strange and random happenstance

The House of Cards Trilogy was a defining moment in television history. When The Best of Masterpiece Theatre was chosen for its thirty-fifth anniversary it easily made the top twelve with every celebrity interviewed reciting Francis Urquhart's famous line; "You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment." Until now I had only watched the first arc, House of Cards, and one can't deny Ian Richardson's talent. This role was made for him. The way he insouciantly address us, the audience, as his confidants and collaborators, and his breaking of the fourth wall is iconic. This was the insight into the backstabbing world of politics and the monarchy we had been longing for adapted by Andrew Davies from a book written by a Thatcher insider. The problem I had when I first watched House of Cards is that Francis Urquhart is, in my mind, asexual. What turns him on is power, not other people, unless it's his control over them. He only begins an affair with the young journalist Mattie Storin, played by Susannah Harker, because he realizes that that is what she wants and that is how he'll exert control. This is his leverage. Making her feel special. But her desire to call him "daddy" was just too creepy. There's just such an ick factor to it that Mattie and her relationship with Francis is actually creepier than the fact that Kevin Spacey played the role when it was adapted for American audiences by Netflix. Years later going back to watch this I was still just revolted by the whole "daddy" of it all. But I was determined. This was the time for me to not just watch the first arc but to finish the whole series by watching To Play the King and then The Final Cut. First off, watching this when I was already suffering form political fatigue was probably not the best of ideas, but that's on me. The problem I have with the final two arcs is, taken as a whole, they don't feel like a logical progression of the character. Once Francis becomes Prime Minister he proceeds to make all the mistakes that his predecessor did which led to Francis ousting him. What's more he begins another affair which makes even less sense because this is supposedly purely sexual in nature, and, as I've said, he is not a sexual being. What's more he somehow succeeds in toppling the monarchy. To an extent. To Play the King is about him clashing with the new king played by Michael Kitchen and they portray the man who is in all but name Charles III as a very nature loving, exercise obsessed, goody. The exact opposite of Francis and he just bows down to Francis for no reason I can see. It literally makes no sense, nor does how they portray the Royal family by noticeably not referring to the real people and their problems but doing it with a nudge and a wink. But this show keeps unraveling more and more. It literally collapses like a house of cards with Francis somehow catching remorse. This is not a man who has remorse and becoming a secondary character before his ignoble assassination in The Final Cut is absurd. He's Shakespearean, he's Machiavellian, he's not, in any way, human. Yes, you could say he went the way of Macbeth, on which this is heavily based, but no. It doesn't work. In the final analysis did I end up hating the whole series? You might very well think that; I couldn't possibly comment.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Francis Urquhart, House of Cards, Ian Richardson, Macbeth, Mattie Storin, Michael Kitchen, Politics, Prime Minister, Royalty, Shakespearean, Susannah Harker, The Final Cut, To Play the King

Off the top of my head I can name half a dozen actors who have memorably played Churchill from John Lithgow to Gary Oldman. Yet these award winning roles in Lithgow's and Oldman's case didn't excite me nearly as much as the fact that Robert Hardy had portrayed Churchill. For over thirty years he appeared as Churchill in a variety of shows, including an episode of Marple if you can fathom it. In fact I probably only saw him in Marple before finally tracking down a copy of Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years. The reason that Robert Hardy excited me as Churchill is that he is an effortless actor. Whatever role he's playing he is that character. Plus, there's something Churchillian about him that just felt right to me and obviously to him, or he wouldn't have kept going back to the role again and again. Oh boy was I in for a surprise. I will admit that by the end I had become accustomed to how he was playing Churchill so that I accepted him in the role but the problem is he's trying too hard. This isn't the effortless actor I have come to know and love, this is an actor working their hardest to capture the speech and mannerisms of an historical figure to such a degree that the role feels belabored. It was off-putting to see this great actor brought low by overthinking. This show has an amazing cast and yet, because of Hardy's insistence on how he played Churchill, the whole thing came off as a caricature. This is one instance where the fact that this show isn't readily available makes sense. This can be lost media and no one will mourn it's passing. What's more I just don't know what the focus was meant to be. While he was "out of office" in the British sense as not having a cabinet position, by American standards he was still in office because he retained his seat in Epping. So, he wasn't really out in the wilderness as I see it... But until we actually get to introduction of Hitler in episode three with the ramifications of that not seen until the end of episode four, we literally have a miniseries that is just India, India, India, Clemmie why won't you have sex with me, as she not so subtly chops down a beloved tree, India, India, India. I mean, I get that he's obsessed with India, so many Brits were, but what's the deal with his wife? I always thought that Winston and Clemmie had a good and solid marriage and here it's all her running off and not giving him what he wants and NEVER explaining anything and in the end just wasting the brilliance of Siân Phillips. You DO NOT waste Livia! Though you kind of forget the whole first half of the miniseries when the back half is all the lead-up to WWII. Years of Churchill warning what was to come and everyone ignoring him. Given what's going on in this country at the moment I just couldn't handle this. I'd zone out, I'd disassociate, by the end when they were doing an air raid test I was balling. So many people posit the question that if you had a time machine would you go back and kill Hitler. I just want to go back and bitch-slap Neville Chamberlain. So much of what he was saying to appease Hitler is the basic party line of the Democrats. Can't they see that history is repeating!?! Aren't they just as scared shitless as I am on a daily basis!?! Also, is Bernie our Churchill? Please let it be so. I need a small measure of hope.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Bernie Sanders, Caricature, Democrats, Eric Porter, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Hitler, Marple, Neville Chamberlain, Politics, Robert Hardy, Siân Phillips, Winston Churchill, Winston Churchill The Wilderness Years, WWII

