#AtoZChallenge: Eyad (an extract from Absolution)

Tulen’s eyes lingered on his face thoughtfully. “Magda is always telling me to let go.”

“Can you?”

“No.”

“Yesterday, you mentioned your brother?”

“Yes.”

“What happened?”

“I—He died. It was my fault. I couldn’t protect him. Couldn’t save him.”

“How did he—”

“I wished him dead, so he died. He was annoying and I wanted him out of the way. It was suffocating, taking care of a little child, having to always make sure he was alright, never getting to do what I wanted. I… I hated him and I wanted him to die.”

“You—”

“I don’t wish for things anymore, Adam. Wishing for things hurts.”

“I don’t understand. Is this… a power? Magic? How can you just—”

“In the end, it’s the same, isn’t it? I don’t understand you, you don’t understand me. There was only the two of us left. I was supposed to be his big sister, to protect him, keep him alive. Keep him safe. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.
“Eyad wanted to go up to the cliffs. I told Telus he couldn’t come. He was too young. I wanted to spend time with Eyad. But Telus followed us. He followed us and he was up on that cliff and I was angry. I hated him. I told him to go away, go jump off the cliff and kill himself. I wished so hard with all my heart that he would just die and leave me. Stop annoying me. And then he screamed. And… and all that was left of him was broken bones at the bottom of a cliff.
“I was selfish. Evil. And Telus paid the price. I hate myself. Now you too can hate me.” Tulen turned her face away, tears streaming down her face.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Adam reached out and touched her hand. She drew it away quickly.
“It is. The bells tell me every day, Adam. Every day when they call the faithful, they sound my death knell. He is dead. You killed him. Cursed is the hand that kills.”

“That’s not what they say.”

“That’s what they say to me. Every single day for the past six years. I am so glad there are no bells here.”

“So you go to the holy city to find your absolution.”

Tulen nodded, using the palm of her hand to wipe away her tears. “I don’t know if I… if I will…”

“The Reverend thinks you will.”

“Magda doesn’t believe in absolution.”

“What do you believe?”

“I… I don’t know anymore.”

---

And this is my copout from actually writing a post.
Hope you enjoyed that extract! :D

#AtoZChallenge: Dunno, Distracted, Darn

D is for dunno because I haven’t been writing as much as I wanted to and have been pretty side-tracked by a lot of random things. I should be at 4k by now (with a reduced camp nano goal) but I’m only at about 1.5k. Urgh.

I was thinking of expounding on the Devotions (part of the Blood Sacrifice/Berith Melach) but that is … kind of spoilery and I don’t know how to go about that.

SO BECAUSE I AM DISTRACTED (and obviously got my dates wrong) here's a cover reveal! (I thought today was gonna be C because I forgot we started on the first this year. LOL.)

“I want to be free.” The words came rushing out of me before I could think through their implications and consequences.

“There are two things you need to know about yourself if you want to be free—what you stand for, and what you stand against.” Lady Penelope held up her hands, brandishing a pair of daggers that had been hidden in her skirts. “This world lives enslaved to its destruction, and so long as you are living, as long as you are fighting, you will be free.”

I gazed at the daggers, transfixed. Each blade was clothed in a leather scabbard, but the silver and obsidian of the daggers’ hilts winked at me, as though it was calling for me.

PRAGUE, 1870
For the last ten years, nineteen-year-old Eleanora Svobodová has worked as a servant in her stepmother's household. Along with her older brother, she dreams of the day they will be free to live life on their own terms.

But everything changes when their estranged grandmother comes to Prague on behalf of Queen Victoria. Throughout Bohemia, a string of murders and secret whispers hint at a larger coup. As the leader of the Order of the Crystal Daggers, an ancient order of spies and soldiers that protect kingdoms and their rulers, Lady Penelope is determined to mete out the perpetrators. Now, Eleanora must make the choice between a life of intrigue and saving the lives of others.

Can Eleanora find a way do the right thing and still find freedom?

With a fun blend of historical fiction, true love, castle intrigue, and family dysfunction, The Order of the Crystal Daggers is the latest adventure series from C. S. Johnson. 

Kingdom of Ash and Soot is on my TBR right now. Looking forward to reading it! <3

#AtoZChallenge: Conjure

Nun was a quiet, sleepy little town. When Adam first arrived from Maha, he found it strange—and a little creepy—that he saw no one until he reached the town centre. Even if he’d been coddled in the castle, it had always been full of people—servants, ministers, lords, relatives—and the city had always been bustling with life whenever he ventured in.
The Nun Chapel, the town’s main landmark and distinguishing feature, was smaller than he expected. He stood outside for a moment, taking it in. The entire building and its compound could probably fit in the open courtyard of the Maha Temple. He wondered briefly about that—shouldn’t the Nun Chapel be rich from all the pilgrims passing through?—when the door opened and he found himself face to face with its caretaker.
“Greetings, Penance. You have already been Cleansed?” was the first thing the old man said.
Adam was momentarily stunned. “Yes, back in Maha. How did you—” he stammered, before his scattered thoughts fell into place. He’d had an audience with Holy Father Farouk in Suci from Father Peter’s office in the Maha Temple through a shimmering mirror just over two weeks ago. “Father Peter conjured you? Through the mirror?” 
“Peter and the Holy Father both,” the priest replied. “It is the easiest way for us to communicate. Come in, son.” He led the way to a small alcove, gesturing for Adam to sit before introducing himself simply as the Reverend.

---

This was one of the weakest points in Absolution: the concept of the priests in the three city-states being able to talk to each other through mirrors. I had to find a name for it, and called it "conjuring".

Which I now think is pretty lame.

So... anyone got a better idea?

I'm not sure how I'm going to use it in Secretkeeper yet, but it'll probably be pretty useful since Secretkeeper's supposed to focuse so much more on the priesthood and the past.

#AtoZChallenge: Berith Melach

Today’s very belated post is about Berith Melach. This started off because of this line about a Covenant of Salt in the Bible… and I took it and ran with it.
The ritual itself appears in Absolution, but the goal is that much of Rahsia's work in Secretkeeper will revolve around discovering what the Berith Melach actually entails.

Here's an excerpt of some "lost writings" around the ritual:

Intricately tied to the Blood Sacrifice, it refers to the addition of salt to the covenant, thereby binding the supplicant to God for eternity. Salt is only added to a sacrifice when it involves the life of a man … To renege on the covenant (turn away from God, or leave the priesthood) will result in death. This is often obscured in the Scriptures due to its imprecise and archaic wording, leaving it open to much misinterpretation.
All High Priests and King Priests have gone through the Blood Sacrifice. It is not required of a normal priest or a king/leader. Thus the ceremony is only held at very long intervals, usually fifty years or more.
The Berith Melach is also used in the covenant between man and wife, where the seal of the covenant is when the man places a pinch of salt on his wife’s tongue and she returns the same. If either of them spits out the salt, that is a rejection of the union. A man may perform his side of the ceremony, but if she does not return the act, the marriage is not yet binding until she does. If she does not seal it within the month, his act is considered void and they are not bound legally.

