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| 1939474272
| 9781939474278
| B00J3A6CRI
| 3.47
| 211
| 2004
| Mar 17, 2014
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really liked it
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Third in the Winemaker Detective Mysteries mystery series and revolving around Benjamin Cooker, a renowned winemaker. This is based in Burgundy and ta
Third in the Winemaker Detective Mysteries mystery series and revolving around Benjamin Cooker, a renowned winemaker. This is based in Burgundy and takes place between Palm Sunday and Easter. My thanks to NetGalley and Le French Book for providing this ARC for my enjoyment. Do note that this is also a made-for-TV series. My Take Oh, lord…the food, the wine…it was glorious, and cozy. You can't help but enjoy reading of the food, imagining the wine, that visit to the bookstore — so many of my favorite things in this book…*grin*…! And Sally Pane did a beautiful job of translating! "…there are wines you talk about and wines you drink. They are not always one and the same."Idyllic in some ways with Alaux/Balen's writing of the culture and lifestyle of the people in Burgundy. I loved "seeing" the hunting game and picking mushrooms" part, a sense of small-town life with people knowing each other too well, and yet these small towns have the same problem other towns and cities have: the violence, stupidity, and uncaring bureaucracy. The corruption that destroys lives and hopes. It killed me to read of the tasting. I kept imagining the flavors swirling through my own mouth — Alaux/Balen did a beautiful job of show, pulling me right in, waking my tastebuds. I could almost taste the soils Cooker spoke of as well. It's also the first time I got a real sense of how one could taste the appellations. Makes me want to take classes in oenology! I loved this feeling of being behind-the-scenes as Cooker reads through Virgile's wine-tasting report. Fascinating to read of authenticity, manners, simplicity, and honesty applied to a wine! I did like Brother Clément's comment about life being a comedy. Sometimes a tragi-comedy, but always something to laugh at or about. At one point, Brother Clément mentions Cooker's "native England", and yet earlier, Cooker spoke of his childhood in the vineyards. So I'm wondering if Cooker is British or French; his name certainly tends toward the English. I'm of two minds about graffiti. Most of it is totally pointless and ugly, although I do appreciate some of the font styles they create. If it says something clever or is a painting, then I enjoy it. Enough that one wall of my garage in my old place had been graffiti'd as a mural, and I enjoyed it for as long as I had the house. In no case do I believe it's worth killing over. Forcing them to clean it up is about as far as I'm interested in punishing anyone. What did give me a laugh — and it did make perfect sense — to think of applying handwriting analysis to paint can handwriting. A nice bit of history regarding the first vines planted and the château being built, the events that swirled around the area, the abbey, and the château through the ages. I particularly enjoyed Cooker's comment about "the permanence of the traditions and the winemakers' attachment to this unique piece of land" despite those same events. Too true. As I said earlier, I think of this as a cozy mystery, and one Cooker didn't actually solve. It was more of an accident than anything and all due to Virgile's libido. What did confuse me was why Cooker got so intrigued by the graffiti. The Story It's an honor — and a roast — and Cooker is loving every minute of his induction into the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin. When Cooker wakes in the morning, it's to a curious puzzle of Latin graffiti. A curiosity he carries into the morning's session, tasting wines at the Tastevinage to determine which would deserve the honor. That same puzzle follows him throughout Vougeot and Gilly, with Latin graffiti popping up all over the region. The Characters Benjamin Cooker is a specialist and sought after for his winemaking. Truly an achievement in France. He also writes the Cooker Guide , a publication that rates the wines and their vineyards. Elisabeth is his wife; his dog, lol, is named Bacchus. Virgile is Cooker's assistant with an eye for the ladies. Raphaëlle is Virgile's sister. Alexandrine La Palussière works in a lab. Aurélie is his waitress in the hotel restaurant. Ernest (he shot the gun) and Honoré Mancenot are brothers and total nutjobs! Cedric and David Bravart are cousins and complete opposites. Robert Bressel is a reporter with Le Bien Public. Rendez-vous des Touristes Café is a café in the village. Pierre-Jean Bressel is the regional librarian and Robert's nephew. Mother Grangreon is the victim of a folkloric prank. Murielle Grangreon isn't the first woman to have her life upended when she gets pregnant. Lucien Filongey is an expert in the metaphysical. I think he's a crackpot. Sébastien Pilat runs a fabulous restaurant with an enviable knowledge of wines and cigars. The Cîteaux Abbey (although Alaux/Balen doesn't make this clear, the Molesme Abbey was sort of a mother house to Cîteaux) is where Cooker found much of the information for his first Cooker Guide. Brother Clément was responsible for the "wealth of anecdotes and details". Brother Grégoire is the abbey porter. The Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin is a order of gentlemen who indulge in wine. Olivier Lefflaive is a friend of Cooker's and a winemaker. Pascal Wagner is a sommelier. The Cover The cover is chill and moist, deep down in the cave where a wooden table is in the forefront laden with a bottle of wine, its cork lying on the table, a bunch of luscious purple grapes, a full glass of wine, and a splash of blood. The title is more about the perpetrator-victim, about her Nightmare in Burgundy. � Merged review: Third in the Winemaker Detective Mysteries mystery series and revolving around Benjamin Cooker, a renowned winemaker. This is based in Burgundy and takes place between Palm Sunday and Easter. My thanks to NetGalley and Le French Book for providing this ARC for my enjoyment. Do note that this is also a made-for-TV series. My Take Oh, lord…the food, the wine…it was glorious, and cozy. You can't help but enjoy reading of the food, imagining the wine, that visit to the bookstore — so many of my favorite things in this book…*grin*…! And Sally Pane did a beautiful job of translating! "…there are wines you talk about and wines you drink. They are not always one and the same."Idyllic in some ways with Alaux/Balen's writing of the culture and lifestyle of the people in Burgundy. I loved "seeing" the hunting game and picking mushrooms" part, a sense of small-town life with people knowing each other too well, and yet these small towns have the same problem other towns and cities have: the violence, stupidity, and uncaring bureaucracy. The corruption that destroys lives and hopes. It killed me to read of the tasting. I kept imagining the flavors swirling through my own mouth — Alaux/Balen did a beautiful job of show, pulling me right in, waking my tastebuds. I could almost taste the soils Cooker spoke of as well. It's also the first time I got a real sense of how one could taste the appellations. Makes me want to take classes in oenology! I loved this feeling of being behind-the-scenes as Cooker reads through Virgile's wine-tasting report. Fascinating to read of authenticity, manners, simplicity, and honesty applied to a wine! I did like Brother Clément's comment about life being a comedy. Sometimes a tragi-comedy, but always something to laugh at or about. At one point, Brother Clément mentions Cooker's "native England", and yet earlier, Cooker spoke of his childhood in the vineyards. So I'm wondering if Cooker is British or French; his name certainly tends toward the English. I'm of two minds about graffiti. Most of it is totally pointless and ugly, although I do appreciate some of the font styles they create. If it says something clever or is a painting, then I enjoy it. Enough that one wall of my garage in my old place had been graffiti'd as a mural, and I enjoyed it for as long as I had the house. In no case do I believe it's worth killing over. Forcing them to clean it up is about as far as I'm interested in punishing anyone. What did give me a laugh — and it did make perfect sense — to think of applying handwriting analysis to paint can handwriting. A nice bit of history regarding the first vines planted and the château being built, the events that swirled around the area, the abbey, and the château through the ages. I particularly enjoyed Cooker's comment about "the permanence of the traditions and the winemakers' attachment to this unique piece of land" despite those same events. Too true. As I said earlier, I think of this as a cozy mystery, and one Cooker didn't actually solve. It was more of an accident than anything and all due to Virgile's libido. What did confuse me was why Cooker got so intrigued by the graffiti. The Story It's an honor — and a roast — and Cooker is loving every minute of his induction into the Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin. When Cooker wakes in the morning, it's to a curious puzzle of Latin graffiti. A curiosity he carries into the morning's session, tasting wines at the Tastevinage to determine which would deserve the honor. That same puzzle follows him throughout Vougeot and Gilly, with Latin graffiti popping up all over the region. The Characters Benjamin Cooker is a specialist and sought after for his winemaking. Truly an achievement in France. He also writes the Cooker Guide , a publication that rates the wines and their vineyards. Elisabeth is his wife; his dog, lol, is named Bacchus. Virgile is Cooker's assistant with an eye for the ladies. Raphaëlle is Virgile's sister. Alexandrine La Palussière works in a lab. Aurélie is his waitress in the hotel restaurant. Ernest (he shot the gun) and Honoré Mancenot are brothers and total nutjobs! Cedric and David Bravart are cousins and complete opposites. Robert Bressel is a reporter with Le Bien Public. Rendez-vous des Touristes Café is a café in the village. Pierre-Jean Bressel is the regional librarian and Robert's nephew. Mother Grangreon is the victim of a folkloric prank. Murielle Grangreon isn't the first woman to have her life upended when she gets pregnant. Lucien Filongey is an expert in the metaphysical. I think he's a crackpot. Sébastien Pilat runs a fabulous restaurant with an enviable knowledge of wines and cigars. The Cîteaux Abbey (although Alaux/Balen doesn't make this clear, the Molesme Abbey was sort of a mother house to Cîteaux) is where Cooker found much of the information for his first Cooker Guide. Brother Clément was responsible for the "wealth of anecdotes and details". Brother Grégoire is the abbey porter. The Confrérie des Chevaliers du Tastevin is a order of gentlemen who indulge in wine. Olivier Lefflaive is a friend of Cooker's and a winemaker. Pascal Wagner is a sommelier. The Cover The cover is chill and moist, deep down in the cave where a wooden table is in the forefront laden with a bottle of wine, its cork lying on the table, a bunch of luscious purple grapes, a full glass of wine, and a splash of blood. The title is more about the perpetrator-victim, about her Nightmare in Burgundy. � ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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not set
not set
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Jul 27, 2014
not set
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Sep 11, 2024
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Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||
| B004T4KQE8
| 4.05
| 5,505
| Nov 22, 2011
| Nov 22, 2011
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liked it
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Fourth in the Hellions of Halstead Hall historical romance series about a group of five siblings forced to find spouses within the year or lose everyt
Fourth in the Hellions of Halstead Hall historical romance series about a group of five siblings forced to find spouses within the year or lose everything. The couple focus is on Lord Gabriel Sharpe and Virginia Waverly. My Take Rather annoying actually. Virginia kept whining on and on about how awful Gabriel was for killing her brother, and her grandfather was just as bad. Actually, so is Gabriel. None of them have ever considered what could be the truth behind the whole thing. Instead, for seven years, all three of them have made up a story in their own heads so they could be miserable. Duh. Jeffries goes on and on about how intimidating the general finds the Sharpes, but he's the younger son of an earl. Why would he be intimidated? I am more and more disappointed with Jeffries' current writing. After reading her earlier work, this crap reads more like a dreamy teenager writing out her fantasies without much knowledge of English society of this period. Just yuck. I do like the love and support that exists in the Sharpe and Waverly families. They know each other well, and while they do tease and scold a lot, they also come together to help each other. And it's back to jerk-wank, jerk-wank… Oh, this is sweet. I do love Virginia's speech at the end when she comes upon Gabe about to race again. Very nice. Poppy had a lovely speech he threw at Lieutenant Chetwin. I'm glad Gabe got to hear it! The Story It's the revelations in How to Woo a Reluctant Lady that causes Gabe to rethink events from nineteen years ago, setting Jackson off on another series of investigative errands. In the meantime, Gabe has decided to marry Virginia Waverly, his best friend's sister. He needs a wife. She needs a husband. It's the least he can do for Roger's memory. There's just that little problem: her hatred of him. It's both fortunate and unfortunate for Gabe that he's better with the more physical approach, and even more fortunate that he isn't afraid to take a chance. The Characters Virginia Waverly is the sister of Roger Waverly, Gabe's best friend who died. After their parents' death, Roger and Virginia had been raised by their grandfather General Isaac Waverly, a.k.a., Poppy. Pierce Waverly, the Earl of Devonmont, is Virginia's second cousin and very protective of her. Lord Gabriel Sharpe has been known as the Angel of Death Maximilian Cale, the Duke of Lyons, is a friend of Gabe's and left the tavern that night the race wager was sprung. Giles and Minerva Masters are happily living together in London.Jarret Sharpe is running the brewery and happily married to a pregnant Annabel and living at the house with Oliver and his pregnant wife Maria. The last unmarried sibling is Celia. Hetty Plumtree, a.k.a., Gran, is their common grandmother who is insisting that all her grandchildren marry within the year or they will all be cut out of her will. Jackson Pinter is a Bow Street Runner the family practically has on retainer. The Cover and Title It's purples, blacks, and fleshtone with a cocky Gabe standing before us, hands on hips, black shirt open to his waist, and a stubborn look on his face as he looks out at us, a horse racing in the background. The title is all about Virginia and if she will consent To Wed a Wild Lord. Merged review: Fourth in the Hellions of Halstead Hall historical romance series about a group of five siblings forced to find spouses within the year or lose everything. The couple focus is on Lord Gabriel Sharpe and Virginia Waverly. My Take Rather annoying actually. Virginia kept whining on and on about how awful Gabriel was for killing her brother, and her grandfather was just as bad. Actually, so is Gabriel. None of them have ever considered what could be the truth behind the whole thing. Instead, for seven years, all three of them have made up a story in their own heads so they could be miserable. Duh. Jeffries goes on and on about how intimidating the general finds the Sharpes, but he's the younger son of an earl. Why would he be intimidated? I am more and more disappointed with Jeffries' current writing. After reading her earlier work, this crap reads more like a dreamy teenager writing out her fantasies without much knowledge of English society of this period. Just yuck. I do like the love and support that exists in the Sharpe and Waverly families. They know each other well, and while they do tease and scold a lot, they also come together to help each other. And it's back to jerk-wank, jerk-wank… Oh, this is sweet. I do love Virginia's speech at the end when she comes upon Gabe about to race again. Very nice. Poppy had a lovely speech he threw at Lieutenant Chetwin. I'm glad Gabe got to hear it! The Story It's the revelations in How to Woo a Reluctant Lady that causes Gabe to rethink events from nineteen years ago, setting Jackson off on another series of investigative errands. In the meantime, Gabe has decided to marry Virginia Waverly, his best friend's sister. He needs a wife. She needs a husband. It's the least he can do for Roger's memory. There's just that little problem: her hatred of him. It's both fortunate and unfortunate for Gabe that he's better with the more physical approach, and even more fortunate that he isn't afraid to take a chance. The Characters Virginia Waverly is the sister of Roger Waverly, Gabe's best friend who died. After their parents' death, Roger and Virginia had been raised by their grandfather General Isaac Waverly, a.k.a., Poppy. Pierce Waverly, the Earl of Devonmont, is Virginia's second cousin and very protective of her. Lord Gabriel Sharpe has been known as the Angel of Death Maximilian Cale, the Duke of Lyons, is a friend of Gabe's and left the tavern that night the race wager was sprung. Giles and Minerva Masters are happily living together in London.Jarret Sharpe is running the brewery and happily married to a pregnant Annabel and living at the house with Oliver and his pregnant wife Maria. The last unmarried sibling is Celia. Hetty Plumtree, a.k.a., Gran, is their common grandmother who is insisting that all her grandchildren marry within the year or they will all be cut out of her will. Jackson Pinter is a Bow Street Runner the family practically has on retainer. The Cover and Title It's purples, blacks, and fleshtone with a cocky Gabe standing before us, hands on hips, black shirt open to his waist, and a stubborn look on his face as he looks out at us, a horse racing in the background. The title is all about Virginia and if she will consent To Wed a Wild Lord. ...more |
Notes are private!