Until American Gods I never thought a show with Ian McShane could ever be bad. He elevates every show he is in, from American Horror Story to Dallas. Though technically American Horror Story should not even be mentioned in the same breath as the magnificent juggernaut that was Dallas. But needs must. Because of American Gods I came to the realization that he isn't capable of saving every show and that's when I gave myself permission to never watch American Gods again. The fact that Bryan Fuller couldn't make it work should have been my sign to abandon it before the end of the first season but I just had to get to the episode filmed at The House on the Rock. If you know, you know. Now I'm not saying that Disraeli: Portrait of a Romantic is bad. It's nowhere near the level of American Gods, it's just that it's so damn forgettable. The main problem is that four episodes is too short to do the life of Benjamin Disraeli credit. Either it should have been longer or shorter, and as for what they chose to focus on? They really needed someone to come along and tell them that the minutiae of back door political deals that took up an entire episode was mind-numbing. He was a larger than life character and they seem to make him into a caricature. Not via the acting I should note, because with Ian McShane, as previously noted, and Rosemary Leach, Anton Rodgers, Patricia Hodge and the like, they aren't going to give a bad performance, they are going to be let down by the material. And they were. The first episode was basically Disraeli sewing his wild oats. Yes, he was a Lothario. The second episode is him trying to get his foothold in politics while having a comfortable domestic life. The third episode is him being the confidant of the Queen. The forth episode, as previously mentioned, is political minutiae as he is hailed as an elder statesman. And, while this outline seems to make sense, each episode tackling the furtherance of his life, the way things change so rapidly in his life because of the condensed timeline gives the viewers whiplash. Character's opinions wildly swing between scenes from hate to love. The most vivid examples are with his wife and Queen Victoria. His wife, Mary Anne Disraeli, was originally the wife of Benjamin's friend and colleague Wyndham Lewis. He thought her vapid and stupid. So how, one year after the death of Lewis, was he marrying her? A cynic would say it was for her money, but he also apparently had a change of heart and viewed her as far shrewder than he ever could have guessed. We don't see this. One scene he's talking about what an idiot she is and the next he couldn't live without her advice. Say what!?! How did that happen? The same thing happens with Queen Victoria. She won't talk to him and then he's her dearest confidant. This just doesn't make sense. Show don't tell. But even if they had shown the change in these relationships properly his relationship with his sister would have made me forever hate him. His sister is the caregiver for their father Isaac and when he's dying he offers no monetary support for his sister. Yes, money was tight, but he was buying a luxury house down the road while forcing his own sister out of her home! At least in a shorter version perhaps we wouldn't have seen this nasty and selfish side to the great statesman. But in a longer version perhaps we could have had some semblance of a cohesive life. As it is this is just bits and pieces that we're supposed to put together to make up a whole. Contradictions and all. Yes, perhaps this is more realistic, but it doesn't make good television. 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: American Gods, Anton Rodgers, Benjamin Disraeli, Disraeli: Portrait of a Romantic, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Ian McShane, Lothario, Patricia Hodge, Politics, Queen Victoria, Rosemary Leach, The House on the Rock

During my childhood it seemed that Derek Jacobi was omnipresent. Or perhaps I just watched The Secret of NIMH more times than I can count. But whenever his name was mentioned everyone would always add the caveat about what I great actor he is. At the time I didn't understand why the caveat was needed. And then I watched I, Claudius and I understood. The thing is you can never really grasp what an amazing actor Derek Jacobi is until you've seen him as Claudius. In 2007 for Masterpiece's thirty-fifth anniversary they conducted a poll to codify The Best of Masterpiece. I might have really gone in hard on the voting for the 2002 adaptation of The Forsyte Saga, which means that I, Claudius placed third behind that adaptation. I now take full responsibility for this happening, because I, Claudius deserved the highest spot it could get. Because there was no way it could upset Upstairs, Downstairs from the top spot. And I agree, Upstairs, Downstairs is the definitive show connected to Masterpiece, but I don't think it's the best show, especially in those early seasons of Masterpiece. In those early seasons I honestly don't know of a show with a more perfect cast than I, Claudius. The cast is what raises this above the typical Roman fare. And let me tell you, I know my Roman fare. I watch a lot of miniseries about Rome. I'm not thinking about Rome all the time, but if there's a miniseries or series about Rome I will devour it. Obviously there's Rome, but I have a soft spot for Britannia and Domina. In fact I know it's been two years, but I'm still not over Domina's cancellation. But these shows are nothing to I, Claudius. NOTHING! These are perhaps the best twelve episodes of any series ever. The cast alone is stacked! Brian Blessed as Augustus, Siân Phillips in her award winning turn as Livia, John Hurt as Caligula! Once you see their performances of these characters no one else could ever do them in your eyes. Caligula is unhinged yet at the same time sympathetic. He's out of control, he has a freakin' horse as a senator, and yet, during this spiral of debauchery there is such pathos that John Hurt brings to the role. Malcolm McDowell didn't stand a chance of usurping John Hurt when he took on the role three years later in the eponymous film. Did HE do a modern dance drag show? Well!?! As for Siân Phillips? Oh, she's so deliciously devious but her trying to find a loophole to eternal suffering on her deathbed for all the harm she has done, and let me tell you, if there was a death and it looked like poison, it was, and Livia was behind it, was television at it's best. Also, apparently getting deified is the loophole she was looking for. Thankfully she had a devoted grandson to carry out her final wishes. It was Claudius if you were wondering. And Claudius, that poor ruler sandwiched between Caligula and Nero. But Derek Jacobi brings this man out of the shadows of history, shows that this man with a limp and a stammer had insight beyond his years. The way he shepherds the story, being the focal point, yet also an outsider, makes this a show you just can't turn away from. There's a reason Kenneth Branagh cast Jacobi in Dead Again. That stammer, that will, it's unforgettable and interestingly an important twist to that film. Plus, oddly enough this show is currently escapist, because Rome really makes current politics and ever the fantastical politics seen in shows like Game of Thrones look tame by comparison. Now if only they'd release this on Blu-ray for it's upcoming fiftieth anniversary life would be worth celebrating. But I'd avoid the figs at the celebration if I were you. If you know, you know.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Augustus Caesar, Brian Blessed, Caligula, Dead Again, Derek Jacobi, Fifty-Five Years a Masterpiece, Horse, I Claudius, John Hurt, Kenneth Branagh, Livia, Malcolm McDowell, Politics, Rome, Siân Phillips, Stammer, The Secret of Nimh