#AtoZChallenge: Absolution

So this year’s A to Z theme is also my current camp nanowrimo project, sorta. Well, the world of my camp nanowrimo project would be a better description. This all happened because I already said YES to camp nano and a private cabin and then I realised but hey waiiiitttt what about A to Z? So yeah, this is me being overly ambitious. But it’s all related to the same thing, so it shouldn’t be too bad, eh? I hope?

Back in I don’t know when (I could check, but I’m too lazy), I started a novel project called Absolution. And then I finished it, and rewrote it, and pitched it … and it got rejected a few times so I’m thinking of doing a rewrite. I also have a bunch of notes from the last beta read that I’m still pondering over, but there is still a version of it out on submission, so I haven’t started the rewrite project yet.

ANYWAY, all this is background to this year’s camp nano project.

This year’s project is a rewrite of last year’s failed nanowrimo project because I had a theme and a concept then, but I was trying to ground it in reality AND IT JUST WOULDN’T WORK. (But I got an 11K day out of it so I’m good.) Late November I was thinking it over a bit more, and then it clicked. This concept would work if it were written in the same world as Absolution. AND it might even be the story before Absolution. So wait, now Absolution might be a book 2 instead of a book 1!

And because I had a lot of free time (my brain was just being a little hyperactive and procrastinating on doing everything else), I then had this BRILLIANT TRILOGY IDEA. (Maybe brilliant? I dunno. Let’s pretend it is for now until the next bout of self-loathing begins.

Book 1: The Weight of Secrets (also known as Secretkeeper, which is this year’s campnano project; focused around Impian)
Book 2: The Weight of Sin (also known as Absolution, because I like themes; focused around Suci, or the journey to Suci)
Book 3: The Weight of Strength (I have no idea what this is yet, except that it should be focused around Maha, which is the third state in my Trikingdom. I also don't know when in the timeline it should be yet. Lol)

At any rate, since this post is supposed to be about Absolution, here’s a snippet:

---

The thing is, sayang, there is no such thing as absolution. You just walk your path with faith and pray that it is enough. There, I have said it. Let there be no illusions between us. You search for absolution like I yearn for closure. Neither of us will find our hearts’ desire in this lifetime. Such things are not for the likes of us, murderers and slaves. Listen to Magda, child, and lessen your heartache.

Let me lay it out for you right at the start before I ramble and forget what it is that needs to be said. You will search, but you will not find. You will yearn, but you will not be fulfilled. What use does God have for us? We are dust in the desert, water in the ocean. One out of too many supplicants. Insignificant. Why should He grant you absolution? What penance can you perform in return?

We have left on a pilgrimage, but are we true pilgrims? We go because we have no choice. You would protest that you do. That you are not a slave like me. You could have declined, refused the journey, but would you have done so? You are as much a slave to your guilt as I am to my mistress. Your physical freedom to decline is worth nothing in the light of your spiritual need to go. This pilgrimage is a selfish one, begun in pride. It can only end in ruin. I pray you will find something good out of the wreckage to come. Maybe your purity—both in name and in spirit—will preserve you. God knows the rest of us do not deserve it.

You think I am devout, that I hold the secrets to reaching God. I do not. I have believed and I have doubted. I have prayed and I have railed against. He is who He is, unreachable. Unattainable. Magda will cease to exist. Yet, we are children of God. How do I explain this? How do I reconcile this? I do not. There is no point in trying to know the unknowable. My mind and my heart do not need to believe the same things. Is that not what pure faith is? (Maybe it is pure foolishness.)

But let me return to what drives you most. Sayang, no matter how many times you lay your hand on a goat and will your sin onto it, your guilt will remain until you find your own peace with God. The goat is not magical; it is an escape for those who wish to delude themselves. The animal cannot hold your sin, cannot take it. It makes no difference if you offer your sacrifice in the holy city of Suci or back home in Impian. If you believe God is all-seeing, you would know that location and distance is nothing to Him. But maybe it will assuage your heart, if nothing else.

---

See you tomorrow for B! I don't know what it will be yet! :)

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#bookreview: Immortal Creators | Jill Bowers

Immortal Creators by Jill Bowers
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Scott Beck doesn’t want to be an Immortal Writer. Not after watching his father, Kent Beck, die defeating his own villains. Yet, there he is. His characters are coming over into the Real World and he needs his protagonists help to defeat the Betans, horrible blood-thirsty aliens, before they destroy earth.

Immortal Creators is an absolutely fun read. I liked it much better than the first one, Immortal Writers, even though I’m mostly a fantasy fan and this book camped out in the SciFi wing of the Castle. Well, fun that is, until you hit the ending and go, “What? But I don’t understand…” See, cos Scott has this Writing Fever and a weird connection to the Imagination Field that no one can explain. Bowers drops hints here and there, and something happens at the end which makes Scott go OH NOW I KNOW WHY. But that eureka moment is never explained to the readers. At all. I thought I might have missed it, but I went back and read through the last few chapters to try to figure it out, but I still don’t get it. All I can tell is that it’s something to do with him being different and something his father did. But what?! (I doubt that’s a spoiler because it’s so vague, ha)

One thing I loved about Immortal Creators is how self-aware it is as a novel about writers. Bowers pokes fun at writers who have fuzzy ideas of some parts of their creation—but it works in the book because the details weren’t necessary. One of the problems they faced is the fact that Scott may have dreamt up their alien spaceship, but he doesn’t know the details of the second floor because he never had to use it! (And of course, the Reality Field fit in whatever it thought best when the fictional characters crossed over.) They faced a similar problem with the Betan language, but Tolkien was there to help.

Also had a little squee moment when CS Lewis showed up.

Immortal Creators is really a writer’s fan book, disguised as a novel. You’ll love it if you love everything to do with writing and reading. And long-dead writers.

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book via NetGalley. I was given the book with no expectation of a positive review and the review is my own.

View all my reviews

Mythical Doorways Blog Tour

About the Anthology

Eleven Tales of Magical, Mysterious, Mythical Doorways! 

Step through portals and into adventure as the authors of the Fellowship of Fantasy take you on another journey into fantastic worlds. Travel through time, space, and realities to encounter monsters, mechanical foxes, and the Fates themselves. You'll fly with dragons, save implausible beasts, and perhaps find your true home. Choose your path wisely, for dangers lurk in the lands beyond.

In the third anthology from the Fellowship of Fantasy, eleven authors promise you journeys into fairy lands hidden within the modern world, futuristic universities, and lands of ancient myth. So what are you waiting for? Cross through our Doorways for the adventure of a lifetime!

Download the ebook (free to download starting March 27^th) at your favorite digital store: https://www.books2read.com/u/bxq70e

Mythical Doorways Authors

Katy Huth Jones - D. G. Driver - Lauren Lynch - H.L. Burke - Savannah Jezowski - A. J. Bakke - Laurie Lucking - Jenelle Schmidt - Arthur Daigle - Bokerah Bromley - J.M. Hackman 

(Click the author to learn more about them and their books!)

Let's Party!

Fellowship of Fantasy is celebrating their third short story anthology release, Mythical Doorways!