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2
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not set
not set
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Jan 25, 2012
not set
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Jul 31, 2024
|
Kindle Edition
| ||||||||||||||||
| B00A3HQJPK
| 4.04
| 1,074
| Jan 01, 2003
| May 19, 2003
|
really liked it
|
A standalone biographical historical military story revolving around Jake Mcniece. It is the story that inspired The Dirty Dozen which bears little re
A standalone biographical historical military story revolving around Jake Mcniece. It is the story that inspired The Dirty Dozen which bears little resemblance to the truth. Others who contributed included Jack Agnew, Herb Pierce, and Virgil Smith with a long list of other contributors at the back. There's also a great list of military books. You may also want to read Jack Womer's Fighting with the Filthy Thirteen: The World War II Story of Jack Womer — Ranger and Paratrooper . My Take They were a small group compared to the entire army, and yet they played such a huge part in the war in this legend about the "smallest unit of reputation shaped around the personality of its founder to come out of the war". It's that same personality that kept Jake a private throughout the war, despite the occasional acting sergeant roles. (Jake keeps saying he never made it above private, but he sure did play acting sergeant frequently and he was separated from the service as a staff sergeant.) Why haven't we heard more about them? Men of whom we should be so very proud, who should be recognized by all Americans. Well, quite a bit of this non-recognition probably comes from the military always hushing up their antics. Jake's section was where they all sent the men no one else could handle — they all knew there was no discipline with Jake. Yep, Jake hadn't joined to play "military discipline"; he joined to fight. And these boys were such good fighters that the army couldn't afford to lose them. The story is primarily told with the writer as a third person objective who switches off into first person plural point-of-view from a number of perspectives with Jake as the primary perspective. There's an interesting prologue giving background on Jake's childhood which helped enhance and hone his abilities. Some of which included plenty of pranking. That joke later on involving the pinups for family pictures was a crack-up. We go through training, some of their English hijinks, and then straight into Normandy where we live through an abbreviated version of lost troops, siege, and snipers. The same occurs in Holland and Bastogne, next to the Battle of the Bulge, where Jake's Pathfinders save the 101st. It's Jake's voice we hear, as though he were telling us these stories just as he and the other survivors told their remembrances at their annual reunions. Jake notes that the Depression had left a lot of men without jobs and the military offered opportunity. Top Kick sounds like a really decent person, standing up for what's right. One of the very few who earned a soldier's respect. Oh, yuck. Why wouldn't the tents have some sort of floor? Although, that dirt is what led to the start with the "Dirty Five". As for the food. Hoo, boy. The powers-that-be were aware that strong men, who've been fed decent food, perform better, right? I sure can't blame Jake for setting up Jake's Bar and Grill, lol. I do find it hard to believe Jake had never had a chicken soup made up from the carcass. "That barracks of yours smells like a damn hamburger and barbecue joint twenty-four hours a day."It does pay to get in on the ground floor of something. It lets you get away with anything! That "payback" at Fort Bragg for putting the boys on restriction was so dang funny! Being paratroopers also gave the boys the joys of landing in houses, knocking down chimneys, beehives, snakes, mules, rivers, ditches, trees, and so much more. The sad part of this was how many men didn't make it on a jump. Part of that reality that appears throughout The Filthy Thirteen. Jake was a very practical thinker, and I particularly enjoyed how this "Dirty" group timed their showers so well, lol. It does seem rather hypocritical to limit showers for the men while Sir Ernest had his six or seven cars washed every day. Hullo. Oh, boy, lol, Browny's comment after the war about Jake's being platoon lawyer was yet another crack-up. Hmm, a scalp lock to prevent lice from digging in?? Wow, there was a big difference between jumping into Normandy versus Holland. At least all the Dutch were welcoming! I love that Jake understood the importance of writing to the families of those who died, of connecting to the survivors and/or their families. That these men got together for reunions and talked. Had more reunions as their own group and finally talked about their war experiences, letting the wives in on what they had gone through. It wasn't a matter of consciously joining the Filthy 13; it was more a matter of "They just came in. I was always the financial advisor. I handled the money and bought the booze. We spent the rest of our time getting ready for the next jump."And as the men constantly defended themselves from how they were depicted in The Dirty Dozen, they nearly all "returned home to lead productive lives . . . [after experiencing] . . . an adventure to last a lifetime". The Story It was a particularly vicious beating that sent Jake to sign up for the paratroops. A lucky choice as it gave him and his unit so much leeway. Not interested in military discipline — the saluting, keeping themselves or their quarters neat and tidy, picking up cigarette butts, following orders blindly — Jake and his people were fighters through and through. In fact, after Normandy, the Germans called paratroopers the "Big Pocket Butchers". The Characters Jake McNiece worked as a firefighter, gang pusher, until he joined up with the 506th, the first parachute regiment activated. Camp Toccoa, Georgia Jake was put into the demolition platoon of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR) as acting staff sergeant for 1st Battalion. Jim Davidson was the sergeant of the 3rd Battalion and Charge of Quarters; William H Leach, a second lieutenant, was the officer of Jake's section; First Lieutenant (Lt) Gene Brown was the platoon leader. Albert H. "Top Kick" Miller was their first sergeant and a great guy. Colonel (Col) Robert Sink is the regimental commander; he was a good fighter who knew tactics and later made two-star general. Lt Col Charles "Uncle Charlie" Chase was the regimental executive officer. Sink and Chase regularly called in Top Kick for advice. Platoon Sergeant (Sgt) Leonard "Truck Horse" Leonitus Johnson was regular army with a speech impediment. Corporal (Corp) Eddy Malas was a by-the-book army man. This is where the "Dirty Five" began with Charles Lee, Louis "Loulip" Lipp, Martin "Max" Majewski, and Frank M. "Shorty" Mihlan (a drunk who became the alcoholic Sink's orderly). Another group in Jake's platoon were the Warsaw Seven: Edmund Lojko, Frank Palys, "Deacon" Salinas, George Baran, Joe Baranosky, Joe Oparowski, Herbie Pierce , and Joe Oleskiewicz, who was a great soldier. Dirty Johnson was a tough guy. Armando and Mike Marquez were brothers. Lt Sylvester Horner raised Cain about the party. Captain (Capt) Hank Hannah was the company commander who was later replaced by Lt "Browny" Brown as acting company commander. Arthur "Red Gulch" Hayes. Malcolm Landry was with the communication platoon. (The Dirty Five and the Warsaw Seven combined to become the 1st Battalion-Saboteur Section of the Demolition Platoon — Jake stayed with that battalion throughout the war.) Camp Mackall, North Carolina, was . . . . . . named after John Mackall, the first paratrooper killed in North Africa It was 26 February 1943 when they became part of the 101st Airborne Division. Second Army Tennessee Maneuvers No 1 Lt Leach eyed a coral snake. Harold Scully had a close encounter with a beehive. Jake went AWOL with Tom Young. Corp Brincely Stroup and Ed Pikering, who was the medic for one operation. Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was . . . . . . their last stop before England. "Maw" Darnell, a real Georgia cracker, transferred over from a chemical warfare unit. George Underwood and Frank Pellechia were the only two barbers in the company. Lt Charles Mellen, Staff Sgt Earl Boegerhausen, and Platoon Sgt Johnson. Lt Shrable "Willy" Williams. Corp Johnnie "Peepnuts" Hale was a wild man off duty. Three Rangers transferred in: Jack "Hawkeye" Womer, William Myers, and John Klak. Jack Agnew was the best qualified combat man. Robert "Ragsman" Cone was all muscle. George "Googoo" Radeka was dumb at most things but was smart in combat comprehension. Roland "Frenchy" Baribeau. William "Piccadilly Willy" Green was young and slow-thinking, but rolled with the flow. Chuck Plauda was hot-tempered. They all called Jake "McNasty". Capt "Dapper" Daniels eventually transferred to the OSS. Sir Ernest Wills, Littlecote Manor House, England, was . . . . . . where Jake and his unit were stationed. Chuck Cunningham seems to have had a mad-on for everyone. John "Dinty" Mohr got into it with Jake one night. Hayford, Steve Kovacs, Milo Kane, Stacey Kinglsey, and John Klack. Lt Gordon Rothwell wasn't happy about Jake beating on a fellow paratrooper. Lt Edward Haley was stationed in another demolition section. Staff Sgt Charles "Chaplain" Williams was assigned to their platoon in the hopes he'd inspire them to clean up. John Dewey. Chaplain John Maloneuy said Mass just before Normandy. In the next Quonset hut over, Corp Tom Young, Burl Prickett, and Sgt Myers were determined their section would look great. Kaiser Young was Tom's brother. Lt Truman Smith was from Jake's hometown. Lt Peter Baranowski's dog jumped with him in Normandy and Holland (but went nuts in Bastogne). General (Gen) Eisenhower and Field Marshal Montgomery. Gen Maxwell Taylor set up the 506th to blow all the bridges. Gen Don F Pratt came into Normandy on a glider holding his jeep . . . and lost his head. Gen Bill Lee was the father of airborne units in America until he became disabled. Col Howard R Johnson was the commander of the 501st. General Higgins joined a number of other generals and colonels on the podium at an award ceremony. Charles "Trigger" Gann, Clarence Ware, George Baran, and Thomas E "Old Man" Lonegran were added to Jake's unit for the bridges mission. Andrew E "Rasputin" Rasmussen, a T-5 bridgeman, was supposed to be part of it. After the Normandy jump, paratroopers joined up willy nilly including Manual Cockeral, the kid who enlisted along with Jake in Tulsa; Keith Carpenter; and, Capt Tilden McGee, a chaplain. Sgt Bruno Schroeder missed the gathering place. Wilbur Shanklin almost got court-martialed. Burl Prickett, George Smith, James "LaLa" Leach, and Lt Carl Bedient were taken prisoner. Capt Edward Peters took out three tanks. Back in England Lt Virgil Smith was another of Jake's homeboys; he became Higgins' aide. Jake's unit's replacements included Manny Freedman, Prvt William Coad, Clarence Furtaw, AJ Bini, Richard "Dick the Raper" Graham, and Paul Zemedia. "Operation Market Garden" Holland Gen Miles Dempsey commanded the British Second Army. "Sonny Boy" Browning was the head of all English airborne forces and wanted the glory the 101st and 82nd had achieved. Jerk. Major Brian Urquhart in charge of their British intelligence section told Browning his mission idea wouldn't work. An American, a Tech-5 David Marcus from S-2, was another idiot. Lefty McGee, another Ponca City homeboy, was shot in the head. Winsor "Ink" Ellefson loved the libraries and museums. Lt Eugene Dance transferred over from the Rangers, but was pretty new to the paratroopers and got Sgts Myers and Davidson killed. Stanley "Speedwack" Spiewack. Bobby Reeves. Push to the Rhine Doesn't sound like Dempsey was much of a general. He used paratroopers as shock troops when the rest of his plans showed up as a farce. Brig Gen Jerry Higgins was the American assistant division commander. C Company of the 506th was the disaster company, losing most of their men with each battle. Lt Albert H Hassenzahl was their only remaining officer. Lt Lucian H Whitehead was assigned to C. Sgt "Guinea" Campiello came in as a replacement after Normandy. Robert Reeves. Nathan "Cigar" Sieger. Pete was a Dutch civilian who joined the paratroopers on the ground and coordinated communications between the British, the Americans, and the Dutch hiding trapped British and Polish troops. Malcolm Landry was a line man. Mourmelon, France Corp Frank Kough. Jake joined the Pathfinders, essentially a suicide group, to get a clean record. Majewski, Bill Coad, Corp John Dewey, Pfc Jack Agnew, and Lt Williams joined with him. Others in the Pathfinders included White, Lockland Tillman, Charles Parlow, James Benson, Richard Wright, Irving Shumaker, Sgt John Roseman, Sgt Leroy Shulenberg, Sgt Cleo Merz, Pfc George Slater, and T-5 George Blain, who was a good cook. Reims, France, was . . . . . . SHAEF headquarters for Eisenhower that was invaded by the 82nd which resulted in Reims being put off limits to all airborne troops. 9th Troop Carrier Command Pathfinders, Chalgrove, England Captain Frank L Brown is the company commander of a bunch of goof-offs. Bastogne Jump and the Battle of the Bulge What was left of the 28th "Bloody Bucket" Division was stationed at Bastogne. Gen McAuliffe was sent in with the 101st. Lt Col Joel L Crouch and 1st Lt Lionel E Wood flew the Pathfinders in to refit the remaining troops. Young Loui Massen helped the landing paratroopers. Lt-Col James "LaP" LaPrade was the commander of the 1st Battalion. Dr Kurt Yeary, also from Ponca City, was taken prisoner. Maxwell Taylor, the commanding general of the whole corps, reinforced Jake's request to have Browny sent back. Vick Utz, a full-blood German who spoke the language like a native, was an All-American out of Rutgers. He would later marry Dotty and raise four children. A chaplain at the aid station, Capt Maloney, later asked Jake about Utz's watch. The Prume Jump Jake had a ten-man team including the whistling Malcolm, Lockland Tillman and George Blain (Jake and these last two had three combat jumps when the average life expectancy of a combat paratrooper was one-and-a-half jumps.) After the Bulge William H Leach was promoted to major and he finally decided to lead a patrol, including Frank Pellechia, Alfred Tucker (also in S-2 section), and three others. He got all but Tucker killed. In on the Practice Jump at Zell-am Zee, Austria, May 1945 Lt Robert Haley, Lt Ed MacMahan, Lt Sterling Horner, Lt Leo Monoghan, Lt John Stegeman, Jake McNiece (Pathfinder), Harold Anderson, Leonard Cardwell, Ed Borey, Stacey Kingsley, and John Dewey (Pathfinder). Troy Decker, with the communications platoon, had a dog named Mopey, a cocker spaniel. Media Feistower was an Austrian girl Jake dated; her father had been the commander of the Hitler Youth. CP is a command Post. PFC is a Private First Class. OP is an outpost. A stick is a group of men who jumped out of a plane on one pass. The Cover and Title The cover is an old black-and-white photo of Jake putting warpaint on a fellow soldier, both men facing each other and sporting a scalp lock. Irreverent and determined. The top quarter of the cover uses a black background to showcase the two authors' names at the top with a horizontal rule in red separating their names from the title (in red) and the subtitle (in white). A narrow black banner runs the width of the cover just below the man on the right's gloved hand with its story info in red. A red triangle in the lower right corner declares, in white, that this tale is now in paperback. The title is how the men in Jake's section became The Filthy 13. ...more |