I am perhaps not the best judge of this show. I might be a tad obsessed with the Mitfords. I have poured over everything these prolific sisters have written and therefore know their history. I know what came before and what came after so I don't know if someone who at the very least hasn't read Mary S. Lovell's biography from which this show is adapted would get it. Does Outrageous tell you enough that you understand the dynamic or are you like my Dad asking me questions every two seconds? But in fairness, my Dad asks me questions no matter what we're watching, I just knew all the answers this time around. On the other hand I might be the best judge of this show because I know they got it right. They chose the perfect inflection point in the lives of the Mitfords to show how this family fractured. How the fanaticism of fascism broke this family apart. And the thing is, you don't have to be a British family in the 1930s split by political ideology to understand this. Just look at America today, families are being torn apart, and not just because of evil policies by the government, but by political beliefs within families. This show isn't just relevant, it's so timely it's spooky. Bessie Carter is the perfect Nancy Mitford, she has her mom's hair, her Dad's nose, and the talent to match both. She's wry and exasperated, she is the voice of the audience wondering how her two beloved sisters, Diana and Unity, are drawn into Hitler's orbit. And, like a good sister, she tries to understand, she actually goes to one of Oswald Mosley's British Union of Fascists rallies and she is horrified. How can people she love be drawn in by this hate. And I think the scene where Diana and Unity go to their first Nazi rally captures it all. It's terrifying. The fervor, the fanaticism, the fashionable branding. Really, the Nazis had the branding, which is why to this day the swastika brings such primal fear and hatred with it. But their expressions show how caught up these two siblings are in the Reich. Joanna Vanderham playing against type as Diana is luxuriously evil. She is genuinely shocked that people don't love what she stands for. As for Shannon Watson as Unity? She is sheer perfection. When reading about Unity it's hard to get a read on her because of what came after coloring her history. Unity was so split by her loyalties between her family in England and her love for Germany that she attempted to kill herself when war was officially declared. That hasn't happened here. Yet. God willing we get more seasons. But the enfeebled state in which her life continued after she put a bullet in her brain makes her be treated in a certain light by historians. She reads as developmentally disabled or autistic. She may very well have been autistic with her fanatical obsession with Hitler. She literally went to the same cafe Hitler went to day in and day out just for the chance of seeing him. And Shannon Watson plays this to Aryan superiority. She portrays that naivete combined with cruelty. A wide eyed innocence that publicly decries the Jews because it's what Hitler believes. She is someone you can totally see killing the family pet. Something this series totally baits you with. If this show has any faults it would be that, for the moment, they are downplaying how dangerous Mosley was, in particular the Battle of Cable Street which was handled so exquisitely in the reboot of Upstairs Downstairs, and there just aren't enough episodes. Six isn't nearly enough. More! 

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: And the Emmy Goes To, Bessie Carter, Blackshirts, Diana Mitford, Hitler, Joanna Vanderham, Mary S. Lovell, Mitfords, Nancy Mitford, Nazis, Oswald Mosley, Outrageous, Politics, Shannon Watson, Unity Mitford, Upstairs Downstairs, WWII

Shadowstitch by Cari Thomas
Published by: HarperCollins Publishers
Publication Date: June 6th, 2024
Format: Hardcover, 658 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Anna Everdell's life has been turned upside down by the arrival of Effie Fawkes. Her sister. Her twin sister. Her twin sister whom she never knew about. They were separated after their parents' death in the hope of surviving the curse that killed them. Anna was raised by her unlamented Aunt while Effie was raised by their mother's best friend Selene. The curse is such that they are fated to love the same man with deadly consequences. That man in Attis Lockerby. He is Selene's true child, unlike Effie, born and raised to break the curse. But Anna and Effie could never live without Attis so they must find another way. All three of them living together under Selene's roof isn't ideal but after the death of her Aunt, Anna can't face that house of horrors she called home. She was tortured her entire life and for what? To learn to hide her true self? Which might be a valuable skill in the current atmosphere. Protective coloration is needed with what's coming. Her Aunt might not have been wrong about the Hunters. There is a new government agency, the WIPS, the Witchcraft Inquisitorial and Prevention Services. They are tasked with investigating the rising cases of hysteria. And Anna's school, St. Olave's, is the epicenter of the hysteria, thanks in no small part to their coven's manipulations of mean girl Darcey. The school year starts with investigations and inquisitions. Things that were whispered about are now spoken aloud, that Effie, Anna, Manda, and Rowan are witches. It just so happens that on this one occasion they are right. The terror gripping London intensifies when on the one year anniversary of the death of the faceless women in Big Ben the ravens at the Tower of London start to act up. Everyone knows the legend, if the ravens leave the Tower London will fall. The Coven of the Dark Moon must therefore keep their heads down. Which is exactly what Effie doesn't want to do. She will never kowtow to anyone no matter if it endangers herself or others. And the coven is having teething issues as the member try to discover their affinities. Their powers are starting to develop but Anna's are still unpredictable and that puts everyone in danger. Anna and Effie need to find out what their mother learned about their curse and trace it back to it's origins in the 1600s in an attempt to break it. But even those who talk to the dead, the Hel Witches, don't seem able to help. The only one actually helping Anna is her ex Peter Nowell. He wants to "save" Anna. But it looks like she and her coven might be beyond saving.

In the modern era a witch hunt is a term used politically. Think of McCarthyism. Now that was an actual political witch hunt. But in the current era there is a certain bombastic politician who likes to throw the phrase around. A lot. He might just be the most powerful person in the world to my dismay and the dismay of many others. I'm sure he probably doesn't even know what it means. He just says it as a way to get his followers to believe he is being wrongly persecuted. Because, sadly, most witch hunts were about punishing the innocent, usually clever women for being helpful to their communities, though there are also cases of mass delusions and well, plain old spite and revenge. This certain politician is all about the spite and revenge. He plays the victim for sympathy again and again. But just his intoning of the phrase "witch hunt" repeated ad infinitum has made it relevant again. Not because he is the victim of said witch hunts, but because he is carrying them out on innumerable people unjustly. It is the classic case of Republican projection, whatever they say the Democrats are doing to them they are doing themselves. It's reprehensible. But because of the omnipresence of witch hunts this lends a grounding in reality to Shadowstitch. Yes, they really are witches, yes, they might have done some questionable curses, but that doesn't make the witch hunt justified. It's just rounding up the "other" and punishing them for not falling into line. Just because a book is fantasy doesn't mean it's not reality. Some of the harshest truths and bleakest realities can be seen clearer when focused through the lens of fantasy. Just look to Andor. This is a show set a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, and yet there isn't a more relevant show out there that speaks to this moment in history. The Ghorman Massacre, holy hell, it is so powerful and terrifying because I can see that happening at any moment to people I love and care for. Shadowstitch also speaks to this moment. But it speaks to it in the way Arthur's Miller's The Crucible did, which besides being about teenagers, please ignore the anachronistic use of that word for the Salem witch trials, was about McCarthyism. It all comes full circle. But with a dash of the Third Reich. Because where would a book about teenage witches be without some Nazis Youths.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Andor, Anna Everdell, Attis Lockerby, Cari Thomas, Coven, Curse, Effie Fawkes, Ghorman Massacre, Hysteria, McCarthyism, Nazis Youths, Politics, Shadowstitch, Summer School, The Crucible, Third Reich, Threadneedle, Witch Hunt, Witches