Whether they open onto new worlds or just new opportunities, doorways allow us to step through and uncover great adventures, discoveries, and risks.

Where will these Mythical Doorways take you?

Grab your favorite drink and snack on March 29th at 8 PM EST (7 PM CST and 5 PM PST) and be prepared for a fun time of chatting with multiple authors, games, and giveaways!

RSVP Today

Giveaway Time!

The Fellowship of Fantasy and Deep Magic E-Zine have joined together to offer you an awesome paperback giveaway! Dive into eleven new worlds by entering to win a paperback of Mythical Doorways! (US only.)

About Deep Magic E-Zine: The name Deep Magic pays homage to C.S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia. Deep Magic is a quarterly e-zine dedicated to creating a safe place for minds to wander in the worlds and universe of SFF. We want all who visit to feel welcome and confident that they will encounter professionally written fiction of the highest quality that is safe for all to read. Click here for more information: http://deepmagic.co/giveaway-fun/

>>> Entry-Form <<<

Blog Tour Schedule

Tuesday, March 27^th

• Author Spotlight: A. J. Bakke – Kandi J Wyatt—Where Fantasy and Reality Meet
• Interview: Katy Huth Jones – Dragonpen Press
• Interview: Laurie Lucking – Fearless Words in Fantasy Worlds
• Book Spotlight – Antrim Cycle
• Author Spotlight: Bokerah Brumley – Life is a Four-Letter Word: Encouragement for the Journey
• Book Spotlight – Deeply Shallow
• Book Review – Blooming with Books
• Review & Interview: Lauren Lynch -- Fairies, Fantasy, and Faith

Wednesday, March 28^th

• Book Spotlight – Dolphin18cb
• Interview: Arthur Daigle – Heather Hadyen – Author of Science Fiction and Fantasy
• Review & Author Spotlight: H.L. Burke – Reality Reflected
• Interview: D.G. Driver – So Few Books
• Interview: H.L. Burke – Keturah’s Korner
• Interview: Bokerah Bromley – Supervise SF

Thursday, March 29^th

• Book Review – Lands Uncharted
• Interview: J.M. Hackman – Liv K. Fisher
• Interview: Jenelle Schmidt – Lu’s Reviews Take Two
• Interview: Savannah Jezowski – Unicorn Quester
• MYTHICAL DOORWAYS FACEBOOK PARTY

#musicmonday: Our Happy Home | David Crowder

Hallelujah, we are on our way
Hallelujah, we are on our way to God

From Egypt lately come
Where death and darkness reign
To seek our new, our better home
Where we our rest shall gain

There sin and sorrow cease
And every conflict's o'er
There we shall dwell in endless peace
And never hunger more

Jerusalem, our happy home
Would God I were in thee
Would God my woes were at an end
Thy joy that I might see

We soon shall join the throng
Their pleasures we shall share
And sing the everlasting song
With all the ransomed there

Jerusalem, our happy home
Would God I were in thee
Would God my woes were at an end
Thy joy that I might see

There in celestial strains
Enraptured myriads sing
There love in every bosom reigns
For God Himself is King

Jerusalem, our happy home
Would God I were in thee
Would God my woes were at an end
Thy joy that I might see

Jerusalem, our happy home
Would God we were in thee
Would God our woes were at an end
Thy joy at last shall see

---

On a random aside, this came up on a random playlist while I was leaving Jerusalem.

#bookreview: Megge of Bury Down

Megge of Bury Down by Rebecca Kightlinger
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Megge of Bury Down is a story of self-discovery, self-acceptance, and facing up to hard truths. At six, Megge was too afraid to take up her mother's book and at eleven, all she can do is watch as her cousin, Brighida the golden child, shines in everything Megge has refused. She feels like an outcast, even in her own family, but cannot find the courage to do the one thing that would make a difference: open The Book of Seasons.

The novel follows Megge's life and growth from this point onwards, giving you a long, charmingly rambling look into life in Cornwall in the 1200's from Megge's point of view. There is a sweet classical quality to the writing; it's a slower pace of things, a certain choice of words and tone, a rootedness to the earth, and a dual sense of mysticism and spirituality. Yet the older I get, the more impatient a reader I am. I think I've gotten used to reading quick stories with fast-moving action, so when I reach a story that seems to play out over several years, I start skimming to try to push things onwards. The inability to linger is the fault of none but myself.

The plot is involved. There are many things going on: the secrets of the seers and healers of Bury Down, the jealousy and fear of the villagers, the odd hatred of Jenifer Pennick and her mother, and the persecution of the church, all coloured in the narrative by Megge's naivete, fear, and ignorance. Her guardians (Mother, Aunt Claris, Morwen, and Aleydis) are seemingly at odds about how much and what to tell her; Megge's ignorance throughout the novel is needful and yet terribly frustrating, especially since it's partially a wilful one. Other core themes dealt with in the novel are the effects of greed and jealousy, both of which lead to dire consequences. Yes, dire. There is a lot of fire and death in this story.

Overall, there's a very pretty arch to this novel; the prologue felt a little disjointed at first since there's a skip of about 900 years when chapter 1 starts, but it plays out to be pretty important as the story develops. However, you only see the full impact of it in the last couple of chapters. Which is also why I think the story was just a little too rambly. It felt like it built and built much too long and much too slowly for how quickly it ended after that last revelation. You could probably skip a little of the middle and head straight to the end and not lose out on much except maybe some understanding of Megge's slightly convoluted family history.

Still, despite its faults (or my impatience), Megge of Bury Down is still quite an engaging read.

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book from Smith Publicity via NetGalley. I was given the book with no expectation of a positive review and the review is my own.

View all my reviews

“Creating powerful female characters, combining magic and medicine, Rebecca Kightlinger tells a compelling tale of what it takes to walk the 'path of the protector.' In a timeless yet also timely story, Kightlinger's heroine rallies supernatural strength and all matter of healing arts to find her path toward protecting books, the land, and most of all her fellow women. Readers will not forget the women of Bury Down."

—Elizabeth Searle, author of We Got Him and librettist for Tonya and Nancy: The Rock Opera

Confused, unsure, and trying to avoid a twist of fate—a vow that she fears will lead to murder—a young woman makes a decision that places her family in unimaginable danger.

A story intertwining destiny with reckoning, and tradition with dreams, the debut coming-of-age novel Megge of Bury Down: Book One of the Bury Down Chronicles [Zumaya Arcane], by Rebecca Kightlinger, radiates feelings of togetherness and protectiveness as seen through the eyes of a young girl embroiled in a mystical struggle that threatens to tear her family apart.

Set in thirteenth-century Cornwall, on a sheep farm in the shadow of Bury Down – known for a thousand years as the land of the second sight – a healer has vowed to face flames rather than fail in her one task in this life: to bring her young daughter to vow to protect The Book of Seasons, an ancient grimoire whose power sustains the spirits of all their ancestors.

On the night of her vow-taking, wanting only to become a woman of Bury Down like her mother and aunts, and drawn by an inexplicable yearning to possess her mother’s book, Megge reaches for it. But when she touches its cover, it burns her fingers and she hears it whisper, “Murderer.” Fearing that the book will make her harm those she loves, she rejects it and renounces her birthright.