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Aug 30, 2021
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Aug 30, 2021
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Aug 30, 2021
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Kindle Edition
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| 1542007119
| 9781542007115
| B07L2VDHXT
| 3.83
| 53,816
| Oct 01, 2019
| Oct 01, 2019
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really liked it
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Oct 28, 2019
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Oct 29, 2019
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Kindle Edition
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| 0060885386
| 9780060885380
| 0060885386
| 4.09
| 69,827
| 1933
| Jan 01, 2007
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really liked it
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Second in the Little House historical biographical series for middle-grade readers that looks in on the young Almanzo Wilder's childhood in New York s
Second in the Little House historical biographical series for middle-grade readers that looks in on the young Almanzo Wilder's childhood in New York state near Malone. (Yeah, this is second, at least in Wilder's opinion.) My Take I was taken aback by this whole new set of characters that seemed to have nothing to do with Laura Ingalls until I got through the first four books in the series and learned that Almanzo marries Laura. So, just persevere. Sometimes, ya gotta wonder if we weren't better off back then. Oh, sure, I know that's the romantical(?) side of me that is fascinated by self-sufficiency...'cause I surely do love today's hot-and-cold running water, indoor toilets, whole-house heat, and the grocery store! Maybe it's just that the idea of spinning and dyeing your own thread, weaving your own cloth, and having the ability to control the quality of your fabric is the fascination?? Wilder brings the schoolroom (and the teacher) to life with that range of ages and knowledge as well as the teacher's living conditions. Throw in the information about harvesting ice, the manners the children display, the chores required of each child, the food that must be preserved and how it's stored, and how the family celebrates Christmas to bring their entire world into perspective. What dropped Farmer Boy down to a "4" is the confusion I experienced in reading it. I kept going back and forth trying to figure out who fit in where. "[America] is the biggest country in the world, and it was farmers who took all that country and made it America..."Ain't it too bad that America has turned into big-business farming...? The Story Growing up on his family's farm in New York, Almanzo Wilder wishes for just one thing — his very own horse. But Father doesn't yet trust him with such a big responsibility. Almanzo needs to prove himself — but how? The Characters The not-quite-nine-year-old Almanzo Wilder is the youngest of the family. Thirteen-year-old Royal is his brother, and he has two sisters, twelve-year-old (and bossy) Eliza Jane and ten-year-old Alice. Father raises horses and is very picky about the kids touching them. Star and Bright are Almanzo's two calves he'll be responsible for training. Blossom and Bossy are the two cows Almanzo can milk. Boss and Beauty are a team of work horses Almanzo can drive. Starlight is Beauty's colt. I think Lucy is the pig. Aunt Lindy and Uncle Wesley — he owns the potato-starch mill — their children include the bragging Frank, Fred, Abner, and Mary. Uncle Andrew and Aunt Delia's son is James, I think. Mr Corse is the schoolteacher. Miles Lewis is in the primer class along with Almanzo. Previous teachers driven out included Jonas Lane. The French boys are Pierre and Louis, and they rarely come to school. Pierre's father is Lazy John and Louis' father is French Joe, and they hunt, fish, and pick berries for a living. Mr Case owns the store. Nick Brown is a tin peddler. Mr Haddock is the wagon-maker who offers up an apprenticeship. Mr and Mrs Webb are neighbors; Aaron is their son. Mr Paddock is in charge of the Fair Grounds. Mr Thompson lost his pocketbook. Hardscrabble Settlement is... ...home for Big Bill Ritchie, who is the leader of the bullies, which include John. Mr Ritchie, Bill's father, approves of his bullying. The Cover and Title The cover begins with a soft blue top border with its bottom scalloped to frame a black outlined box with the series information, also in black. The cover's bottom has a simple blue rectangle, which repeats the series information. Blue scrollwork sprouts toward the center from the edges of those borders. The majority of the cover is a browns and cream graphic of Almanzo caressing the side of a horse's face. The author's name is at the very top in white while the title is also white with a shadow outline that spans Almanzo's chest. The title is all about Almanzo, the Farmer Boy. ...more |
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not set
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Sep 11, 2019
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Oct 16, 2019
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Paperback
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| 0060885408
| 9780060885403
| 0060885408
| 4.22
| 103,172
| 1937
| Jan 01, 2007
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it was amazing
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Fourth in the Little House historical biographical series for middle-grade readers that travels with the Ingalls family from Indian Territory in Kansa
Fourth in the Little House historical biographical series for middle-grade readers that travels with the Ingalls family from Indian Territory in Kansas to a sod house in Minnesota. My Take It keeps getting scarier and scarier in Laura's life! Of course, it doesn't help that Laura is being quite naughty. Nor that she and Mary will have to go to school! Worse, there's a plague that will force Pa away for months. Wilder introduces that tension quickly with Pa's concerns about the soldiers in Kansas, the turbulence of Plum Creek, and my own worries about Pa's naïveté when it comes to business deals. It sure doesn't help when he takes out that loan to build Ma that house. And then...that plague. In between it all, we experience a life of subsistence that struggles to survive through blizzards, floods, fire, and crop failures. Wilder uses that third person objective point-of-view, so we know what's happening through what the characters see and hear. The flavor of life in the 1870s comes through with settlers who don't speak English; salvaging Charlotte; a visiting preacher; the aid of neighbors; the fear for survival; entertaining themselves without the Internet or television with games, stories, and Pa's violin; and, that we should be thankful for all that we take for granted today. We should be glad that we've got the resources for all the clothing we have too, especially when we read of the excitement of the Ingalls' ladies getting new dresses and stretching out those shoes. And a Christmas that continues with the Ingalls' traditions, adapting to their new life in Minnesota. The Story It's the threat of government interference that sends the Ingalls to Minnesota and yet another homestead. This time, one that's close to a school and a church. From a cozy sod house to a house built with lumber, the Ingalls are coming up in the world, and all it will take is a bountiful wheat crop in summer. The Characters Pa (Charles) Ingalls leaves Kansas before the soldiers can arrive. His wife, Caroline, and he have three children: Mary (she's almost nine), Laura (almost eight), and Carrie. Jack is their brindled bulldog. Bright and Pete are their oxen. Reet is a good little milch cow; she'll become Spot. Sam and David are the Christmas horses. Charlotte is Laura's rag doll who gets rescued. Johnny Johnson is the herd boy. Sandy Kennedy is a red-headed boy whose siblings include Christy, Nettie, Cassie, and Donald. Nellie Oleson is a too-pretty bully; Willie is her equally rude little brother. Their father runs one of the stores. Revered Alden is the home missionary who goes from church to church. Mr Fitch also runs a store and had loaned Pa money. Miss Eva Beadle is the schoolteacher. Mrs Tower is the Sunday school teacher. Mr Hanson is selling his Plum Creek property with its sod house and stable. The Norwegian Nelsons live a half mile farther up. They have a baby, Anna. The Cover and Title The cover is bordered top and bottom with mauve pink. The bottom edge of the top border has a scallop on either side of a same-colored box, outlined in black, with the series information and a little house with smoke coming from its chimney. The author's name is in white at the very top in the border. The bottom border is a simple rectangle with the series information repeated. Mauve scrolls intrude into the central graphic that focuses on a happy Laura, her brown hair in braids, wearing a gold dress with brown ribbons on the sleeves and a cream apron tied around her waist with straps going over her shoulders. She's sitting astride a white log, her legs dangling in the culvert it spans. In the background is Plum Creek, roaring out of a cavern-like mouth of stone. The title is in a shadowed white, just below Laura's knees. A silver medallion is emplaced to the left of Laura's waist. The title reflects where we now find the Ingalls On the Banks of Plum Creek in Minnesota. ...more |
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1
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not set
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Sep 12, 2019
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Sep 13, 2019
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Paperback
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| 0060264306
| 9780060264307
| 0060264306
| 4.21
| 274,009
| 1932
| Oct 14, 1953
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it was amazing
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First in the Little House autobiographical series for middle-grade readers that begins in the Big Woods of Pepin, Wisconsin, in 1871, revolving around
First in the Little House autobiographical series for middle-grade readers that begins in the Big Woods of Pepin, Wisconsin, in 1871, revolving around Laura Wilder as a four-year-old and her family. (I'm not sure why the series is considered fiction. It is historical, and since it's Laura's recollection of her life, it would appear to be autobiographical nonfiction.) In 1958, Little House in the Big Woods won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award. My Take I knew of the popular Little House on the Prarie television series, but I never have seen it. At the time, I hadn't realized it was based on a book series, and of course, once I did, I thought I should read it. Well, as the decades rolled by... What kickstarted my reading the series was a friend who went on and on about how wonderful the books were. She was right. The Little House series is wonderful, especially for readers interested in stories about living off the land, Indians, and/or early pioneer life. The prose is straightforward, simple, and quite descriptive. In Little House in the Big Woods, Wilder focuses on day-to-day life in her family with a third person objective point-of-view telling the story in a neutral, objective, unbiased manner. It's a life of mutual cooperation with slaughtering and sugaring time in the fall. Pa's violin playing entertains the family each night and comes in handy for larger celebrations when the extended family gathers and dancing is one of the activities. The girls are quite creative in their play. Ma's expertise in making straw hats is fascinating. My taste buds went into overdrive with the different uses to which they put the maple syrup. Their Christmas celebrations are simple, homemade, and quite sparse compared to the excess to which we celebrate. It does make me think of my mom's descriptions of her Christmases as a child during the Depression. The difficulties of travel and how self-sufficient the Ingalls are is pointed up when Laura makes her first trip to the nearest town, which is all of seven miles away. It's a lovely tale that will engage your kids and help make history real. The Story Pioneer life was never easy for anyone, and the Ingalls must grow or catch all their own food as they get