Rowankind by Jacey Bedford
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: November 27th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 473 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

When freed many of the rowankind took the Fae's offer to return to their homeland, Iaru. Yet there are those that stayed behind in Britain. They have made lives for themselves and have no desire to return to a homeland that they've never known. The humans though don't feel safe. They have treated the rowankind worse than slaves for hundreds of years and now those slaves have the power to fight back. And they are. In retaliation the humans are killing the rowankind. Reports of mass executions happening all over the country have reached the ears of the Fae and they want to take revenge. But Ross and Corwen beg the Fae council to let them attempt a diplomatic approach first before razing all of Britain. A major problem though is in educating the Fae that the world has changed. They have cloistered themselves in Iaru for so long they don't understand that being King isn't as powerful as it once was. The King has to answer to Parliament and they have to answer to the people. This will not be an easy fix and yet the Fae expect it to be. They expect Ross and Corwen to just walk up to the King and get him to make his subjects behave. In order to stop more bloodshed the couple are willing to attempt the impossible. And it really looks like it shall be impossible, George III isn't well, and the reason shocks Ross when she discovers it, the King has magic. Magic he isn't using. Much like Corwen's brother denying his wolf half, the King is denying his magic and it's making him very ill. Yet once contact is made Ross really hopes that they can reach some sort of agreement. But the Fae think they are taking too long and start demonstrating what they are capable of. If the populace was scared of a few rowankind with not much magic how are they going to feel about the Fae turning their beer into water and bringing about a blight to their crops? If everyone would just behave and trust each other for one minute perhaps everything will work out and Ross and Corwen can have their happy ending. Perhaps.

Rowankind doesn't really bring anything new to the table with regard to this trilogy but it does satisfactorily tie up all the loose ends. And there are many, from rescuing missing men to reinstating Gentleman Jim on his island. And there is also much politicking. Because the merging of two worlds, with magical citizens living in a nonmagical world, needs policies. There need to be laws to protect their rights and their bodies from harm. And it's a sad day when fictional Fae end up having more rights than many people do today. But that's just the world we live, and proves once again why I want to live in books and in particular this series. But while the politics do take center stage along with several notable politicians of the day, that's not all this book is about. We get one last piratical adventure, another shooting of London Bridge, a final Walsingham showdown, some more family drama, and lots of happily ever afters. Because this is fantasy and that means the good prevail, the bad fail, and everyone gets to sail off into the sunset. Plus there's just this wonderful message of the healing powers of love and that love is love. Ross is able to find love again even though she thought she never would after the death of her husband Will. Her brother David finds love with a rowankind servant Annie. Her brother-in-law is able to tame his beast due to the love of his partner Roland. Her Aunt Rosie reunites with her lost love Leo. Even the servants get in on the love with her maid Poppy marrying Yeardley. And, now that I think about it, this whole series is about finding your family, those who you love with your whole heart and soul. You don't have to be related by blood, I mean look what Ross had to do to her brother.... It's about finding your tribe. Be they pirates or pixies, when you find your people the world is so much better because they are there for you in good times and in bad and most importantly, they will fight for you and even help you burying the bodies. So here's a shout-out to all my family, I love you like I love books, and you know how much that is.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Britain, Corwen, Execution, Fae, Family, George III, HEA, Jacey Bedford, London Bridge, Love, Magic, Pirates, Politics, Regency England, Regency Magic, Ross Tremayne, Rowankind, Silverwolf, Trilogy, Winterwood

Rowankind by Jacey Bedford
Published by: DAW
Publication Date: November 27th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 473 Pages
Rating: ★★★★★
To Buy

When freed many of the rowankind took the Fae's offer to return to their homeland, Iaru. Yet there are those that stayed behind in Britain. They have made lives for themselves and have no desire to return to a homeland that they've never known. The humans though don't feel safe. They have treated the rowankind worse than slaves for hundreds of years and now those slaves have the power to fight back. And they are. In retaliation the humans are killing the rowankind. Reports of mass executions happening all over the country have reached the ears of the Fae and they want to take revenge. But Ross and Corwen beg the Fae council to let them attempt a diplomatic approach first before razing all of Britain. A major problem though is in educating the Fae that the world has changed. They have cloistered themselves in Iaru for so long they don't understand that being King isn't as powerful as it once was. The King has to answer to Parliament and they have to answer to the people. This will not be an easy fix and yet the Fae expect it to be. They expect Ross and Corwen to just walk up to the King and get him to make his subjects behave. In order to stop more bloodshed the couple are willing to attempt the impossible. And it really looks like it shall be impossible, George III isn't well, and the reason shocks Ross when she discovers it, the King has magic. Magic he isn't using. Much like Corwen's brother denying his wolf half, the King is denying his magic and it's making him very ill. Yet once contact is made Ross really hopes that they can reach some sort of agreement. But the Fae think they are taking too long and start demonstrating what they are capable of. If the populace was scared of a few rowankind with not much magic how are they going to feel about the Fae turning their beer into water and bringing about a blight to their crops? If everyone would just behave and trust each other for one minute perhaps everything will work out and Ross and Corwen can have their happy ending. Perhaps.

Rowankind doesn't really bring anything new to the table with regard to this trilogy but it does satisfactorily tie up all the loose ends. And there are many, from rescuing missing men to reinstating Gentleman Jim on his island. And there is also much politicking. Because the merging of two worlds, with magical citizens living in a nonmagical world, needs policies. There need to be laws to protect their rights and their bodies from harm. And it's a sad day when fictional Fae end up having more rights than many people do today. But that's just the world we live, and proves once again why I want to live in books and in particular this series. But while the politics do take center stage along with several notable politicians of the day, that's not all this book is about. We get one last piratical adventure, another shooting of London Bridge, a final Walsingham showdown, some more family drama, and lots of happily ever afters. Because this is fantasy and that means the good prevail, the bad fail, and everyone gets to sail off into the sunset. Plus there's just this wonderful message of the healing powers of love and that love is love. Ross is able to find love again even though she thought she never would after the death of her husband Will. Her brother David finds love with a rowankind servant Annie. Her brother-in-law is able to tame his beast due to the love of his partner Roland. Her Aunt Rosie reunites with her lost love Leo. Even the servants get in on the love with her maid Poppy marrying Yeardley. And, now that I think about it, this whole series is about finding your family, those who you love with your whole heart and soul. You don't have to be related by blood, I mean look what Ross had to do to her brother.... It's about finding your tribe. Be they pirates or pixies, when you find your people the world is so much better because they are there for you in good times and in bad and most importantly, they will fight for you and even help you burying the bodies. So here's a shout-out to all my family, I love you like I love books, and you know how much that is.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Britain, Corwen, Execution, Fae, Family, George III, HEA, Jacey Bedford, London Bridge, Love, Magic, Pirates, Politics, Regency England, Regency Magic, Ross Tremayne, Rowankind, Silverwolf, Trilogy, Winterwood