To what lengths will Megge’s mother go to help the child find the courage to take that vow? And how far will Megge go to elude a terrifying destiny?                      

This newly released title, Megge of Bury Down, addresses family issues prevalent in today’s world in a tender yet cryptic setting, creating a storyworld readers of all ages will want to visit again and again.

In this magical and suspenseful chronicle, Megge of Bury Down depicts
• An unimaginable bond of family. Through generations—even after family members have passed—togetherness and protectiveness are ever-present in Megge’s family.
• Powerful female characters—how their strength, wisdom, and compassion allow them to defy all odds.
• The intense conflict between the yearning to belong and the need to find your own path.
• Tolerance—understanding that the life you
must lead in order to hone your skills may make you an outsider, even to those you serve.
• A real-life setting—Bury Down is an ancient hill fort whose ruins can still be seen on a hilltop just outside of Lanreath, Cornwall.

About the Author:

Rebecca Kightlinger is a novelist, a book critic for Historical Novels Review, a fiction- submissions reader for New England Review and Stonecoast Review, and a copy editor for Stonecoast Review.

Born in Erie, PA, Kightlinger practiced medicine for nineteen years. For six of those years, she served on a Remote Area Medical volunteer team diagnosing and treating cervical cancer in Amerindian women living in the rainforests and savannas of rural Guyana. In 2010, Kightlinger suffered an injury that permanently damaged her wrist, forcing her to leave medical practice and pursue a new direction in life.

Earning an MFA from the University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast MFA program and a copyediting certificate from UCSD, she turned her Masters thesis into her debut novel. Kightlinger and her husband reside in northwestern Pennsylvania.

Connect with Rebecca Kightlinger on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Learn more about Megge of Bury Down at www.burydownchronicles.com.

Megge of Bury Down: Book One of the Bury Down Chronicles is available for purchase in paperback and e-book via Amazon* and all major booksellers.

* affiliate link

#bookreview: Floating Petals | Leela Devi Panikar

Floating Petals by Leela Devi Panikar
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Floating Petals is an eclectic mix of short stories. Shifting from slice-of-life to horror, to the almost fantastical, you're never quite sure what you'll be getting next. Despite its dreamlike title, Floating Petals isn't quite a happy book: the 14 stories contained here mostly touch on dark themes, whether its the cruelty of bound feet, unhappy marriages, murder, or death.

Actually, death features quite a lot.

Leela's prose is tight, economical. There's a strong sense of place, whether the story wanders through Hong Kong (where she first published this book) or Malaysia (where she grew up), in the city or out in rural farmlands. Having lived in various countries, she scatters her prose with Cantonese phrases, Indian terms and Malaysian sensibilities, making it a wonderful window into life on this side of the world.

View all my reviews

#musicmonday: a playlist of emoish faith songs

#bookreview: Pearls on a Branch: Arab Stories Told by Women in Lebanon Today

Pearls on a Branch: Arab Stories Told by Women in Lebanon Today by Najla Khoury
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Every country has its own folklore, stories from ancient past handed down from generation to generation. As with all oral traditions, similar stories with a single origin are spread over a wide district, changing along with the ever-evolving culture and circumstances of the storytellers themselves. Most of the time, the differences are only in the details. The thirty translated stories in Pearls on a Branch are a window into the lives of Arabic women, selected from a larger repository of Arabic tales recorded and transcribed by Najla Jraissaty Khoury. As with all fairy tales and folklore, the stories range from the almost mundane to the extremely fantastical, including animals that speak and classic forms of poor men winning the hands of rich princesses (and vice versa).

These tales capture the poetic forms of its original language, with most of them beginning and ending in verse. Yet, as Khoury herself notes, the essence of such oral stories are captured in “the nuances in the choice of words, the comments and body language of the storyteller. It was a revelation: certain stories told by women were for women only.” It is a shame that such nuances cannot be captured in print, and that some references are inevitably lost when such stories are translated into English and read by one without the appropriate local and cultural cues.

Despite this, it is almost surprising (though it shouldn’t be) that some of the tales are uncannily similar to familiar Western tales. Two striking examples are O Palace Beautiful! O Fancy Friend, which is in essence Snow White (or Pomegranate-on-a-platter) with Ali Baba and the forty thieves as the seven dwarves; and Thuraya with the Long, Long Hair, which follows the form of Rapunzel.

Quite a few of the stories feature clashes between man and woman, the most interesting of which is how Husun Kamil outwits and outmatches Lulu Bighsunu, the snotty young prince in the title story, Pearls on a Branch.

So read on: It was or it was not, in the oldness of time…

Note: I received a digital review copy of this book via Edelweiss. I was given the book with no expectation of a positive review and the review is my own.

View all my reviews

#musicmonday: Come Alive | Hugh Jackman

[Ensemble]
Come one!
Come all!
Come in!
Come on!

[Anne Wheeler]
To anyone who's bursting with a dream

[Ensemble]
Come one!
Come all!
You hear
The call

[P.T. Barnum]
To anyone who's searching for a way to break free

[Ensemble]
Break free!
Break free!

[Chorus: Ensemble and P.T. Barnum]
When the world becomes a fantasy
And you're more than you could ever be
'Cause you're dreaming with your eyes wide open
And we know we can't go back again
To the world that we were living in
'Cause we're dreaming with our eyes wide open

#bookreview: Hall of Heroes

Hall of Heroes: A Fellowship of Fantasy Anthology by H.L. Burke
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

If you're looking for a fun anthology of short stories, this is the book for you! Each of the 27 stories in this anthology features a hero of some sort, whether they're heroic friends or warriors or parents, and since it's written by the Fellowship of Fantasy, all of them include some form of magic, superpower, or fantastic creature! There's a little bit of romance in some of the stories, but nothing more than an innocent kiss (or two), so this is perfectly safe for kids to read. I'm inclined to say it's aimed more at the MG/younger YA crowd.

Some of the more touching stories (to me at least) were those with heroic teenagers who did their best despite the odds and/or despite their apparent lack of useful powers: In The Hero Feat of Hannah Helstrom (J. Philip Horne), Hannah only has the strength of her determination and half-trained power of regeneration to attempt to save her cousin's life; Marisol in Sweet Basil (Lea Doué) is on the run from sorcerer hunters, yet she still uses her gift of healing as best she can; Gem (RJ Conte) is the only one who can save his world ... at the cost of his life, whilst Jaiharu in Sacrifice to the Iara (H.L. Burke)is willing to give up his life to save his beloved sister; whilst Jenny puts aside personal enmity to save her nemesis in Save the Day (Page Zaplendam).

There's more than that, though. There are superheroes and supervillains, magicians and sorcerers, sprites and faeries, angels and demons, princes and princesses, and all sorts of legendary beasts (mermaids and dragons, oh my)!

Out of the 27 stories, there was only one that I was rather meh about, so I'd say this was a very good investment.

View all my reviews

#musicmonday: O My Soul | Audrey Assad

Rivers and stones and the trees of the field, they sing in the night
And a thousand tongues lay deep in your lungs to raise to the sky

Don't lie to yourself, O my soul - love your God.
Don't lie to yourself, O my soul - love your God.