ready for the cold winter. But they make the best of every tough situation. They celebrate Christmas with homemade toys and treats, do their spring planting, bring in the harvest in the fall, and make their first trip into town. And every night, safe and warm in their little house, the sound of Pa’s fiddle lulls Laura and her sisters into sleep. The Characters The tomboyish Laura Ingalls is four years old and lives in a log cabin with Ma (Caroline), Pa (Charles), older sister Mary, and baby sister Carrie. Jack is their protective brindle bulldog. Black Susan is the cat. Susan is Laura's corncob doll who will be supplanted by Charlotte; Nettie is Mary's rag doll. Sukey is their brown cow; Rose is another of their cows. Uncle Henry and Aunt Polly with their lazy son Charley; Aunt Eliza, Uncle Peter and their children Peter, Alice, Ella, and little baby Dolly Varden, have a very protective dog named Prince; Aunt Docia; Aunt Ruby; Uncle George had been in the army and is a bit wild; Uncle James and Aunt Libby have a little girl, also a Laura; Aunt Lotty and, Grandpa, who concentrates on making troughs and buckets to harvest maple syrup, are all Ingalls. Mr and Mrs Peterson are their new Swedish neighbors who have just moved into a new house. Mr and Mrs Huleatt and their children, Eva and Clarence, are friends who would spend the day. The Cover and Title The cover is a simple graphic with the log cabin's inner walls forming the background. Ma, in her long white nightgown, holds baby Carrie in her long gown, as she stands on the left. On the right, a bearded Pa is sitting on a log bench in his green trousers, blue shirt, and red suspenders with Mary hugging him from behind, his hands clasping her wrists. All four of them are looking on at the brown-haired Laura in her red flannel nightgown embracing the blue-gowned Charlotte, looking down at her new rag doll with love. The author's name is at the very top in black. The title is below that in a paler green outlined in black above everyone's heads. At the very bottom is the illustrator's name in black. The title is the home in which Laura grew up, the Little House in the Big Woods, on the border with Minnesota on the Mississippi River. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Sep 09, 2019
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Aug 30, 2019
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Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 1250102685
| 9781250102683
| 1250102685
| 4.23
| 5,256
| Aug 28, 2018
| Aug 28, 2018
|
it was ok
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Twenty-seventh in the Dark-Hunter paranormal romance series and revolving around Urian and his crappy life over thousands of years from the start of A
Twenty-seventh in the Dark-Hunter paranormal romance series and revolving around Urian and his crappy life over thousands of years from the start of Apollo's curse to today. It also means that events in other stories are part of this story's background. (It's also seventh in the Lords of Avalon series, third in Dark-Hunter: Dragons Rising Trilogy, twelfth in Were-Hunters #12, and forty-third in Hunter Legends.) The description for Stygian claims you should read Dragonsworn before reading this lest you suffer from spoilers. I don't see how anyone could suffer from any spoilers. There's so much in here, you'll be overwhelmed. My Take This got a "2.5" simply because it's another epic novel of humongous proportions with huge chunks of text that feel very repetitive, more chunks that impart obscure information that I finally gave up on trying to understand, convoluted chunks that carried such a range of information I couldn't figure out where some of it fit in or how it related to other characters...and then there were some good bits. No kidding..."The meek only inherited earth six feet beneath their feet."Another reason Stygian is so big, is Kenyon is pulling in the histories of other characters who have already been in other stories, particularly from Styxx 's story (22). There's one section jumps from one idea to "hours later" and provides absolutely NO clue as to what happened between. I thought I'd missed a page... In fact, I'm wondering if she didn't simply do a copy-paste on some of this and maybe didn't grab a chunk that should have come with. As you read, you'll definitely wonder as Kenyon leaps from what could be one completed story to the next. Sure it all, eventually, leads to a conclusion, but that's what the series does too. Ahem. If this were meant to be a story about Urian, it didn't have to take this many pages to give us the background on Urian's family and his relationship with his father. I did appreciate how Kenyon pulled so many different characters together from her Dark-Hunter universe, and it feels as though she's leading up to at least one major resolution, even as she sets us up for more. Then again, I get so confused with the thousands of characters many of whom have some sort of alias or alter ego. Even Kenyon gets confused over which name is married to which other name. "...he was so allergic to stupidity that it caused him to break out in rampant sarcasm."I'm sure glad we don't deal with gods in our world. What a backstabbing bunch of creeps they are! And they're not any better at accepting their own faults, as they rage at what other gods do to them. "...loyalty given is seldom returned." That the gods will use who they will and never reward them nor fulfill their promises. The gods' supporters will be thrown aside like garbage, for the gods are "no better than the ones they'd hated, and for all the reasons they hated the other side".The Apollites are nasty people at the start and incredibly cruel to Urian. Their feeding method is quite arousing, and sex becomes an essential part of it of which Kenyon makes quite the graphic point the first time Urian feeds from a living Apollite. "I'd sooner trust my enemy than a friend, as I can afford to lose an enemy."I did like and respect Urian. He did the best he could with what he had and how he managed to be such a decent person when everyone treated him so very, very, very bad, I don't know. Maybe it was the cutting that helped? What was with his family, joining in on the derision of the rest of their people? Why wouldn't they stand with him against outsiders? It is so weird to read this side of the Apollites and Daimons. In spite of this need to drink blood and eventually souls, turns out that Apollites are the same as any other group of people, nice guys, well, other than that whole soul-eating thing. They love, hate, harass, tease, abuse, just like everyone else. And with Kenyon emphasizing how they eat bad people...bring it on, baby. This prophecy from an oracle saying that if the Apollites all die, the curse will lift. So if there are no Apollites, who cares about the curse? Why on earth would one branch of Apollites think culling another would be enough? Why does Cassandra think Stryker is Apostolos and that they're screwed? Apostolos is Acheron and the leader of the Dark-Hunters, like the guy Cass is married to. It's simply a re-hash of the other stories with a number of the prime characters reflecting on themselves and the past, and they learn that they're horrible at communicating, indulge in petty jealousies, and how selfish they are. Yeah, it's a good use of third person global subjective point-of-view, since we're hearing the inner thoughts and emotions of so many of the characters. The Characters For a clearer background of early events and almost all of the characters, see my review at KD Did It. The Atlantean pantheon was... ...created by Braith who became Apollymi the Destroyer who believed Archon was the resurrection of Kissare, and so took him as her king. Epithymia was the goddess of desire and a right bitch who lived to hurt others. Dikastis is the god of justice. More include Ilos, Isorro, Asteros, Nyktos, Paidi, Teros, Phanen, and Demonbrean. Misos and Thnita are the rulers of the underworld. The pregnant Bet'anya Agriosa, a.k.a., Bethany or Bathymaas reborn, is Symfora's half-Egyptian, half-Atlantean daughter and a goddess of divine justice, balance, and life , married to Styxx of Didymos who was the human twin Apollymi had bonded Apostolos with at birth. A second son was supposedly killed by Apollo (see Styxx), and I suspect that his death made Apollymi crazy, and she put all the Atlantean gods into stasis, using ypnsi sap, and losing most of the Atlantean pantheon. Her attack also devastated most of the world. She was then tricked by Artemis and imprisoned in Kalosis by the gods. Charonte demons serve Apollymi and include Xedrix and Sabine. Kalosis is the... ...Atlantean hell where Apollymi is imprisoned, so that she can see the human world but not participate in it. The Apollites were... ...named for their creator, Apollo, the Greek god of the sun. This means that Stryker's aunts are Aphrodite and Artemis. Satara is another of Artemis' handmaidens, and Strykerius' evil sister. Spathi Strykerius "Stryker" Apoulos (he can change into a red dragon and a black) is the son of Apollo and leader of this band of Apollites with the blood of two gods in him; Apollymi treats him as her son. The Illuminati are Stryker's personal attack force with Trates as his second-in-command, and Zolan is his third. Zephyra "Phyra" was the woman Stryker loved, but Apollo made him give her up and marry Hellen. Their children include Dyana who will change her name to Tannis and marry Erol; Archimedes (marries Hagne, and they have four children); Theodorous (he marries Praxia); the twins Aklimos and Telamon (Natassa is his wife, and their children are Elias and Thesally); Ophion; Alkimos and Telamon are twins; and, Atreus and Patroclus who are also twins. Urian is a twin with Paris. Urian will have a variety of "titles": Urian Kleopas, (His Father's Glory), a Spathi as he is a warrior; a Rigas because he leads groups into battle; for his fierceness and skill in battle, Urian becomes known as Urian Deathbringer, Thánatago, and he will forge his own Thánati team to hunt the Dark-Hunters. Spawn is his second-in-command, and Eleni is one of his Thánati. Davyn will be Paris' lover and wife. The blind Xanthia and her children, Geras and Nephele, were part of Davyn's family's village and are rescued. Medea is a half-sister with Zephyra as her mother. The Peterses are... ...the last living line of Apollo. Phoebe Peters is the woman with whom Urian falls in love. Her sisters include Nia and Cassandra. Jefferson Peters is their human father. The Amazons are... ...a group of Apollites who serve the northern goddess Marzanna, who bonded them to fire demons. This means they can still have children, and they are not immortal. Bethsheba is their current queen and wants to buy Urian. Ruyn Widowmaker is Sheba's half-brother and the son of a demon (a former ally of Apollymi's who turned his back on her). Ruyn is also a survivor of the Primus Bellum, and he introduces the Spathi to bloodwyne. Elysia is... ...an underground bunker Urian and Davyn helped build. Braden and his family have been civic leaders ever since; Shanus takes over as leader later. Millicent and Dr Lakis are doctors (they might be the same person). Shapeshifters were... ...born of a magic that spliced animal DNA with that of the children of King Lycaon VI of Arcadia who unknowingly married an Apollite bride, Mysene. Lycaon's sister, the goddess Shala is married to Dagon (the god who did the splicing). There are two breeds of shapeshifters: Arcadians have human hearts so that is their natural form and they shift into their animal form at puberty, and Katagaria have animal hearts and that is their base form. Neither dies at the age of twenty-seven nor do they need blood. They can live for hundreds of years and their magic remains intact. The downside is that the Arcadians and Katagaria must battle each other forever, and the Fates choose their mates. More Gods The Titans Helios was the Titan god of the sun, and Kenyon states that he is also "the god of sorcery and the blackest craft". The third generation of Titans became the Olympians, a.k.a., the Greek gods. Leto is the mother of Apollo and Artemis. Katra is Apollymi's granddaughter (through Acheron and Artemis) and is her Abadonna. Katra serves both Apollymi as her spy and Artemis, her mother. Sin is her husband ( Devil May Cry , 10), a Sumerian god, and they have a son and a daughter, Mia. Sin has a few brothers including, Set, the Egyptian god of evil, darkness, and chaos, and Zakar who is Sin's twin brother. Seth is Set's son. Dragon and Mandrake Gods Sarraxyn, a.k.a., Xyn, is a silvery orange dragon (drakona) trapped as the guardian of the Atramentian Falls in Kalosis. Her brothers include Falcyn is a war god, a.k.a., Veles (Maddor, the leader of the mandrakes, is the son taken from him through Falcyn's fault); Max; Illarion; Hadyn; and, Gadryn. Malstrom is the brother who sold Xyn to Misos, the Atlantean war god. Xyn's parents are Helios and Lilith. A dragon's egg is not a child, but an artifact they use to heal. Blaise du Fey is a mandrake chosen by the sorceress Merlin to be a Grail knight; he's also Maddor's son and Ormarra his mother. Varian du Fey is sneaking around with Kaziel. Aeron. Chthonians were... ...originally created to be the check-and-balance on the gods with the power to kill a god without destroying the universe in the process. Savitar is the Omegrion (the leader of the Were-Hunters??) and lives on an island and surfs. Katateros is... ...the island home of the Atlantean gods where Acheron, a.k.a., Apostolos or Elekti (Apollymi's second son whom she thought dead) has his home base. Simi is his Charonte protector who lives as a tattoo on his body; Xirena "Xixi" is Simi's sister. Alexion, one of Artemis' first Dark-Hunters, is his steward and married to Danger. Soteria "Tory", an archeologist, is the woman Ash loves. Sebastos is their son. Geary is one of Tory's cousins. Theo had been Tory's grandfather. Pam is Tory's best friend. And terrible at keeping secrets. Styxx of Didymos was Acheron's twin and the reincarnation of Aricles of Didymos. He was also Protostratelates, a general, of