Moontangled by Stephanie Burgis
Published by: Five Fathoms Press
Publication Date: February 3rd 2020
Format: Paperback, 71 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

After a fraught beginning Thornfell College of Magic is thriving. The school is opening it's doors for a night of dancing and magic. The first ever class plans to dazzle their guests with a demonstration of their magical abilities after a ball under the stars. As for the school's top pupil, Juliana Banks, she has other things on her mind, other things that she is avoiding through denial and hard work. What's really on her mind is Caroline Fennell. Caroline and her have been secretly engaged for quite some time. Caroline has been trying to establish herself as a politician so they have sacrificed their own happiness for the moment to achieve their happily ever after down the road. But ever since Caroline's cousin Honoria fell from power in the Boudiccate Caroline's letters to Juliana have seemed cold and restrained. Is their love in danger? Now that Caroline no longer has her cousin's protection might she view Juliana as a liability as well? All these thoughts are racing through Juliana's head as her classmates primp her in an effort to show Caroline just what she's missing. The problem is, Caroline knows exactly what she's missing. She hasn't stopped loving Juliana, she's been distancing herself from her in an effort to not let the taint of Honoria's crimes effect her. Because if there's one thing Caroline can see clearly it's that Juliana is thriving at Thornfell. She has new friends and is excelling in her studies. How can Caroline force her to keep their betrothal when there's this whole new world at Juliana's feet and Caroline's prospects have been destroyed? Why force her fiance to stick to the plan when the plan is no longer possible? It would be better to just have a clean break. Both women are willing to do anything for the love of their life, but it will take a dangerous confrontation with a fey to get them to bare their hearts.

Moontangled is a short and sweet love story based around a tragic misunderstanding. It's basically Stephanie Burgis's The Gift of the Magi by way of Emmet Otter. Because, let's face it, Emmet Otter is the perfect retelling of The Gift of the Magi once you realize that Emmet's mother is totally selfish and didn't need that dress. And yes, this review has gone off the rails but I think I can get it back on track. Caroline and Juliana are both willing to sacrifice that which is most important to them to make the other happy. Sure it's not watches and hair or washtubs and tools, but they love each other so much that they are willing to do whatever it takes to make the other person happy all without grasping at first that all that matters is each other. As Doc Bullfrog says, "it appears to me that what you needed was each other." Their love is true because they are willing to sacrifice their own happiness for the other's. Thankfully though neither needs to sacrifice anything because all that was needed was open communication. All people get in their heads too much. They overthink and overanalyze to the point where they've worked themselves into a corner. They think they know the truth because how could they not after they've spent countless sleepless nights working through all the permutations of how things could go in their head. And who among us hasn't been derailed by things going differently than we imagined? Even getting to the point where we're not sure what we've said in actuality or in imagination. But thankfully in Caroline and Juliana's case they have fey intervention. The centuries-old fey guardian of the Harwood woods has vowed to watch and keep Thornfell safe. As she had experienced heartbreak she knew she had to protect the hearts of the inhabitants of Thornfell as well and therefore she staged an intervention and the truth did will out. Caroline and Juliana will have their happily ever after after all.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Ball, Boudiccate, Caroline Fennell, Doc Bullfrog, Emmet Otter, Fey, Juliana Banks, LGBTQIA+, Magic, Misunderstanding, Moontangled, Politics, Regency Magic, The Gift of the Magi, Thornfell College of Magic, True Love

Spellswept by Stephanie Burgis
Published by: Five Fathoms Press
Publication Date: April 30th, 2018
Format: Paperback, 88 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy

Amy Standish's life has gone to plan. Sure, she was passed from relative to relative and never really had a family or a true home, but her political ambitions are about to pay off. Her goal has always been to be a ruling member of the Boudiccate. These powerful women protect Angland with their mage husbands by their sides, just as Boudicca herself did when the Romans tried to invade. Amy's first step was to become Miranda Harwood's personal secretary. Ten months previously she started to work for the famous politician and member of the Boudiccate. And tonight, tonight she will propose marriage to the mage Lord Llewellyn and her ascension will be complete, minus a few details. Because tonight is the Harwood's annual Spring Equinox ball held in a legendary underwater ballroom situated in the Aelfen Mere at Harwood House that Miranda Harwood's husband created for her as a wedding gift three decades earlier. And what could be more perfect than to announce her engagement to Lord Llewellyn at the end of a ball she has organized down to the very last detail? Because Amy's life is about the details and her plan. Nothing will steer her off course, not even Miranda Harwood's son Jonathan. Jonathan Harwood is rather notorious. He did not follow in his father's footsteps and in fact refused to study magic. It was quite a scandal for the family that he didn't take up his place at the Great Library of Trinivantium but his family still loves him, and so does Amy. But he's not a mage and no one has ever become a member of the Boudiccate without a mage husband. If only Jonathan had studied magic her life could be perfect. Though life isn't perfect, no matter how hard you try to make it, and despite Amy double checking every single detail something dangerous could be about to happen in the underwater ballroom. It's not just the lives of the visiting dignitaries but the way the world works. Amy is about to be let in on the Harwood secret and she realizes why Jonathan has never studied magic and how she could perhaps find purpose, love, and a family, if she's only willing to reach out a grab it and it all hinges on Jonathan's thirteen year old sister, Cassandra.