Deep in your heart you feather and tar your folly and fear:
Expose them all for the fools they are, and the world becomes clear.

Don't lie to yourself, O my soul, just love your God.
Don't lie to yourself, O my soul, just love your God.
Love your God.

Your worries will never love you
They'll leave you all alone
But your God will not forsake you
O my soul, my soul.

Don't lie to yourself, O my soul - love your God.
Don't lie to yourself, O my soul, just love your God.
Love your God.

#fridayflash: Tides | for the living

Grief comes in stages, like waves lapping on the shore, the crashing of the surf. Softgentleharshpounding.

You sit, staring at nothing, as grief curls its tendrils around your heart, squeezing, bleeding. There are no tears, because tears would mean you feel. You cannot feel. Not yet. Not now. When tears come, they come in floods, fast-rising waters from which there is no escape. You do not wish to escape. You are flotsam on the tide, drifting where grief would take you, tossed between happy memories and the ache of absence, never resting, never stopping, like the child who once ran circles around you.

Grief never sits still, never recedes. If it recedes, flee; the tsunami comes next.

The world is grey, monochrome, perpetually overcast. The cold moon speaks in words you almost grasp, pulling, drawing you into its silvery shine, offering empty platitudes; you are here, but you are not. You drift, ripped from reality. The house is empty, you are empty. You have a girl-shaped hole that can never be filled. A nothingness, a vacuum, a void. Avoid. Avoid everything that once meant to escape the cascade of memories you cannot bear.

Grief sucks you into a whirlpool of losspainsorrowtearsfear and never, never once, lets you go.

---

In Memoriam

Annalise McKinney

1st Dec 2006 - 20th Feb 2018

---

I cannot grieve for my dead…

Instead I must take my grief and make it into a figure of alabaster…

“Exhibit N.58 Grief, Alabaster. Miss Henrietta Savernake.”

The Hollow | Agatha Christie

---

From our last play Stop Interrupting Me! at OBS, 10 July 2016.
L-R: me, Rebecca McKinney, Annalise McKinney
Photo by Thum CC (https://www.facebook.com/ccthum/media_set?set=a.10153919032313752.1073741996.683168751)

For the McKinneys, and Annalise who is gone too soon.

If you have cash to spare, here's a gofundme that's raising funds to cover the costs of Annalise's hospital bills in Children’s Hospital Colorado which has been rejected by their insurance:

"On June 30, 2010 the McKinneys lost their middle daughter, Anya, after a tragic accident. Now, their youngest daughter, Annalise, has lost her valiant battle against Idiopathic Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (IPAH).

Annalise was a vibrant young lady full of life. She loved singing, dancing and playing sports. But in July 2017, her world turned upside down. She was diagnosed with IPAH, a severe and progressive disease that causes irreversible damage to the lungs....

In the midst of this, the McKinneys face an uphill battle with their insurance company, which informed them the first week of February it would not cover the hospital stay at Children's Hospital Colorado. The McKinneys have retained legal counsel in the hopes of compelling the insurance company to pay benefits, but the outcome of the legal process is uncertain.

Sadly, God's plan did not include a miracle healing and double lung transplant for Annalise. Nevertheless, the McKinneys continue to stand firm in their faith in God. Please continue to pray for His comfort and strength for the family in this unimaginably difficult time. Stand with them. Cry with them. Love on them.

The McKinneys have incurred substantial medical costs through this trial. Though God has choosen to bring Annalise home, He is still our provider on earth. Thank you again for your prayerful consideration of being a part of God's provision for the McKinneys.

In addition to helping the McKinneys, we also would ask that you consider donating to the Children's Heart Foundation or other pediatric cardiology charity focused on early detection and treatment of congenital heart defects or reducing the incidents of congenital heart defects."

#bookreview: The Song of All | Tina LeCount Myers

The Song of All by Tina LeCount Myers
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I’m gonna give this novel like a 3-star/3.25 star rating because the beginning is so so slow I wanted to die, like legit can I stop reading yet 2 stars.
Part of the problem is that there are so many long-ass multi-syllable words “drawn from various Saami languages” (as stated in the Author’s Note) in just the first chapter alone that I kept going what. What. Who. What. Which is weird because I read (and write) a lot of fantasy with long-ass multi-syllable fantasy terms (I.e. not real words) that I’m okay with. So maybe it was just a little too much a little too soon. Ok, I’m thinking it’s also because the words are initially italicised, so my head interprets it as a foreign language and gets caught up in what the heck is that word and I get stuck. If they weren’t italicised, I’d just be like ooo new fantasy word that I’ll figure out on the way and read on until I get it.
It also switches POV every few paragraphs which takes a little getting used to. It’s just not a book that will capture casual readers. Or readers from the get-go. It’s for the slow-build type of readers who are going to just wait and linger and plod their way through.

BUT it’s beautiful. Of course it’s beautiful. When you get to the middle (or well, at least somewhere in Part 2) it turns very omg this plot why because everything is related to everything else and if you pull one thread out, everything unravels. And the further you get, the more you feel like omg what why no yes, at probably 4.5 to 5 stars. It’s just that you gotta push through until you get there.
And then there’s also the damnit there is definitely a second book to this because why does it end there no don’t end there gah.

Yeah, and I’m too lazy to write my review in proper words right now.

Note: I received a review copy via Edelweiss.

View all my reviews

#musicmonday: Drawn to You | Audrey Assad

'Cause after everything I've had
And after everything I've lost
Lord, I know this much is true
I'm still drawn to You!
After everything's been said
After everything love costs
Lord, I know this much is true
I'm still drawn to You

---

Audrey Assad on Evergreen:

'But I’m able to come at that from a place where I’m [saying], “God transcends all concept of God.” God transcends everything that I’m saying about God right now.'

#bookreview: The World Awakening | Dan Koboldt

The World Awakening by Dan Koboldt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The problem with third books in a trilogy, especially when the second one came out about a year ago, is the fact that as much as you really liked the earlier books, suddenly you're thrown into a world that you have vague memories of.

The World Awakening starts in the middle of the action. Honestly, I feel the book loses part of its impact for this sole reason--I had to backtrack a little and skim through parts of The Island Deception to figure out what was happening so that I could move forward. It was rather more jarring between The World Awakening and The Island Deception than between The Island Deception and The Rogue Retrieval, primarily because Rogue has its own complete arc, whilst Island doesn't.

Other than that, Koboldt does a great job tying up all the loose ends he managed to scatter throughout The Island Deception. There're betrayal and secrets galore, but each player is slowly making his stand. Quinn stands with Alissia and Kiara with the Company, but Logan's and Mendez's loyalties are getting muddied.

I loved the interplay between Veena Chaudri and Richard Holt--where everything was confusing and muddled in book 2, things are finally getting clearer here. Veena is smart, conniving at times, but a brilliant negotiator, and you get a front seat view to see how she blossoms into the new role she's created for herself.