the Stygian Omada, the only army that ever fought on Atlantean soil and won. Estes had been their disgusting uncle. In the Sahara, his dog is Skylos, Jabar is the horse, and Wasima is the camel. Princess Ryssa was their spoiled rotten sister and Apollo's mistress who was assassinated and caused Apollo to curse the Apollites. The Dark-Hunters are... ...are led by Acheron. Wulf Tryggvason is a Dark-Hunter married to Cassandra Peters. Their children will include Erik, Phoebe, Tyr, and Jeff. Chris is Wulf's squire. Zarek, a.k.a., Z; Cuthbert Ruriksen; Lucian, a.k.a., Spawn, had been a Daimon; Kyrian is Julian's best friend (he's married to Amanda Hunter and they have kids); Julian of Macedon is a long-time friend of Ash's; Valerius Magnus is married to Tabitha; Rafael Santiago and Celena had baby Ephani; Samia had been an Amazon and murdered many of them; and, Xander is part sorcerer who deals with transmutations and is the only non-demon who can bargain with Jaden and Thorn (Brynna Addams and Kit Baughy can talk Xander into most things). Solren is the more formal version of father, while baba is the children's version. Matera (formal) and mata (informal) means mother. M'gios means my son. Xōrōn are blood whores. Erini Laws are peace laws. Limanis are portals. The Eye of Verlyn will deplete the powers of any god with which it comes into direct contact. The Cover and Title The cover is a deep blood-brown that radiates out into a more chocolate brown. A huge circle sits slightly off-center with an outer border of a Greek key in an even darker brown with an inner border that morphs into a curling wave for almost half of the border. Within its center is an embossed dragon with holes in his wings and his head in a marbleized black and chocolate. Info blurbs at the very top and above and below the title are in white — the series information has a double bow with arrow to the left of the series info. At the top is the author's name in an embossed gold with a copper shading and the same for the title at the bottom. The title is all about Urian, the Stygian heir. Of course it could also relate to the darkness in which the Apollites grew up...or the extremely dark and gloomy contents of the story. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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not set
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Oct 25, 2018
|
Hardcover
| ||||||||||||||
| 0857520490
| 9780857520494
| 0857520490
| 4.13
| 2,545
| Jan 01, 2011
| Sep 01, 2011
|
it was amazing
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Ninth in the Bryant & May quirky mystery series set in London and revolving around two detectives who should have retired years ago. My Take It's a dive Ninth in the Bryant & May quirky mystery series set in London and revolving around two detectives who should have retired years ago. My Take It's a dive into the history of Punch and Judy theatre, and it's fascinating as Salterton takes us back into its origins and purpose as well as who the cast is actually meant to represent. There's also a brief foray into censorship in London theatres by the Lord Chamberlain and historic bits of stage magic. It's very much like today when a new bit of technology arises and everyone has to play with it. Each installment in the series has explored various aspects of history, particularly London's, and I believe that Oskar Kasavian's vendetta is part of the overall series arc along with Bryant and May's "pending" retirement. The series has also been Fowler's soapbox, as he expresses his own views on society, politics, policework, the human condition…and "the Disneyfication of the West End". I gotta say I agree with most everything he's said so far in the series. And it's why that third-person omniscient point-of-view is so useful, as it allows him to include those opinions. It's the characters in the PCU that make this so much fun to read, well, that and Fowler's impossible mysteries. Fowler makes such great use of the "report" (it's a cleverly disguised info dump) to fill the reader in on the characters and the back story of the Peculiar Crimes Unit. It seems that Fowler had a presentiment about Wikileaks as well, lol. I loved Fowler's note that the University of London is trying to offer a course that explains Bryant's methods, lol. I can get into this:"Clutter, either mental or physical, is the sign of a healthy curiosity."I am SO healthy…Once you get past the report, we start at the end with a modified reverse chronology plot beat and segue into a locked-room mystery that ends with a twist of a surprise ending. And yet, as difficult as this was to figure out, as intriguing as was Punch's history, and with that connection Meera makes toward the end ( The Victoria Vanishes , 6) — he should've left it alone, but all that poking and attacking... — which only makes me want to dive into The Invisible Code , 10, it was a bit tedious. Bryant is fascinatingly rude; I'm taking notes. Considering who the murderer turns out to be, who was digging through Baine's briefcase? For a bit of domestic drama, Bryant has lost his case for his Chalk Hill factory abode and has to move. I can't wait to see how he "fits in" to his next home! The Story For the crew of the New Strand Theatre, the play The Two Murderers seems less performance than prophecy when a cast party ends in the shocking death of the theater owner’s son. The crime scene is most unusual, even for Bryant and May. In a locked bedroom without any trace of fingerprints or blood, the only sign of disturbance is a gruesome life-size puppet of Mr. Punch laying on the floor. Everyone at the party is a suspect, including the corrupt producer, the rakish male lead, the dour set designer, and the assistant stage manager, who is the wild daughter of a prominent government official. It’s this last fact that threatens the Peculiar Crimes Unit’s investigation, as the government’s Home Office, wary of the team’s eccentric methods, seeks to throw them off the case. But the nimble minds of Bryant and May are not so easily deterred. Delving into the history of the London theater and the disturbing origins of Punch and Judy, the detectives race to find the maniacal killer before he reaches his even deadlier final act. The Characters Arthur Bryant and John May are senior detectives who should have retired, but they enjoy their work too much. And besides, what else would they do? The incredibly rude and eccentric Bryant has handled almost every type of case there is, in a most odd manner, using psychics, healers, New Age fringe-dwellers, etc. Victor is his ancient Mini Cooper. Alma Sorrowbridge is Bryant’s West Indian housemate (and his former landlady). May is the socially ept half of the team who loves dressing well, and loves the ladies. Brigitte is the divorced Frenchwoman May fears he's losing. Jane Upton is his ex-wife currently in an asylum. He is estranged from his son, Alex, to whom his granddaughter April fled ( Bryant and May Off the Rails ). Gwen Kaye is his married sister. The rest of the Peculiar Crimes Unit (PCU) was… …one of seven experimental units created during World War II. Since 1945, the PCU has been under fire by politicians and rescued by politicians. These days, the Home Office works to sabotage the PCU. Raymond Land is the acting head who has been trying to transfer out for years. His wife, Leanne, is constantly cheating on him, but he's unaware of it. Detective Sergeant Janice Longbright had been an Olympic javelin hopeful and has had a fascination for 1950s film stars and their style of dress. Her mother, Gladys Forthright, used to work for PCU, and her father, Harris, also worked for the Metropolitan Police. Crime Scene Manager Dan Banbury is also the IT tech with a ten-year-old son. Sergeant Jack Renfield flips back and forth on his support for the PCU and has a reputation as an old-school copper. He also has a thing for Longbright. Police Constables Meera Mangeshkar, Colin Bimsley, and Fraternity Ducaine are also quite loyal, although Meera has anger management issues and clashes with Bryant and May as well as filing complaints against them. Bimsley's father and uncle are also former PCU. Bimsley does have Diminished Spatial Awareness (DSA) and keeps trying to date Meera. It's that bet at the end that does it, lol. Bargepole was Bimsley's childhood cat that triggered the DSA. Fraternity was Liberty's brother ( Bryant & May on the Loose , 7). Crippen is a cat who survived. Giles Kershaw is a forensic pathologist working as the St. Pancras coroner, but continues to help out the PCU. His brother-in-law was the last Home Secretary. Rosa "Mrs. Danvers" Lysandrou is the scary "housekeeper" at St. Pancras. Dr. Leo Hendrick is the resident coroner at Bermondsey. The Home Office (HO) has… …purview over the PCU with Leslie Faraday, your typical sleazoid bureaucrat, the HO Liaison with the PCU. Miss Queally is his personal assistant. Oskar Kasavian is an intimidating supervisor with Internal Security and practically panting at the bit to get the PCU shut down. Sabotage, blackmail, murder, whatever works. Lucy Clementine is a plant. The cast and associates of The Two Murderers include… …billionaire Robert Julius Kramer is a real estate mogul who sees a parallel with Punch's sociopathy and his own ambitions. Judith is his second wife; Stella was his first. Noah is their eleven-month-old son. Gloria is the nanny. Gregory Baine is the producer and Kramer's accountant; Susan is his girlfriend. Della Fortress and Marcus Sigler are the leads. Russell Haddon is the director; Naida is his drunk girlfriend. Ella Maltby is in charge of set design and comes from a long line of model makers. She's creative, but gruesome. Ray Pryce wrote the play, sort of. Barnesly is the stage manager; Gail Strong has just been hired as the assistant stage manager. She's also the wayward daughter of the Public Buildings Minister and the granddaughter of the Lord Commissioner of the Treasury. Mona Williams and Neil Crofting are aging actors playing bit parts. Larry Hayes is the wardrobe master. Mohammed al-Nahyan is the carpenter. Jolie Christchurch is the front-of-house manager. Mrs. Blimey is the cleaner at the theatre. Irma Bederke works in the Human Resources Department of Farcom and is the Kramers' neighbor. Cruikshank Holdings is a private, illegal nest egg. Amir Sahin is a workman at the Cannon Street Station. Mick Leach is the foreman. Edgar Digby is Maltby's lawyer. Punch and Judy and… …various automata. The full iconic Punch and Judy cast includes Punch, Judy, their Baby, the Beadle, Scaramouche, Toby, Pretty Poll, a Clown, a Courtier, an Archer, the Police Constable, the Doctor, Jim Crow the black servant, the Tradesman, the Distinguished Foreigner, the Alligator, the Blind Man, the Ghost, Jack Ketch is the Hangman, Mephisto the Devil, and Death. Madame Blavatsky was found up in the attic of the current PCU office. Yeah, that office fits right in with Bryant's interests. It was once used by the Alistair Crowley's Occult Revivalist Society for their meetings. Dudley Salterton, a ventriloquist, does Punch and Judy shows in Broadstairs and owns a dilapidated waxworks museum. He's also the foremost authority on Punch and Judy in Britain and a former academic at the British Museum. Nimrod Granville, who runs Pollock's Toy Museum, is the last working expert on Victorian theatrical toys. And his talk about those Victorian toys' endurance will make you cry. Maggie Armitage is the Grand Order Grade IV White Witch of the Coven of St. James the Elder and yet another of Arthur's consultants (and friends). Daphne is a member of the coven and seeing sprites. Anna Marquand is Bryant's biographer and freelances for Icarus, the publisher who plans to publish Bryant's book. She also transcribes for the Classical Studies Department. Rose Marquand is her lazy, selfish mother. Sheena is a young woman who volunteers to help Rose out. The Hagans are neighbors and the local four-generation criminal family. Joseph is the father. Ashley Hagan particularly scares her. Bunny is the youngest daughter. Tooting Bec is a public swimming pool. Donna is the cashier and a friend of Anna's. The Ladykillers Café with its 1950s theme is near the PCU office and popular with the team. Brenda and Yvonne are its twenty-something owners. Janet Ramsey is the editor of Hard News, a gossip daily ( Ten Second Staircase , 4). Alex Lansdale is the theatre reviewer for Hard News. The Cover and Title The cover is a soft blue-violet, sponged and stenciled with a proscenium arch in a darker shade. The title and author's name are in a script font in black and frame a cartoonish Punch and Judy act that represents events in the story. Yep, even the graphics that surround the deep rust curtained stage with its pointed knife, the skeleton dangling from the "B" in the title, the theatrical comedy and tragedy masks, the pitchfork, and the bag of popcorn are part of the act. The series information is in a scrolly frame in the front center of the stage floor. The title is a bid for revenge, in The Memory of Blood for family wronged. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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May 28, 2017
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May 29, 2017
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Hardcover
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| 0765376997
| 9780765376992
| 0765376997
| 4.01
| 441
| Nov 08, 2016
| Nov 08, 2016
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liked it