When most people think of scholared magicians and wizards one thinks of men, of those great bearded wizards as made immortal by Terry Pratchett. And that's the world this book takes place in, except that it's not. In this Angland while men have the magic, they also have the emotions. The women wield political power and can compromise men. I just love this idea. It's turning the world on it's head but at the same time it's working within the framework of British history. Think of all the great women leaders from Boudicca to Queen Elizabeth, now what if their political power wasn't just an exception to the rule but the rule. Women are the political power because they are better built to handle it, and that's a concept I totally agree with. We are. But at the same time there's an interesting commentary that Spellswept underscores with Jonathan and Cassandra, that any society that has strict gender roles isn't a truly equal society. Yes, women, whom have historically been relegated to childrearing and the home, might cheer to think of a society where they have all the political might, I know I did, but is it fair to make every woman a politician and every man a mage? No it's not. People should be able to choose who and what they want to be not based on proscribed gender roles but based on talent and inclination. We see here that the most terrifying, yet the most liberating idea is what if anyone could be anything? Because then Amy wouldn't be forced to marry a mage she didn't love just because she did have political ambitions. And as for the reveal regarding Cassandra? It's an interesting situation. There is an agreement that she is allowed to be exempt from the rules as long as she's the only exception. Going back to my previous example of Queen Elizabeth, is it good to have people who are exceptions to the rules? Shouldn't there be equality in the world in all things? Well, one thing is certain, even in a world with magic you aren't guaranteed an easy life.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Amy Standish, Boudicca, Boudiccate, Cassandra Harwood, Equality, Harwood Spellbook, Jonathan Harwood, Mage, Politics, Queen Elizabeth, Romans, Spellswept, Spring Equinox Ball, Stephanie Burgis, Terry Pratchett

The Last Emperox by John Scalzi
Published by: Tor Books
Publication Date: April 14th, 2020
Format: Hardcover, 320 Pages
Rating: ★★
To Buy

Emperox Grayland II has gotten most of the rebellions under control. Sure Nadashe Nohamapetan is still out there somewhere, but Nadashe's mother and all their conspirators are under lock and key and most of their assets frozen. That is until Nadashe gets herself some new conspirators. It really shows her single-minded ambition that despite all that she has been through, from future Emperox consort to prisoner, that she still has her eyes on the prize; she will be Emperox no matter what. Though why she would want to rule a collapsing empire that is on the verge of complete disintegration is beyond the current Emperox, Grayland II. The current Emperox can think of one thing and one thing only, how to save all her people with only a handful of real allies. Marce has got the science side locked down. He even has some interesting ideas that could in the long run prove to be hugely helpful in saving civilization, but he needs time, something they don't have. While Kiva has got the conspiracy side of things handled, closely watching Nadashe's plots and wondering how she could possibly infiltrate the inner circle in order to help the Emperox more. But one thing is certain, when you have an enemy as tenacious as Nadashe, you can't plan for every single eventuality and someone will pay the ultimate price. Of course does the endgame really lead to the end or to a new beginning?

The Last Emperox suffers from being released when it was, and I'm not talking about the uncanny coincidence of having the same denouement as the Westworld episode "Genre" that aired two days before it was published. I'm talking about being released in the midst of this Covid-19 pandemic. What was a fun series that merged the tropes of space operas with a scattering of prescient politics just cut a little too close to the bone for me at the moment. Instead of light reading it felt like a chore to pick it up every night and some nights I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I know there are those out there who probably loved this installment for the exact reasons I object to it, and I'm sure in time I will appreciate this book for what it is, just not at the moment. There was one passage that brought me to tears because it encapsulated my current frustrations when Grayland was discussing how people will survive the end of life as they know it: "That's going to be up to the people in the individual systems to do. I can give them all the information I have and they need, but once the Interdependency is gone it will be up to them to decide what to do with that information. I don't think everyone is going to make it to End. But a lot of them will." We have SO MUCH information on Covid-19 and yet our individual system of the United States is run by idiots who aren't going to let us get to the end! In reading that passage you see how Scalzi works, completely. He's vehemently anti-Trump and his despondence at the current political climate informs this trilogy, but that's the genius of Scalzi, that in a far flung future you see the now. Only it was a little too painful seeing the now now.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Covid-19, Emperox, John Scalzi, Kiva Lagos, Marce Claremont, Nadashe Nohamapetan, Pandemic, Politics, Space Opera, The Collapsing Empire, The Interdependency, The Last Emperox, Westworld

Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman
Published by: Alfred A. Knopf
Publication Date: April 8th, 2008
Format: Hardcover, 104 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Lee Scoresby has set his balloon north in the hopes of finding some work. He's recently become an aeronaut, having won the balloon on a hand of poker. Though teaching himself has been a little hairy, something his hare daemon Hester would agree with, what with the balloon coming with only half a copy of The Elements of Aerial Navigation. One day he will find an intact copy of that valuable guide, until then as he lands in Novy Odense his number one goal is to line his pockets, which are perilously empty. And in a town built on every kind of oil imaginable not to have enough for a drop to fix his pistol feels downright shameful to Lee, so he sets out in search of some job leads. Stowing his balloon he walks to the nearest bar to look for employment and to wet his whistle and realizes he's walked into a town in the midst of an upheaval. There's to be an election that week for mayor and the incumbent looks to lose to the ex-senator Poliakov who's taken a strong anti-bear stance. Poliakov is a cunning man who is working with the powerful Larsen Manganese mining company which has supposedly just struck it rich in Novy Odense. All this Lee learns from a rather chatty poet, Sigurdsson, who happens to make his money as a journalist. While all these political machinations should be of some concern to Lee he's more interested in a distressed sea captain in the bar. Lee's interest in this man will put him in the center of all Novy Odense's problems and unit him with a powerful ally, the armoured bear, Iorek Byrnison.

While I picked up Once Upon a Time in the North when it first came out almost a decade ago I couldn't bring myself to read it because at the time this slim volume was THE END. This would be it from Philip Pullman with regard to his magnum opus, His Dark Materials. There were rumors and whispers that there would eventually be more but until the announcement this spring I just couldn't bring myself to read this story about when Lee and Iorek first met. I couldn't take the heartbreak that their story was over even if this was just the beginning chronologically. But what's odd is I'm really glad I waited. The book isn't just a great read, it's so relevant now that it is shocking. I mean it couldn't be more timely and it made me wonder, does Philip Pullman actually have an alethiometer? To so accurately depict the political climate almost a decade in advance is spooky. There's an election with Russians causing havoc, there's a charismatic leader whose entire platform is the removal of illegal immigrants taking jobs from the community in order to secure his win while really he's there to aid big business and the military industrial complex and line his pockets all the while having thugs working for him behind the scenes with his own personal army and the press in his pocket. I mean, seriously!?! Russians! Poliakov/Trump! Bears/Mexicans! Novy Odense Courier and Telegraph/Breitbart! It's spookily accurate. But what this does is rise the book from not just a story with bears and balloons into a fable for our time. Fairy Tales are there to teach people lessons, and I think the lessons shown here are ones that need to be taken to heart so we never end up in this situation again.