The Tukalu are a wonderful addition to the world and Quinn, oh Quinn. You'd think he'd learn not to flirt with dangerous people by now... especially when his grip on magic is still unstable.

Anyways, The World Awakening is a satisfying end to the Gates to Alissia trilogy (is it a trilogy or will there be more? If there's more, I'd rather like a spin-off on Veena, or maybe Relling, because so many questions).

Note: I received a copy for review via Edelweiss

View all my reviews

#musicmonday: Mmhmm | Relient K

Aesthetic of the month, really.

---

What happened to us
I heard that it's me we should blame
What happened to us
Why didn't you stop me from turnin' out this way
And know that I don't hate you
And know that I don't want to fight you
And know I'll always love you
But right now I just don't

---

And I'll let it be known
At times I have shown
Signs of all my weakness
But somewhere in me
There is strength

And you promise me
That you believe
In time I will defeat this
Cause somewhere in me
There is strength

#bookreview: Writers of the Future Volume 33

Writers of the Future: Volume 33 by David Farland
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The Writers of the Future anthologies are a great way to find new writers, and this is no exception. I'm just trying to fix names in my head so that I'll recognise them later on. This one seems skewed more towards fantasy rather than science fiction, with paranormal/horror and folklore thrown into the mix.

Some of my favourite pieces include:
Moonlight One (Stephen Lawson) - how can you prove you didn't murder your husband when you're the only two people living on the moon?
The Armor Embrace (Doug C. Souza) - a dying mech-soldier heads home to see his daughter for the last time.
Obsidian Spire (Molly Elizabeth Atkins) - Fiske isn't much of a sidekick, but Varga can't let him die anyway.
The Dragon Killer's Daughter (Todd McCaffrey) - The village is slowly dying and Paksa's father is keeping secrets, but she's got enough gold to make a small fort, so that'll do for now.

Note: I received a digital copy of this book from via NetGalley for review purposes.

View all my reviews

#musicmonday: From Now On | Hugh Jackman

I saw the sun begin to dim
And felt that winter wind blow cold
A man learns who is there for him
When the glitter fades and the walls won't hold
'Cause from then, rubble
What remains
Can only be what's true
If all was lost
There's more I gained
Cause it led me back
To you

From now on
These eyes will not be blinded by the lights
From now on
What's waited till tomorrow starts tonight
Tonight
Let this promise in me start
Like an anthem in my heart
From now on
From now on

#musicmonday: Lions and Dragons | Zach Williams

#bookreview | Amber Eyes | S.D. Grimm + blog tour!

Amber Eyes by S.D. Grimm
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

If Scarlet Moon was thrilling, Amber Eyes just upped the ante even further. I don’t know how I’m going to survive until January 2019 for Black Blood. (I mean, I will, but still…) On a pure visceral, emotional level, Grimm is a pro-manipulator. By the time you’re midway through the book, you’re struggling with hope and fear and joy and frustration and ALL THE FEELS. Which was why, after finishing the book on Friday night, I had to go to sleep to deal instead of writing the review right away.

This book’s Ultra-frustrating Persons Award goes to Thea. Mostly because she is so extremely cryptic that you can’t decide whose side she’s really on—if she’s on any side. Because this clearly isn’t turning out to be black-and-white good vs evil, Feravolk against the Mistress of Shadows at all. Thea has concealed motives of her own, Franco seems to serve the Mistress but has other personal ambitions, the various camps of Feravolk and leaders still don’t exactly see eye to eye, and the Deliverers haven’t exactly fallen into line either.

Because if Love was important in Scarlet Moon, Individual Agency seems to be the theme of Amber Eyes. Serena has to decide between risking her safety to heal people or obeying the council and staying safe. The Healers must decide if they will help the Deliverers or stay hidden. Ethan can no longer lose himself in revenge, not without terrible repercussions, and he must learn to use his gift appropriately. Ryan still struggles with the black lion venom and with acknowledging that Jayden has agency of her own. Jayden… is not *as* frustrating in this one—she’s better at letting the others take care of her—but she’s still struggling with her Blood Moon gift and her destiny. Because right now, her gift is harming more than helping, and she doesn’t see how it can be very useful at all. And in the midst of all the conflicting hints and prophecies and orders and directives being thrown at her from all sides, she must learn to step up into her role as Deliverer, not mere camp follower.

Additional plus point: all the wonderful mythical creatures are coming out of the woodwork! Unicorns, kelpies, phoenixes, pegasi, gryphons, dragons, oh my!

Note: I received a digital copy of this book from Unicorn Questor for the Amber Eyes Blog Tour. I was given the book with no expectation of a positive review and the review is my own.

View all my reviews

About the Book

Destiny can be cruel. Darkness retreated from the light of the scarlet moon, but has since grown even stronger. The Mistress of Shadows has found a new pawn—one that may be the key to unlocking the door to her underground prison. Now evil threatens to escape its shackles and destroy the land. In the aftermath of loss and betrayal, Jayden’s fight with the enemy still isn’t over. But while she isn’t sure she can stop the Mistress alone, leaving her friends might be the only way to keep them from being consumed by the darkness. With lives hanging in the balance—and no time for error—can Jayden make the right choice?

Amazon — Barnes & Noble — Christianbook.com

About the Author

S.D. Grimm’s first love in writing is young adult fantasy and science fiction. She is represented by Julie Gwinn of the Seymour Agency and author of SCARLET MOON. She currently has four books under contract, including the remainder of her YA fantasy series Children of the Blood Moon. When she’s not writing or editing, Sarah enjoys reading (of course!), practicing kickboxing and Brazilian jiu jitsu, training dogs, and binge-watching shows with great characters. Her office is anywhere she can curl up with her laptop and at least one large-sized dog. You can learn more about her upcoming novels at www.sdgrimm.com.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Pinterest | Instagram | Goodreads | Newsletter | Spotify

Facebook Launch Party

Calling all book readers! Join author S.D. Grimm as we chat about her fantasy novel Amber Eyes on January 30th from 8 PM to 11 PM EST (6 PM CDT and 5 PM PST). Grab your favorite drink and snack and be prepared for a fun time of chatting with SD, games, and giveaways. Special guests Nadine Brandes, Lindsay A. Franklin, and Sara Baysinger will also be sharing their books and joining in the fun.

RSVP Today

Giveaway

Want to dive into a new world? Enter to win a signed copy of both Amber Eyes and Scarlet Moon, a grimmlie dragon of the dragon on the cover (made by the author), a charm bracelet (made by her Captain America), and a $10 amazon gift card. (US only. Sorry!)

>>> Entry-Form <<<

Blog Tour Schedule

Monday, January 22^nd

• Book Spotlight – Backing Books
• Guest Post – Thinking Like a Fangirl

Tuesday, January 23^rd

• Book Review – Sheri Yutzy – young adult author
• Book Review & Interview – Blooming with Books

Wednesday, January 24^th

• Book Review – Deeply shallow
• Guest Post – dolphin18cb

Thursday, January 25^th

• Author Interview – Unicorn Quester

Friday, January 26^th

• Book Review – Sarah, Plain & Average
• Book Review – Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess

Saturday, January 27^th

• Author Interview – Jebraun Clifford dream.write.repeat

Monday, January 29^th

• Book Review – The Artisan Penguin

Tuesday, January 30^th

• Author Interview – Liv K. Fisher
• Review – Reality Reflected
• Amber Eyes Facebook Launch Party!