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Fifth in the Sentinels of New Orleans urban fantasy series and revolving around DJ Jaco, a rogue wizard. My Take Most of the story is DJ rabbiting aroun Fifth in the Sentinels of New Orleans urban fantasy series and revolving around DJ Jaco, a rogue wizard. My Take Most of the story is DJ rabbiting around half-cocked while Eugenie and Christof are developing…a relationship. There's plenty of low-key humor, but there is a thinness to the story as Johnson skips like a stone over the waters without creating any real depth. My really big problem with Belle Chasse is that nothing really happens. It feels like a fill-in. Oh, DJ and Jake are still on the run from that idiot, Zrakovi. Battles are escalating. There is the usual banter back and forth with Rand and his arrogant selfish nastiness. The encounters with Zrakovi that make me want to wash my hands. With carbolic. Those run-ins are scary when we see what a bit of power can do to a person. The lengths to which he'll go to preserve it. Then there's Rand. Oh, boy. He's not as bad as Zrakovi, but he is more terrifying in his threats. I have a hard time buying in to how awful it is for DJ and crew to be "trapped" in Old Barataria, they're always slipping "across the border" to go shopping, etc. What it boils down to is…I'm glad to have read it, so I know what's going on. But it's not a book I'd buy. The Story With the wizard-elven treaty on the verge of collapse, the preternatural world stands on the brink of war. Faerie is in chaos, with rival princes battling for power. The still-undead pirate, Jean Lafitte, is building his own army of misfits, and DJ — stripped of her job and hiding in the Beyond to avoid the death sentence handed down by the wizard Council of Elders — can't get anywhere near her beloved New Orleans or her significant something-or-other, Alex. The Characters Drusilla "DJ" Jaco, called Jolie by Jean, is a Green Congress wizard, the sentinel of New Orleans, bonded to Rand, in love with Alex, and in hiding with Jean as his consort. Mahout, a.k.a., Charlie, is the fire elven stick that now belongs to DJ. Lennox St. Simon, a Red Congress wizard, is DJ's uncle who now represents the UK and European Union on the Congress of Elders. His daughter, Audrey, is DJ's cousin. DJ's grandmother is still hoping DJ will see the light. Eugenie Dupre is a full human and DJ's best friend. Her pregnant-by-an-elf best friend who is also in hiding. Violette is Eugenie's sister married to Matt; they have six-year-old twin daughters, Amanda and Amelie. Rene Delachaise is a merman and one of DJ's most trusted friends. His father, Toussaint, is the merfolk representative on the Council. Jack McGarrity is an off-duty NOPD cop. The Beyond is… …another plane of existence that lies alongside our own where Vampyre, Faerie, Old Barataria, Elfheim, and some lesser territories are located. Old Barataria is… …where Maison Rouge, Lafitte's home, is located. Captain Jean Lafitte is an undead man, the notorious pirate who saved New Orleans in 1814. He's also the Interspecies Council representative for the historical undead. Dominique You and Pierre Lafitte are his brothers with little love for DJ. Jake Warin, a former Marine along with Ken, is Alex's cousin who pledged himself to Jean. Leyla used to manage Jake's bar, the Green Gator. Collette is also a loup-garou, and she and Jake are in beautiful love. Adrian Hoffman, a Blue Congress wizard, is now a vampire, sold out by his father. It didn't help that Adrian had fallen in love with Terri Ford, a vampire assistant to Regent Etienne Boulard. Ken Hachette is a human NOPD detective who only recently learned about the supernaturals. He and Alex are also with the Division of Domestic Terror (DDT), a top-secret preternatural crime unit connected to the FBI. Old Orleans is… …where many of the historical undead live. Louis Armstrong is helping out, off camera, so to speak, usually playing at Beyond and Back. Elfheim is… …the home of the elves. Quince "Rand" Randolph is DJ's bondmate, on the Council, the father of Eugenie's baby, and the leader of the Elven Synod. Betony Stoneman, a.k.a., Fred Flintstone, is the chief of the earth clan. The fae are… …ruled by Queen Sabine who lives in the Royal Tower. Her heirs are her nephews, the brothers Christof and Florian. The war finds the fae divided between Christof, Prince of Winter, who wields blizzards and cold through The Arch power and is Jean's new best friend. His brother, Florian, Prince of Summer blasts out with heat and rain and wields The Academy power. Tamara is their sister. Mick is a fae-bear who runs the Tower Tavern, a neutral zone in Faery. The combination of fae-animal, Hybrids, is a result of The Asylum magic. Vampyre is… …the land of the vampires currently ruled by the Vice-Regent Garrett Melnick. The Congress of Elders… …are the wizards who rule the supernatural community. Alex Warin, canine shapeshifter, had been their Enforcer and is now the Interspecies Council representative. The Interspecies Council is… …a new organization that is meant to incorporate all the supernaturals. The North American wizards are… …led by the deteriorating, petty First Elder Willem Zrakovi. Elder Sato is one of Zrakovi's friends and supporters. The Red Congress wizards do physical magic — the flashy stuff. Green Congress wizards are "the geeks of the magical world", using potions and rituals. Yellow Congress specializes in mental magic. Blue Congress is the magic of creation and re-creation. Sentinels are wizards in charge of cities or regions and keep an eye on the boundary between the Beyond and our world, the Now. Mitchell is Blue Congress. Wolfie, Dack, and Carl are loup-garou working for the wizards. Ittoqqortoormiit is a remote wizard outpost in Greenland specifically for the incarceration of whacked-out wizards. Transports are portals to move between Now and Beyond. Hurricane Katrina opened the veil between the Beyond and Now. The dead are piling up Gerald St. Simon had been her father. Tish had been another friend. Robert had been Rene's twin brother. Mace Banyan had been the head of the Elven Synod. Etienne Boulard had been Jean's friend before he betrayed him. Geoffrey Hoffman was the First Elder. Vervain had been Rand's mother. The Cover and Title The cover is a soft red violet of haze and light framed in the props from the krewe floats with a jean-and-tight-top-clad DJ at the bottom of the cover, looking up at the unexpected guards, as she races forward, her blonde hair flying, Charlie in her left hand. The title, series information, author's name, and recommendation are in white. The title is what everyone in the story is doing, having un Belle Chasse. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Dec 03, 2016
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Oct 27, 2016
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Hardcover
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| 0345481291
| 9780345481290
| 0345481291
| 3.90
| 51,641
| Apr 25, 2006
| Apr 25, 2006
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it was amazing
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Second in the Temeraire science fiction and alternate history series revolving around a former navy captain and his dragon, Temeraire. It really needs Second in the Temeraire science fiction and alternate history series revolving around a former navy captain and his dragon, Temeraire. It really needs to be a “7”! My Take The start of Throne of Jade will infuriate you!! You'd think the Chinese would have a better handle on a dragon's temperament when they go after Temeraire. As for Barham…hmph…what a dishonorable fool! Treating Temeraire as an animal! Demanding that Laurence lie! Ya gotta laugh even in your fury as Barham reveals even more what an idiot he is, that he has no idea that dragons are sentient, protective beings. Which only makes me wonder why the Chinese allow Barham to do any of this??? It impresses me every time how beautifully Novik has created Temeraire's voice… Oh, lord, that scene where Barham is trying to arrest Laurence and threatens to tie Temeraire down and Maximus gets curious about why Temeraire needs to be tied down. You will laugh and eagerly read as fast as you can to see what happens next. I had thought the Chinese too arrogant for words, but then the ship's dinner came up. Oh. Boy. And it only gets worse. I did enjoy Laurence's defiance. The whole voyage will be a nasty battle of will, enticement, and insult with Hammond slowly revealing his true colors. There's also the battle with the sea dragon that finally rehabilitates Temeraire in the crew's eyes. And, yes, worse continues when Temeraire and his crew reaches China proper, and it's only their reverence for Celestial dragons that keeps the men, sort of, safe. China is an eyeopener for Laurence and Temeraire. The equality dragons enjoy in China, that dragons can write and conduct business, have jobs, create poetry, and purchase goods. You can imagine how excited this all makes Temeraire! Between these experiences and the encounter at sea, a number of philosophical discussions crop up between Temeraire and Laurence that force Laurence to re-think how dragons are viewed and what they suffer in western countries. Laurence's eyes are further opened by the classes of young dragons and how they are treated compared to those of the West. No, I don't believe in that attack at the palace. There have been guards on Laurence and his crew, and all of a sudden they can't protect them? They disappear and the bad guys get access to them? No, that doesn't make any sense. I certainly did not expect either ending! The accommodation that makes everything all right and the choice Temeraire makes. Oh, yeah…now I can't wait to read Black Powder War ! The Story Such a lowly soldier cannot possibly be partnered with such a distinguished breed as Temeraire, but Temeraire doesn't see it that way, and his attitude is quite at odds with Lord Barham's lack of discernment! It takes a rebellious, belligerent Temeraire before the Chinese delegation is forced to acknowledge the truth of how they will return Lung Tien Xiang to China where they are confident that Temeraire will realize his true station in society. Fortunately, or is it unfortunately?, Temeraire's crew is ordered to accompany him. It will certainly be safer for them after their almost mutiny. The Characters Captain Will Laurence is now in the Aerial Corps with Temeraire, a Chinese Celestial dragon with his divine wind, as his partner. Temeraire's proper Chinese name is Lung Tien Xiang. Lung Tien Qian is his mother. Lung Qin Gao is an Imperial dragon and Temeraire's father. Gao's companion is a prince of the third rank. Lord Allendale is Laurence's disapproving father. The Admiralty in London Lord Barham is the officious idiot who is First Lord of the Admiralty. The Aerial Corps is composed of… …men and dragons partnered into squadrons. Admiral Powys is there in London. The supportive Admiral Lenton hasn't broken up Laurence and Temeraire's crew, which includes Lieutenant John Granby who is refusing any new post. Willoughby and Porter are harness-men; Harley is an ensign; Second Lieutenant Evans; Lieutenant Riggs; Johnson and Miggsy are bellmen; the twelve-year-old Allen, Quarle, and Martin are wingmen; Calloway; Therrowes; Lieutenant Ferris is captain of the topmen who include Croyn, Portis, and Macdonaugh; Digby is the forward lookout; young Emily Roland, Morgan , and Dyer are cadet runners; Dunne is one of the riflemen; Blythe is the armorer's mate; and, Keynes is Temeraire's dragon surgeon with Baylesworth as one of his aides. Captain Chenery and Dulcia and Nitidus partnered with Captain Warren are part of Laurence and Temeraire's formation along with Sutton on Messoria and Immortalis. Berkeley is partnered with Maximus, a Regal Copper, who has had a growth spurt. Captain Jane Roland is partnered with Excidium and is Emily's mother. Sanders is her new first lieutenant. Lloyd is to be put to Obversaria's egg — she's the flag dragon, an Anglewing, partnered with Admiral Lenton. Captain Harcourt and Lily are doing much better. Volly is a Greyling courier with Captain Langford James as his partner. Patson is the gatekeeper at the London covert where the powers-that-be have put Temeraire. Jervis is overseeing Temeraire's care. Hollin (he'd been a leather worker on Temeraire's ground crew in His Majesty's Dragon , 1) and Elsie, a Winchester, are couriers. The Allegiance is… …the dragon transport that will return Temeraire and the Chinese delegation to China. One of Laurence's naval friends, stuck while Reliant is in dry dock, Captain Thomas Riley, will captain the Allegiance. Lord Purbeck is the first lieutenant Franks is the third lieutenant, and Beckett is another lieutenant. Tripp is the youngest midshipman. Garnett is the master. Macready is the Marine lieutenant and his men include Harris. More of the crew includes Jenkins, Harvey, the snotty Reynolds, Leddowes and Eklof are carpenters, Cornell, Sacker is a master's mate, Dyfydd, and Chervins. China Lung Li Po of the Tang Dynasty was a great poet. The Son of Heaven is the Qianlong Emperor. Lung Tien Chuan is Temeraire's older twin and the companion of the crown prince, Mianning. Lung Qin Mei is an Imperial female with whom Temeraire is, ahem, consorting. It's why he forgot the time. Miankai is a young boy whom Yongxing is trying to partner up with Temeraire. Zhao Wei is a functionary at court. The dangerous De Guignes is the French envoy. His nephew is Lieutenant Jean-Claude De Guignes. The Chinese delegation is… …headed by His Imperial Highness Prince Yongxing, the emperor's brother. We will meet the white Celestial, Lung Tien Lien, who is considered unlucky but a great scholar and partnered with the prince. Sun Kai appears to be the prince's aide and is quite intelligent…and sneaky. Liu Bao is the older envoy open to new possibilities; he is related to the emperor's mother and is an official in the Manchu White Banner. Feng Li and Ye Bing are some of the prince's attendants. Li Honglin is quite adventurous aboard ship. Arthur Hammond is the diplomat assigned to accompany Laurence and the Chinese delegation back to China. Some years ago, the English envoy to China, Lord Mccartney, had refused to perform the kowtow before the emperor and was forced out of China. South Africa General Baird is temporarily in command of Capetown. Macao Major Heretford is angry over the seizure of the East India Company's ships captained by Mestis, Holt, and Gregson. Sir George Staunton is the chief of the commissioners and very angry over Chinese treatment of the English. The Dragons The English dragons include Angelwings, Regal Coppers, Longwings, Greylings, Xenicas, and Winchesters. There are very few Celestial dragons: Temeraire's mother and father; Lien who is with the prince, Grandfather, Chu, Chuan, Ming, and Zhi. They must breed with Imperials to become pregnant. The lower breed of Chinese dragons partner up with women and go into the army. The Emerald Glass are lazy and slow on their tests, and the Scarlet Flower like fighting too much. The French dragons include the Flamme-de-Gloire, Papillon Noirs, and Fleur-de-Nuit. Accendare is a Flamme-de-Gloire and notorious for her fire. Canada has its own breeds, including a Dakota. The kiao is a sea dragon. The abolitionist, Lord Wilberforce, is one of Lord Allendale's political allies. The Cover and Title The cover is a a swirl of malachite greens with a white dragon curled around a pocket watch inset with the image of a Chinese temple. The title is an embossed gold at the top while the author's name is outlined in black at the bottom. The title is the ultimate authority in China, the emperor, the Throne of Jade. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Jul 2016