Yet the book wasn't all relevant to today, after all Lee Scoresby is a cowboy and a Texan through and through so Once Upon a Time in the North also deals lovingly with all the wonderful western tropes we've come to love to this very day. There's a reason Westworld would work in the real world as well as on the screen. Lee has a soft spot for the ladies yet he's honorable, giving advice to lonely women while not tarnishing their virtue. He's a crack shot, when his gun actually works. He has a weakness for gambling, but luckily with Hester by his side she'll keep him on the straight and narrow. He does what is right even if it gets him into a whole heap of trouble. Plus, there's something about a cowboy in a situation that is so beyond his ken that calls to me. Like Ethan Chandler on Penny Dreadful, he's without a home and in a foreign land and falling into a dangerous adventure but his moral compass will steer him right. There is also a villain from Lee's past! Poliakov has one Mr. Morton in his pay, an assassin from America whom Lee had a previous run-in with, though he knew him by the name of McConville. They had a set-to in Dakota Country that had elements of Deadwood and more than a dash of Pinkerton justice gone wrong. Like Dashiell Hammet's Red Harvest, there's a trail of bodies in this man's wake, friends of Lee, and Lee isn't about to let him get away this time. With the politics and the vengeance I feel that this book actually can stand on it's own. In fact, I think that not only can anyone read it, but that this would be a good starting point for anyone considering reading Philip Pullman's work. Yes, there are some spoilers, but the microcosm of characters is so rich that I would recommend Once Upon a Time in the North to anyone. Even those skeptical of fantasy.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Different Kind of P and P, Armoured Bears, Cowboy, Dashiell Hammett, Elections, His Dark Materials, Iorek Byrnison, Lee Scoresby, Once Upon a Time in the North, Philip Pullman, Pinkertons, Politics, Red Harvest

Once Upon a Time in the North by Philip Pullman
Published by: Alfred A. Knopf
Publication Date: April 8th, 2008
Format: Hardcover, 104 Pages
Rating: ★★★★
To Buy (different edition than one reviewed)

Lee Scoresby has set his balloon north in the hopes of finding some work. He's recently become an aeronaut, having won the balloon on a hand of poker. Though teaching himself has been a little hairy, something his hare daemon Hester would agree with, what with the balloon coming with only half a copy of The Elements of Aerial Navigation. One day he will find an intact copy of that valuable guide, until then as he lands in Novy Odense his number one goal is to line his pockets, which are perilously empty. And in a town built on every kind of oil imaginable not to have enough for a drop to fix his pistol feels downright shameful to Lee, so he sets out in search of some job leads. Stowing his balloon he walks to the nearest bar to look for employment and to wet his whistle and realizes he's walked into a town in the midst of an upheaval. There's to be an election that week for mayor and the incumbent looks to lose to the ex-senator Poliakov who's taken a strong anti-bear stance. Poliakov is a cunning man who is working with the powerful Larsen Manganese mining company which has supposedly just struck it rich in Novy Odense. All this Lee learns from a rather chatty poet, Sigurdsson, who happens to make his money as a journalist. While all these political machinations should be of some concern to Lee he's more interested in a distressed sea captain in the bar. Lee's interest in this man will put him in the center of all Novy Odense's problems and unit him with a powerful ally, the armoured bear, Iorek Byrnison.

While I picked up Once Upon a Time in the North when it first came out almost a decade ago I couldn't bring myself to read it because at the time this slim volume was THE END. This would be it from Philip Pullman with regard to his magnum opus, His Dark Materials. There were rumors and whispers that there would eventually be more but until the announcement this spring I just couldn't bring myself to read this story about when Lee and Iorek first met. I couldn't take the heartbreak that their story was over even if this was just the beginning chronologically. But what's odd is I'm really glad I waited. The book isn't just a great read, it's so relevant now that it is shocking. I mean it couldn't be more timely and it made me wonder, does Philip Pullman actually have an alethiometer? To so accurately depict the political climate almost a decade in advance is spooky. There's an election with Russians causing havoc, there's a charismatic leader whose entire platform is the removal of illegal immigrants taking jobs from the community in order to secure his win while really he's there to aid big business and the military industrial complex and line his pockets all the while having thugs working for him behind the scenes with his own personal army and the press in his pocket. I mean, seriously!?! Russians! Poliakov/Trump! Bears/Mexicans! Novy Odense Courier and Telegraph/Breitbart! It's spookily accurate. But what this does is rise the book from not just a story with bears and balloons into a fable for our time. Fairy Tales are there to teach people lessons, and I think the lessons shown here are ones that need to be taken to heart so we never end up in this situation again.

Yet the book wasn't all relevant to today, after all Lee Scoresby is a cowboy and a Texan through and through so Once Upon a Time in the North also deals lovingly with all the wonderful western tropes we've come to love to this very day. There's a reason Westworld would work in the real world as well as on the screen. Lee has a soft spot for the ladies yet he's honorable, giving advice to lonely women while not tarnishing their virtue. He's a crack shot, when his gun actually works. He has a weakness for gambling, but luckily with Hester by his side she'll keep him on the straight and narrow. He does what is right even if it gets him into a whole heap of trouble. Plus, there's something about a cowboy in a situation that is so beyond his ken that calls to me. Like Ethan Chandler on Penny Dreadful, he's without a home and in a foreign land and falling into a dangerous adventure but his moral compass will steer him right. There is also a villain from Lee's past! Poliakov has one Mr. Morton in his pay, an assassin from America whom Lee had a previous run-in with, though he knew him by the name of McConville. They had a set-to in Dakota Country that had elements of Deadwood and more than a dash of Pinkerton justice gone wrong. Like Dashiell Hammet's Red Harvest, there's a trail of bodies in this man's wake, friends of Lee, and Lee isn't about to let him get away this time. With the politics and the vengeance I feel that this book actually can stand on it's own. In fact, I think that not only can anyone read it, but that this would be a good starting point for anyone considering reading Philip Pullman's work. Yes, there are some spoilers, but the microcosm of characters is so rich that I would recommend Once Upon a Time in the North to anyone. Even those skeptical of fantasy.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: A Different Kind of P and P, Armoured Bears, Cowboy, Dashiell Hammett, Elections, His Dark Materials, Iorek Byrnison, Lee Scoresby, Once Upon a Time in the North, Philip Pullman, Pinkertons, Politics, Red Harvest

Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs
ARC Provided by the Publisher
Published by: Ace
Publication Date: March 8th, 2016
Format: Hardcover, 352 Pages
Rating: ★★★
To Buy

