the tropes of fantasy in Touch Travels. This week the topic for discussion is:
FLYING RIDES
Because honestly? Horses just got boring. (Thanks to author Anne Leonard for the suggestion).
Surely, surely I’ve read a book with a winged horse – if I have, well, it’s escaped me! Here are this week’s choices:
Eagles – giant eagles – LoTR by Tolkin. Why on earth would you walk all the way to Mordor when you could fly – that would have been a ridiculously short book though!
Bats – huge bats (that talk). Smilers Fair by Rebecca Levine. 
Dragons – Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey – the clue is in the title! The dragonriders and the dragons share a special bond – and they’re capable of much more than just flight!
Wyverns – The Iron Ghost by Jen Williams – the Narhl people ride on Wyverns – which is actually pretty cool!
‘I think he may let you ride him now’
Buckbeak from the Prisoner of Azkaban by J K Rowling
Join us next week for ‘New Beginnings’
I’ll be back… (and he really meant it!)
22 July 2015
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Fantasy Review Barn, Middle Age Heroes, Tough Travelling
This week over at the Fantasy Review Barn Nathan is taking us Tough Travelling through the tropes of fantasy and this week we are looking at : MIDDLE AGE HEROES
This hero stuff is usually a young person’s game. And, occasionally, a grizzled old veteran can get involved. It is a true rarity for someone to join the good fight for Fantasyland living in that in between ground.
Dug from Age of Iron by Angus Watson. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Thoroughly. And, Due was one of the main reasons why. He’s no longer a spring chicken and he tends to groan a little bit – yes, his bones ache every now and again, he’s sometimes a bit selfish and old enough to have forgotten how to woo a woman. Middle aged he may be but he’s still a hero.
Brodar Kayne from The Grim Company by Luke Scull – Broadar is one of one two Highlanders on the run from the Higlands magelord. He’s a tough old dude with creaky knees and a filthy mouth – but don’t underestimate him. He’s tougher than leather and very entertaining.
Roen Tan from The Rebirths of Tao by Wesley Chu – even as early as book 1 Roen was one of the most unlikely heroes ever. His character grew throughout the series and he was one of my favourite characters of the year.
Eddard Stark from Game of Thrones by GRRMartin. He’s a bit middle aged and grizzly but I thought he was a great character.
Dalinar Kholin from Way of Kings and Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson. A great character – definitely middle aged but a man of his word who earns great respect from all those around – and what a hero!
Join us next week for ‘Flying Rides’.
I couldn’t resist adding this picture:
As you get older it is harder to have heroes, but it is sort of necessary – Ernest Hemingway
Books and travelling with Lynn 