Wednesday, January 31^st

• Author Interview – So Few Books

Thursday, February 1^st

• Book Review – Lands Uncharted
• Guest Post – Quills & Inkblotts

Friday, February 2^nd

• Book Review – Thinking Like a Fangirl

Saturday, February 3^rd

• Book Review – Tricia Mingerink
• Book Review – Blushing Bibliophile
• Book Review – RJ Metcalf

Monday, February 5^th

• Blog Tour Wrap-Up – Unicorn Quester

#musicmonday: This is Me | Keala Settle

ALL THE EMOTIONS.
I'd also say that this is even stronger than the final cut.
(also amused by Hugh Jackman waving his apple in the air)

---

When the sharpest words wanna cut me down
I'm gonna send a flood, gonna drown them out
I am brave, I am bruised
I am who I'm meant to be, this is me
Look out 'cause here I come
And I'm marching on to the beat I drum
I'm not scared to be seen
I make no apologies, this is me

#bookreview: Die For Me | Dan Rix

Die for Me by Dan Rix
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In contrast to most of the other Dan Rix books I've read so far, this actually appears to be the most low tech, on the surface at least. In fact, most of the story reads more like a YA mystery but then again, this is Rix, so expect some super techy reveal.

Jaden and Danae are trying to come to terms with their girlfriend/best friend's suicide/murder. Suicide because she did jump off a four-storey building, leaving behind a suicide note. Murder because she was abruptly taken off life-support by her parents that very same day with no explanation, without waiting to see if she would come out of her coma. But the more they dig into the mystery that is Sabrina's suicide note, the stranger things become. The school counsellors, Katie and Benji, start acting weirdly, as does the headmaster, Mr Feeney.

Rix spends a lot of time exploring both Jaden and Danae's feelings--both about the suicide and their relationships--and while that was interesting at first, the constant back and forth over who likes who (or not) becomes a little too much after it's been prolonged once too many times. Then again, I'm starting to age out of this kind of YA (I've said that for a while now, but yeah), so an actual teen or a younger reader might relate to this much better than I can at this point of time.

I'm not quite the best fan of the voice either, as each section jumps from POV to POV, all in the first person, so you get different sections in Jaden, Danae, Sabrina, and even Mr Feeney's voice. If you're not one who likes that kind of head-hopping you're probably gonna want to sit this one out. The good part about it, though, is that it does provide that much more tension. (Still ambivalent over the need for Feeney's voice, but whatever).

Overall, Die for Me is quite an intriguing read, at I'd say 3.5 stars.

Note: I received a digital ARC from the author. I was given the book with no expectation of a positive review and the review is my own.

View all my reviews

#musicmonday: Rewrite the Stars | Zac Efron & Zendaya

You know I want you
It's not a secret I try to hide
But I can't have you
We're bound to break and
My hands are tied

---

I just watched The Greatest Showman and I'm super impressed.

The only two voices I didn't quite like was Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson) and Charity Barnum (Michelle Williams). I don't really know why. I think Ferguson did this weird breathy thing with her voice especially in the verses of Never Enough; was it an affectation? Some accent she was using? Oh wait. She didn't actually sing; it was sung by Loren Allred. The chorus and build up was fine; she does have a good voice. I just think the verse was weird.
Williams also has a very airyish voice. I guess it just isn't solid enough for me.

#bookreview: Scarlet Moon | SD Grimm

Scarlet Moon by S.D. Grimm
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Grimm throws you right into the action in Scarlet Moon, an action-packed story of love, heroism and revenge.

Love, because the overarching theme of this book seems to be that Love conquers all, especially Fear and Evil. She does have that little love triangle thing going on, but it's not so much a plot as a distraction. But Love here, in the more agape than eros kind, takes front stage centre, and makes every one do stupid things. Ryan, for instance, has to choose between his desire to protect his family or his beloved. Logan cannot face or confront his absconded wife. Ethan will protect Jayden at all costs. And Jayden, poor, stupid, heroic, annoying Jayden (I love her but boy, does she need a slap upside the head), is set on running away from everyone who would protect her because she loves them too much. Or running to put herself between them and danger even when she cannot do anything to save them (and actually, if she ran away, they could sort of save themselves?).

Which brings me to heroism. There's noble heroics (see: Ethan), there's reluctant heroics (see: Logan), and there is STUPID HEROICS (see: Jayden). I don't really know where Ryan fits in this. Maybe brave heroics? He's fighting to stay alive for at least half of this story, though he does get some heroic action towards the end. Anyway, Jayden is one of the prophesied Deliverers but she is inclined to stupid, short-sighted heroics where she frequently messes up escape plans because of her inability to actually run away when she needs to. I know, I know, it adds to the tension and the plot, but you'd think she'd learn after the second time or so. (But NOOOO she can't run because Ethan/Ryan might die and no one can die except her. Except if she does, the prophecy fails and EVERY ONE DIES. Right.)

Then there is revenge. Personal vendettas break from their confines every once in a while, with all the lovely tragic backstories making their appearances (sorry, I'm a sucker for tragic heroes), and whilst some of these get pushed aside momentarily to deal with current circumstances, you just know it's going to rear its head sometime in the future. Or in other (shorter) words, several characters have difficulty staying on course because they have a thirst for revenge.

AT ANY RATE. Scarlet Moon is a thrilling read for fantasy lovers.

Note: I received a free copy of this book via Unicorn Questor for an upcoming blog tour. I was given the book with no expectation of a positive review and the review is my own.

View all my reviews

The Amber Eyes Blog Tour is coming up! I'll be reviewing Amber Eyes (the sequel to Scarlet Moon) on January 24th so check back here then! 

Get Scarlet Moon on Amazon.
Get Amber Eyes on Amazon.

#musicmonday: Psalm 46 | Shane & Shane

---

I am selfishly depressed that we can't do this song in church because we don't have the musicians or the singers for it.

Down the TBR hole

I had some time (not really) so I decided to do this. I found it off one of the blogs I've been following sporadically, and since my "to read" shelf on Goodreads now stands at 432, it might be time to pare it down a little.

So yeah, it works like this:

• Go to your goodreads to-read shelf.
• Order on ascending date added.
• Take the first 5 (or 10 (or even more!) if you’re feeling adventurous) books. Of course if you do this weekly, you start where you left off the last time.
• Read the synopses of the books
• Decide: keep it or should it go?

--- ONE ---

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut

Kurt Vonnegut's absurdist classic Slaughterhouse-Five introduces us to Billy Pilgrim, a man who becomes unstuck in time after he is abducted by aliens from the planet Tralfamadore. In a plot-scrambling display of virtuosity, we follow Pilgrim simultaneously through all phases of his life, concentrating on his (and Vonnegut's) shattering experience as an American prisoner of war who witnesses the firebombing of Dresden.