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Jul 04, 2016
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Mass Market Paperback
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| 1402258658
| 9781402258657
| B00VGY4RA8
| 3.83
| 9,388
| Jul 13, 1998
| Oct 06, 2015
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it was amazing
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A standalone fictional novel revolving around Lyn Ravenshaw, a literary agent mourning the loss of her baby five years ago. Takes place in Angle, Pemb
A standalone fictional novel revolving around Lyn Ravenshaw, a literary agent mourning the loss of her baby five years ago. Takes place in Angle, Pembrokeshire in South Wales. This ARC was sent to me by NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for an honest review. My Take Named of the Dragon was beautifully done, although I didn't get a real sense of it being Christmas. Oh, the words were there, but I wasn't feelin' it. I suspect most of what I did feel was a blend of my own memories of Christmases in England, the cloudy sense of day, of old English houses with the fire chasing down the chill, the warren of passages, the kitchen clutter, and the village streets. The real purpose, however, yeah, that I felt. It was mostly curiosity as to how things would turn out for Elen and Stevie, what the dream means for Lyn, how the King Arthur legends tied in…the real purpose of the story. And then the results of those dreams…I never saw that one coming. I was all set for the fantastical, the paranormal, only to be pulled into the catholic. "'God, no. Horrible things, scruples,' she said, with a shudder. 'They get in the way of my fun.'"I do like that Bridget can actually be concerned where it counts. "And it only took four tries to make the penny come up tails."It's an interesting introduction to James Swift. I had been expecting a rakish man prone to flirting, eating, and drinking, but Kearsley doesn't follow through on this. He's actually much better, and very, lol, underhanded…in a good way. He will lead a lively dance. Even more interesting is how Kearsley sets us up to believe that Bridget is the key, but in truth, she's the key who turns the lock that opens the door to the real purpose of the story: Lyn's future. Lyn has so much to get past. And Kearsley slips and slides it all in under cover of Bridget's desires, James' indifference, Christopher's and Gareth's competing interests, and Lyn as the pivot around which it all spins. "Originality [is] not a team pursuit, and any story worth the telling grew in solitude."Oh, lordy, I did enjoy Christopher's comment over lunch at Owen and Dily's place about their son, and his…how many was that?…wife. And Dilys never picked up on it, although Owen had a snicker about it. It's fascinating to read a story and pick up on the background details like the red and the white dragon that I remember from Nicole Peeler's Jane True series and then G.A. Aiken's Cadwaladr from her Dragon Kin series. Kearsley reminds me that authors pick up inspiration from everywhere, and that history is a rich mine of materials. I kept laughing inside as Lyn dragged out that tour of Pembroke Castle, lol. And I cannot blame Lyn one bit at all for torturing Gareth. It's a slow, lazy read as the holidays slip from one day to the next, presenting opportunities to get to know people, to learn their fears and dreams, to explore the area, and to set the stage. When it comes, it's abrupt and will shake up your mind. For you will never have expected what comes. The Story Although it goes against her workaholic nature, literary agent Lyn Ravenshaw lets herself be whisked off to Wales for the Christmas holidays by her star client, flamboyant children's author Bridget Cooper. She suspects Bridget has ulterior motives, but the lure of South Wales with its castles and myths and the change of scene will bring relief from the nightmares that have plagued her since the death of her child. But the dreams continue. With a twist, when an eccentric young widow thinks Lyn is her baby's protector. Before she can escape her nightmares, she must uncover the secret of these new dreams, from a long ago time that may not be that far away… The Characters Lyn Ravenshaw is a literary agent for the Simon Holland Agency in London, haunted by the death of her baby, Justin. Her husband, Martin Blake, had been a novelist before he died. Patrick is her brother, and he and his wife live in Vancouver, Canada, where they both protest to their hearts' content. Bridget Cooper is a self-absorbed writer with her best selling Lalandrah series. She claims she's not an author! James Swift is Bridget's current boyfriend and a brilliant writer — Lyn thinks he's "the closest thing to literary genius". Christopher is his younger brother who sells antiques in his shop in Bath. Angle, Pembrokeshire… …is where Lyn will be spending Christmas. Gareth Gwyn Morgan is a famous (and reclusive) playwright who wrote Red Dragon Rising who lives in what locals still call Auntie Frances' cottage. Chance is his dog; Sovereign is his horse. Elen Vaughan, a free spirit without a spiteful word for anyone, is Uncle Ralph's tenant; she rents the other end of the trio of houses, East House. Tony was Elen's husband. Stevie is her little boy. Uncle Ralph and Auntie Pam own Castle Farm; they're really old friends of the Swifts' mother, but the Swifts have all known them for years. They spend time with their daughter up in Yorkshire. Owen is a fellow farmer who looks after the animals when they're gone; James minds the house. Dilys is Owen's wife, a woman with very firm opinions. Margaret is the blue-gowned woman in the dream. London Lewis is Lyn's assistant. Graham is one of Lyn's co-workers; he works in the film and television rights department. Julia Beckett is a brilliant illustrator. Ivor Whitcomb is the "Goliath of the London literary scene" and a major jerk. He's currently James' agent. The Cover and Title The cover is peaceful with its pale blue sky framed in clouds with Lyn's dark brown hair floating down the back of her cream fisherman's sweater as she sits on a rocky wall, facing away from us and looking over the fields to the sea, the ruined castle of Pembroke in the distance. There's a ragged black edge thinly creating a border on the top and sides that reinforce the feel of looking in. The title is the fear, a dream of being Named of the Dragon, and the warnings it presents. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Oct 19, 2015
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Oct 24, 2015
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Kindle Edition
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| 3.95
| 739
| Aug 12, 2013
| Aug 12, 2013
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it was amazing
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It's a free short story from Seanan McGuire, 0.08 in the InCryptid urban fantasy series, and revolving around a family of renegade "monster hunters" w
It's a free short story from Seanan McGuire, 0.08 in the InCryptid urban fantasy series, and revolving around a family of renegade "monster hunters" who go camping. If you're interested, there is a chronological listing of the InCryptid books on my website of the live-and-let-live Healys who have seen the error of their ways when it comes to huntin' down monsters. My Take It's a crack up to read of the Healys' preparations for camping. Well, the male Healys. The females have it all together, and women will be laughing under their breaths at these hapless men. Alexander and Enid are praying that this trip will help the healing process for their son and daughter-in-law. That description of Fran perched on the tackle box and serenely sliding across the truck bed as the vehicle twisted and turned along the roads cracked me up and sets the mood for this camping trip. It makes a sharp contrast with the welcome they receive from Uncle Herbert's relatives! Monsters were often the better men, after all. The Story When Alexander Healy suggests that it's finally time for his daughter-in-law to accompany them on their periodic fishing trip to White Otter Lake, it seems like the perfect opportunity for the four surviving members of the family to become reacquainted with one another. Fran is dubious at first, not really understanding what a fishing trip could do for them as a family. That was before she knew about the monsters in White Otter Lake, of course. The monsters change everything. Before long, the entire Healy clan is embroiled in a fight for the lives of the creatures that live in White Otter Lake, which may be the last of their kind in the world. If they want to save these majestic plesiosaurs, the family will need to find a way to come together in order to solve the mystery of what the guardian of White Otter Lake has disappeared to. It's bullets versus brains as the Healys finally step up to do their jobs, and preserve the crytozoological world. No matter what it takes. The Characters Alexander and Enid Healy are the parents while Jonathan (he easily slips into lecture mode) and Fran (she's quick to pull knives from everywhere and nowhere) are son and daughter-in-law. Yes, the four of them live together in the Healy house on the very outskirts of Buckley Township in Michigan. Bessie is a Dolichorhynchops mishigamaa, a.k.a., a Michigan lake monster, and one of the Healy family friends. Goliath is another. The Wilsons own the lake and the land around it. They've also known about the monsters in the lake forever and feel that the creatures are theirs to care for, although it's only Herbert left these days. Abigail died last fall. Eloise and Paul have come out to help "care" for Uncle Herbert. Arturo Gucciard is a friend Jonathan and Fran made in Chicago while they were on their honeymoon in "Sweet Poison Wine". The Cover and Title It's a soft golden cover with mist rising up off the lake, deeper golden trees on the far shore as a "Nessie" sways over the water. The title is a combination of an answer while at the lake, the "Loch and Key" to bringing a measure of happiness back into the Healy family. ...more |
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| 3.94
| 760
| Jun 11, 2013
| Jun 11, 2013
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it was amazing
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It's a free short story from Seanan McGuire, 0.07 in the InCryptid urban fantasy series, and revolving around a family of renegade "monster hunters".
It's a free short story from Seanan McGuire, 0.07 in the InCryptid urban fantasy series, and revolving around a family of renegade "monster hunters". It's 1935, seven years since Fran and Jonathan arrived in Buckley Township. If you're interested, there is a chronological listing of the InCryptid books on my website of the live-and-let-live Healys who have seen the error of their ways when it comes to huntin' down monsters. My Take You'll be crying in this story. Crying for their loss, crying for Jonathan's fears, his worries that he'll lose Fran too. He's so patient, that it makes me cry for that too. You'll also be laughing as Fran recites the rules of the establishment. For such a short story, McGuire does a beautiful job of conveying such a plethora of grief. And I hope to never read it again. I hate crying. The Story The house is in mourning from Jonathan and Fran to Enid and Alexander to the Aeslin mice. All mourning for the God of Early Arrivals and Earlier Departures. It's a favor the mice would ask, that a representative attend the funeral, that their God would not be alone in the dark with no ending to his story. It's a funeral that must have all the trappings and ritual possible and end with hallowed ground. The Characters Jonathan (the God of Unexpected Situations) and Fran Healy (the Violent Priestess) have been married for three years now; their son Daniel (the God of Early Arrivals and Earlier Departures) is also three. Enid and Alexander (he's a librarian) are Jonathan's parents. Railroad and Rabbit were the horses Jonathan and Fran rode home on in 1928. Father Wallace will perform the funeral rites. The Campbell Family Circus is… …still owned by one "family" with an old-fashioned mix of sideshows, "wonders of the world", and midway games. Juniper is the lady in charge, Fran's best friend, and a routewitch. Max mostly cares for the elephants although he also fills in as a strongman. The Cover and Title The cover is Juniper's bibliomancy cards fanned out face down on the rough wooden tabletop. The first card (and the only card face-up) is the Tower. The title reflects the first disaster to befall the Healys. "The First Fall". ...more |
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| 3.94
| 839
| Apr 09, 2013
| Apr 09, 2013
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it was amazing
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It's a free short story from Seanan McGuire, 0.06 in the InCryptid urban fantasy series, and revolving around a family of renegade "monster hunters".