The Fae have an interesting way of showing their displeasure. They disappeared into their reservations and have slowly been letting their more dangerous monsters into the world just to hint at what they could do, given the motivation. One of those monsters happens to be attacking the Cable Bridge which spans the Columbia River, right smack in the middle of the Colombia River Basin Pack's territory. Mercy and Adam's pack. The pack stops the troll, at the cost of the bridge, but luckily not at the cost of any lives. It is obvious that the Fae need to be brought to heel, and at just the right moment Tad and Zee walk back into Mercy's life perhaps with the answer. They have brought with them a young boy Aiden. Or at least Aiden was young once before the Fae and Underhill took him and played with him for perhaps centuries. He is now Fire Touched, but more importantly a link to Underhill. If there's anything the Fae want above all else it's to reestablish their link to Underhill and it's magics. The Fae want Aiden and Mercy has Aiden. Perhaps an agreement can be reached? But the Fae never play fair and attempt to take the boy by force, but Mercy has pledged the pack's protection, even at the risk to their own lives. Yet Aiden himself is dangerous and therefore negotiations are eventually opened. As Mercy and Adam journey into the realm of the Fae they will be lucky to survive whatever underhanded tricks might be headed their way, but a successful outcome could be a boon to all.

I feel like I've started my reviews for the last few Patricia Briggs books talking about the harsh realities of long running series and how some of the books just won't be as good as others. You're being judged against your best and therefore if you stumble, well, your book might be a higher rating for another author, but not for you. And it's not that I haven't liked continuing on these adventures with characters I view as my friends, I just haven't enjoyed the ride as much with these last few forays. The apex for me in recent years was 2011's River Marked. The reason that this book stands out is because the narrative was streamlined. There are a lot of characters inhabiting Mercy's world, some have even gotten their own stories or series, so it's hard to get them all in on the action. With Frost Burned, Night Broken, and now with Fire Touched, Briggs seems determined to bring everyone by the Hauptmans house just to say hi. This is making the books unwieldy, with these drops ins compromising the time in the book that should be spent on plot development. I would rather the story have a solid groundwork than have Mercy baking brownies for the pack with orange oil. Between the knock down drag out fights and Fae politics, I didn't feel as if there was actually anything to this installment.

In fact, my major grip over the recent books is the increasing time spent on pack politics and Mercy's unsuitability as a mate for Adam. Firstly, I think Mercy has proven time and time again that she is more than capable of being the Alpha's mate of the Colombia River Basin Pack. Isn't that basically what every book is? Showing her suitability? Therefore to have these politics brought up again and again, it is really starting to fray my nerves and try my patience. When it was decreed in this book that there would be no more pack political infighting about Mercy I quite literally shouted for joy. The biggest hurtle in my enjoyment in these recent installment had been removed, and quickly replaced with Fae politics. I mean seriously? I feel like Mercy, can I never catch a break? To finally remove the politics only to have OTHER politics fill the void? Ugh, you have got to be kidding me. I feel that this is some kind of punishment. At the end of Fair Game when the Fae basically declared war on humanity, I was really excited to see how it would all play out. I was hoping for all out war and bloodshed. I should have taken into account that I was thinking from a very human perspective. The Fae don't operate in expected ways; and therefore, the politics have taken over.

Here's the thing about me and politics. I don't like them. I avoid them at all costs. And not just governmental politics, oh no, even petty academic politics drive me round the bend. Some of the worst moments of my life have to do with getting my BA in Theatre and the weekly tech meetings we had that were never about what we needed to do and all about the politics of the department. I was once literally brought to tears. As for governmental politics, well, yes, I am paying attention at the moment because this is an election year, but if this wasn't the case I'd be attempting to bury my head in the sand. Now why would I want to read about politics give how much I hate them? The answer is that I don't. As for otherworldly politics? I want to read about them even less. The politics have taken over this series and if this doesn't change I seriously don't know what I'm going to do. There wasn't really a plot, there was no suspense, and if it wasn't for the last forth of this book nothing would have happened at all. Yes, a book CAN be all about politics. Should it? Not if you want me to read it. And of course, I know this book wasn't written just for me, but I'm sure there are people out there with the same aversion to politics as me who just want a cracking good story.

And yes, that means I want a story. I want a plot. I want some sort of narrative that combines what is bound between the two covers into a whole. I don't want politics, fight scene, politics, fight scene, politics, fight fight fight. I am not a fan of the big budget movies because I do not want to watch a three hour fight. I remember all my friends going on and on about how good the second Captain America movie is. So I watched it; and I hated it. In fact hate might be too weak a word for my feelings. All that movie was was one action scene after another. The first Captain America movie was more my style, a period superhero movie with an actual plot. But the thing is, plot is becoming less and less important in this age of spectacle. This is why I have given up on Marvel movies. In fact almost any "blockbuster" movie in general. Mad Max: Fury Road... Mad Eliza: Where's the Plot. Fire Touched felt like it wanted to be a blockbuster movie opening up on the big fight scene that decimated the Cable Bridge. If you think I tune out watching a fight, I tune out even more reading about a fight, because something in me just doesn't care to visualize it. Something in me just doesn't give a damn. I always think of that Eddie Izzard bit when he's talking about car chases in books... it's not that they don't happen, it's that they rarely work.

The redeeming factor of this book is that more mystical aspect of the Fae: Underhill. Underhill is that most interesting of places. This is the only mystery of the book, and that's because the whole place is a mystery, shifting and reshaping itself like a living breathing entity. The journey Mercy, Adam, and Aiden undertake in this realm focuses what was hundreds of pages of politics and pugilism into a story I was interested in. Fae politics are boring, which almost seems impossible given how fascinating the Fae and their world can be given the right writer. This is what the whole book should have been! A journey taken through fairy to mend the rift between the magical and non-magical worlds so that we can move beyond the politics and onto something new. The whole book could have been this epic quest, heck Tolkien got a whole trilogy and then some out of a similar quest. Save the world by journeying through strange lands! The moment I think that this whole series clicked for me was the first time Zee brought Mercy to the reservation and in her coyote form she accidentally slipped into Underhill and was there in that mystical realm. This was a magical moment for me, realizing a had found a new series I loved. For a few minutes I found that initial love again and most of the flaws of this book were forgiven, if not forgotten. Hopefully.

Posted by Miss Eliza at 12:00 AM 0 comments  

Labels: Adam, Captain America, Coyote, Eddie Izzard, Fae, Fights, Fire Touched, Frost Burned, Mad Max, Mercy Thompson, Night Broken, Patricia Briggs, Politics, River Marked, Underhill, Werewolves, Zee