Slaughterhouse-Five is supposed to be famous. Ratings are high, at 4.06/5. Robin Hobb and Lynn Flewelling rated it at 5 & 4 stars respectively, so I probably should give it a go.
Verdict: Keep, assuming I find a copy sometime somewhere.

--- TWO---

Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

Introducing one of the most famous characters in literature, Jean Valjean—the noble peasant imprisoned for stealing a loaf of bread—Les Misérables ranks among the greatest novels of all time. In it, Victor Hugo takes readers deep into the Parisian underworld, immerses them in a battle between good and evil, and carries them to the barricades during the uprising of 1832 with a breathtaking realism that is unsurpassed in modern prose. Within his dramatic story are themes that capture the intellect and the emotions: crime and punishment, the relentless persecution of Valjean by Inspector Javert, the desperation of the prostitute Fantine, the amorality of the rogue Thénardier, and the universal desire to escape the prisons of our own minds. Les Misérables gave Victor Hugo a canvas upon which he portrayed his criticism of the French political and judicial systems, but the portrait that resulted is larger than life, epic in scope—an extravagant spectacle that dazzles the senses even as it touches the heart.

I actually started this before but got distracted halfway. I think I was ultimately bored by long descriptions of war and soldiers going to battle. At any rate, I've watched the musical.
Verdict: Delete.

--- THREE---

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman

Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors. First, her fearsome uncle, Lord Asriel, appears with evidence of mystery and danger in the far North, including photographs of a mysterious celestial phenomenon called Dust and the dim outline of a city suspended in the Aurora Borealis that he suspects is part of an alternate universe. He leaves Lyra in the care of Mrs. Coulter, an enigmatic scholar and explorer who offers to give Lyra the attention her uncle has long refused her. In this multilayered narrative, however, nothing is as it seems. Lyra sets out for the top of the world in search of her kidnapped playmate, Roger, bearing a rare truth-telling instrument, the alethiometer. All around her children are disappearing—victims of so-called "Gobblers"—and being used as subjects in terrible experiments that separate humans from their daemons, creatures that reflect each person's inner being. And somehow, both Lord Asriel and Mrs. Coulter are involved.

I initially wanted to read this because it was supposed to be written as an antithesis to the Narnia series. Reading the synopsis doesn't make it sound very enticing... but I already have the books (all three).
Verdict: Keep, only because I already have the books so I might as well read them.

--- FOUR---

The Princess Bride by William Goldman

What happens when the most beautiful girl in the world marries the handsomest prince of all time and he turns out to be...well...a lot less than the man of her dreams? As a boy, William Goldman claims, he loved to hear his father read the S. Morgenstern classic, The Princess Bride. But as a grown-up he discovered that the boring parts were left out of good old Dad's recitation, and only the "good parts" reached his ears. Now Goldman does Dad one better. He's reconstructed the "Good Parts Version" to delight wise kids and wide-eyed grownups everywhere. What's it about? Fencing. Fighting. True Love. Strong Hate. Harsh Revenge. A Few Giants. Lots of Bad Men. Lots of Good Men. Five or Six Beautiful Women. Beasties Monstrous and Gentle. Some Swell Escapes and Captures. Death, Lies, Truth, Miracles, and a Little Sex. In short, it's about everything.

This is a classic. EVERYONE QUOTES IT. I've watched the movie, which was wonderful. The book can only be better, right?
Verdict: Keep.

--- FIVE---

1984 by George Orwell

Among the seminal texts of the 20th century, Nineteen Eighty-Four is a rare work that grows more haunting as its futuristic purgatory becomes more real. Published in 1949, the book offers political satirist George Orwell's nightmare vision of a totalitarian, bureaucratic world and one poor stiff's attempt to find individuality. The brilliance of the novel is Orwell's prescience of modern life--the ubiquity of television, the distortion of the language--and his ability to construct such a thorough version of hell. Required reading for students since it was published, it ranks among the most terrifying novels ever written.

Another book that everyone quotes. I have this strange sense of knowing too much about it that I can't tell if it's second-hand knowledge or if it's from actually having read the book. In a way, it sounds like something I would read, but it's also from that era where I find most of the stuff hard to get through. So I don't know.
Verdict: undecided.

---

Well, that's five!

... I'm not very good at deleting books off my TBR, am I?

#bookreview: Once We Were There | Bernice Chauly

Once We Were There by Bernice Chauly
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Once We Were There is dark and gritty, as fueled by drugs and sex as its setting in late 1990's - early 2000's Kuala Lumpur.

The story itself is a story of profound loss. It's the story of a woman first losing herself in her anger and her politics, then losing herself in family and motherhood, losing the child that has become an extension of her self, losing herself to drugs, and finally at the end of it all, trying to discover who she is, who she's meant to be after she's lost everything. And it does feel like Delonix Regia has no sense of self for most of the story--she is defined by the people and events around her. Whenever anything goes wrong, or she is at a loss, she turns back to alcohol and drugs.

Set against the backdrop of the 1998 Reformasi until Anwar's release in 2004, the events of the times weave in and out of the plot. Del and her journalist friends protest Anwar Ibrahim's arrest. They start an independent journalism site on the internet, the first of its kind. Del finds purpose in this. But as the romance takes over, and Omar, and subsequently Alba, becomes her world, this fades away, reappearing only in spurts: the lost appeal, subsequent protests, Mahathir's resignation, Pak Lah's win during the GE, Anwar's release. Little sound bites that are soon forgotten, stuffed in to tell you what year it is by now. By the middle of the novel, it doesn't really feel important anymore--it's just Kuala Lumpur. The journalistic beginning feels like an excuse for a social commentary on the times.

You could also say that undue emphasis is given to this recounting of history, evidenced by the fact that although the book description says "But when their two-year-old daughter Alba is kidnapped, Del must confront the terrible secret of a city where babies are sold and girls are trafficked", this event only happens 2/3rds of the way through the book. It feels terribly unbalanced, plot-wise, unless this is the way things work with literary fiction? (I read mainly in the fantasy/scifi genre, where inciting incidents usually take place in the first quarter.)

Overall, however, the novel works. It reads almost psychedelically, jumping between viewpoints and timelines, rushing in and out of events but also lingering in the here, the now, the never-ending painful present. I hesitate to say that it's brilliant. I disliked the first awfully long chapter (all the chapters are awfully long and could have been broken up at multiple points), wondering where Chauly was going with her part-novel, part-history lesson, part-social commentary. Yet, having finally pushed through, it feels like this disjointedness, this floating story, this bits-and-pieces cobbled together thing, finally makes sense in the light of the ending. Or I could just be extending literary grace and purpose to something that has no reason.

Personally, I don't see myself revisiting Once We Were There. It's not one of those stories that have gripped me in any specific way. However, I do not regret reading it either; it's one of those books that you feel you should read, at least once in your lifetime.

It's unapologetically Malaysian, though at times Chauly tends to overexplain as if pandering to the international crowd, and it's what the Malaysian English fiction scene needs more of.

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#musicmonday: You are the Beauty | Gungor

This is one of the oddest yet most fascinating songs I've heard in a while.
Which, I guess, is a good way to start off a new year.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!