It's a free short story from Seanan McGuire, 0.06 in the InCryptid urban fantasy series, and revolving around a family of renegade "monster hunters". The couple focus is on the wedding between Jonathan Healy and Frances Brown. It's 1932, four years since Fran and Jonathan arrived in Buckley Township. If you're interested, there is a chronological listing of the InCryptid books on my website of the live-and-let-live Healys who have seen the error of their ways when it comes to huntin' down monsters. My Take Oh lord, I love how it starts with the Aeslin mice watching over Jonathan and Fran's baby boy. It's too, too accurate a picture of life in the Healy family as supernatural issues follow the young Healy couple to Chicago, and Fran reckons Jonathan arranged this particular adventure to keep her from being bored, lol. Justice is served at the end, albeit a bit messily. It's Jonathan's reasoning that makes the conclusion a pip. The Story It's a nervous Fran unsure about leaving her baby boy as she and Jonathan head off on their honeymoon to Chicago. Fortunately neither of them will be bored — in bed or out — as they help out old friends and make new ones. The Characters Jonathan and Fran Healy have been married for two months, and they're off on their honeymoon. Daniel is their two-month-old baby. Alexander (he's a librarian) and Enid are Jonathan's parents. Jonathan's grandmother, Caroline, was known as the Well-Groomed Priestess. She's the reason the mice have so many opinions on shampoo. The Carmichael is… …a hotel run by Hector and Lanya Kalakos, gorgons, which is hidden by a grimy, off-putting exterior. Asta and Chruse are the daughters of the house, er, the hotel. Medusa is a very particular vintage of wine drunk only by gorgons; it's fatal to humans. Yeah, Medusa is also the patron saint of gorgons. Arturo Gucciard is a bootlegger who got on the wrong side of someone. Big Tommy was one of his men. Francesco Russo is a rival bootlegger. The Cover and Title The background looks like really old, possibly rotting wallpaper. It's all lit up making it a perfect foil for the grave vine and leaves wrapping themselves around the dark green wine bottle front and right. The title is what all the brou-ha-ha is about, a "Sweet Poison Wine" that has repercussions on bootleggers and culture alike. ...more |
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| 0312209282
| 9780312209285
| 0312209282
| 4.08
| 2,832
| Oct 01, 2000
| Jan 01, 2000
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really liked it
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Seventh in the Roma Sub Rosa historical mystery series and revolving around Gordianus the Finder and his family in the Rome of 49 BC. Chronologically, Seventh in the Roma Sub Rosa historical mystery series and revolving around Gordianus the Finder and his family in the Rome of 49 BC. Chronologically, it's MY seventh and Saylor's eighth because the technical sixth, The House of the Vestals , is a collection of short stories that I've slotted in chronologically on my website. My Take Last Seen in Massilia is not as tense or dramatic as it could have been. It's definitely an easy read that won't make your heart race. I'm not really sure why Saylor wrote this one, unless it's to create the situation that culminates in that scene at the end. It doesn't feel as if Gordianus is doing much in the way of detecting in Last Seen in Massilia but flopping about, providing Saylor the opportunity to show us another style of government, another city in ancient times, a different approach to religion. That is one of the pluses of Saylor's writing. He shows what is happening. It's not as intense a show as say, Bernard Cornwell, but he is not telling the story. I feel as though I am also walking those streets, wending my way through canyons, swimming my way through a flooded tunnel. I can see the view from Hieronymus' rooftop, the piles of treasures in Verres' vault, the décor within the homes. I can taste those figs — and want some of my own for real! Nor does he indulge in the hated info dumps! Yeah!! Saylor does a great job of informing us without sounding like an encyclopedia or a news article. Saylor also pays attention to the dress, culture, mores, and more of the time. Thank you, god! I do get tired of dimes in Regency novels. It's this attention to detail that helps pull you into 49 BC. And he makes it so seamless. As for the story itself, Caesar is definitely a politician. He promises one thing and does another. The Council of Fifteen is no better. They never bothered to rotate the emergency stores, deeming it too costly. Now half of it is moldy and rations are reduced within the city. Businessmen and lovers lie and cheat as well, still. Gordianus takes some tremendous risks to find Meto, and along the way, he discovers some good people. Not many, but some. I'm not sure how to categorize Publicius and Minucius. They do mean well, but if they are an example of Catilina's followers, it's not surprising that he lost his battle. Talk about a couple of idiotic syncophants! Worshipping gods and goddesses is one thing, heaping all your sins on one person and then sacrificing that person, well, that's another. Oh, wait. That's what the Christians did back in AD 33. Luckily for this story's Scapegoat, he's at least treated well. It's fascinating how similar our societies are. Oh, sure, we have television, cars, the Internet, and in many ways I think the Romans and Greeks were more advanced than us. We may have microwaves and refrigerators, but they enjoyed their food. They took the time to enjoy it. They talked, discussed, debated, argued. Person to person. Yes, they also gossiped, but they also had philosophical discussions. On the negative side, people on either end of the timeline are greedy, selfish, cruel, loving, loyal, and more. Politicians and military men have not changed over the centuries. Nor have families. The Story Gordianus and Davus have been traveling for the past twenty days, heading to Massilia. That note left Gordianus confused and worried, and he needs to see for himself. They've already heard that the city refused to open its gates to Caesar, and Gordianus is thinking up ways to get in. No one would ever have suspected the ruse that works, and thankfully, Gordianus and Davus are rescued by the Scapegoat, a sacrifice who can do no wrong. The Characters Gordianus is a Finder, a private investigator who has retired. Davus is a former slave and bodyguard to Pompey, but now a freedman married to Diana, Gordianus and Bethesda's daughter. Meto is Gordianus' adopted son who edits Caesar's work. Well, he used to be until he plotted to kill Caesar. He ran from Rome to Massilia in Rubicon . Eco is his other adopted son who has taken over the Finder business. Gaius Juluis Caesar is continuing his hunt for Pompey and is currently waging war in Spain while Gaius Trebonius is in charge at the siege of Massilia. Marc Antony is holding Rome for Caesar. Engineer Vitruvius ( Rubicon ) is a military engineer and designs siegeworks and tunnel operations. Massilia is… …what we know as Marseille, and it's a Greek city, an ally of Rome's for the past 500 years. It's also the end of the road for Roman exiles, and the city is full of them. They worship Artemis in Massilia in the form of a misshapen hunk of meteor rock. The Scapegoat was chosen to bear the sins of the city, and hopefully, gain the city safety from the besieging Romans when he jumps off Sacrifice Rock. It's Hieronymus' last chance for revenge against the people who destroyed his family. Apollonides is the First Timouchos, the leader of the rotating Timouchoi Council of Fifteen which rules Massilia as a timocracy — government by the wealthy. Hmmm, sounds like us, doesn't it? The entire Timouchoi body is 600 members. Cydimache is Apollonides' hideously ugly and deformed daughter. Normally, she would have been exposed at birth, but the requirements of Massilia encourage her father to keep her. Zeno is the man who married her, abandoning the woman he loved. Arausio is a Gaulish merchant whose beautiful daughter, Rindel, has disappeared. Rindel is also the name of his wife. Calamitos was and is one of Hieronymus' torturers. Famous exiles include… …Gaius Verres, a Sicilian governor who was successfully (surprisingly) convicted of malfeasance; Milo was a gang-leader who was found guilty of murdering Clodius in A Murder on the Appian Way , 5 (Milo's wife, Fausta, declined to go into exile with him); Publicius and Minucius are two of the followers of Catilina in the city ( Catilina's Riddle , 3); and those Romans who were persecuted simply because they disagreed with Pompey. Rabidus is a cloaked and hooded soothsayer who ghosts through the countryside and Massilia. Marcus and a fellow soldier guard the Temple of Artemis just outside the Roman camp. Gnaeus Pompey has sailed toward Greece. Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, a.k.a., Redbeard, represents Pompey's interests in Massilia; he's the one who convinced the city to side with Pompey. Suckers. The Cover and Title The cover is similar to that of Rubicon with its huge painting of a battle scene outside city walls framed with gold moldings against a black wall and a deep red carved empaneled wainscoting. The title is both real and metaphorical, both joyful and grieved when Last Seen in Massilia. ...more |
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May 15, 2015
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May 17, 2015
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Hardcover
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| 110159912X
| 9781101599129
| B00FX7LVJO
| 4.24
| 1,160
| Apr 29, 2014
| Apr 29, 2014
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liked it
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Sixteenth in the de Piaget historical romance series and revolving around the de Piaget and MacLeod families. This story takes place in 1232, and the
Sixteenth in the de Piaget historical romance series and revolving around the de Piaget and MacLeod families. This story takes place in 1232, and the couple focus is on Isabelle de Piaget and Gervase de Seger. If you're interested, there is a chronological listing of the de Piaget books on my website. I had wanted to give this a "2.5", but I do usually enjoy Kurland's stories so I'm giving it the benefit of my doubt. My Take Hmmm, how do I put this? It's a lovely sweet story, and I do love how Kurland blends contemporary dreams with the values and manners of the 13th century and turns it into a riotous romp of delicious tension and crazy romance. It is filled with impossible situations with a known end result that Kurland provides with a twist. Isabelle is a bright woman as well as a naive one. She's generous in wanting to help, and she's a very spunky lady — I adored how she took on the stepmother and the ex-fiancée. Still, I go back to that naiveté and wonder why Isabelle thinks she can go jaunting over to France all by herself. "I'd like to have it out of the way, if you don't mind. My Niggles Unfortunately, I do have a number of questions for Kurland. For one, I don't understand how Gervase's "coffers are emptying at an alarming rate". His dukedom is rich. He's not off battling anyone nor competing in any tournaments. He doesn't appear to waste money on going to court. Kurland never makes it clear where the money is going, although she subtly infers that his father wasted the ready. Within one paragraph, Kurland states that Gervase is heir to a vast estate (which raises more questions about that monetary loss) and that his father is dead. As heir, hasn't he inherited? How can so many people be so unobservant that they can't see that Isabelle is a girl or that her speech, hands, and skills indicate she is not a servant? The way Isabelle is treated after her rescue is clumsy and the writing feels more juvenile than usual. Yes, I did say juvenile. Kurland writes humorous fun stories, and yet there is a juvenile aspect to it at times. She's still well worth reading when you want some escapist entertainment. I have to confess, I don't understand why Isabelle didn't make herself known to Gervase once her memory came back. Her brother is just down the road a piece. Not telling him does make this more fun, but still rather silly. What is the pushy de Coucy guardsman doing hanging around Seger? Wouldn't he have ridden off with the master who employs him? I don't see how the names Imogen, Catherine, or Isolde are similar to Isabelle. What's with Nicholas' reaction to seeing Isabelle? It does make great drama, but it's so over the top. If Isabelle is as lovely as Amanda, why are all the suitors disappointed that only what's-her-name is left? How is it that Cook is so terrible and still employed at the chateau? Why does Isabelle have this urgent need to keep "escaping"? If Isabelle's brothers have taught their wives swordplay, how is it that Isabelle never learned? What can I say? It's an over-the-top gothic romance that manages to be frivolous, idiotic, and still fun in a soap opera sort of way. The Story Isabelle de Piaget is tired of being protected, tired of being overlooked, and wants some adventure in her life. Only she gets so much more than she bargains for when she loses her memories and ends up in the clutches of a demon who casts spells and terrorizes the populace. The Characters The frustrated Isabelle de Piaget is the youngest daughter of Lord Rhys and Lady Gwennelyn from Another Chance to Dream , 1. Isabelle's siblings Miles is Isabelle's twin brother. The boasting, rather obnoxious Robin — he and his wife, Anne ( If I Had You , 2) have two children. Amanda is married to Jackson Kilchurn IV ( Dreams of Stardust , 3), and they have a daughter and newborn son, Jackson the Fifth. John and Montgomery are the unmarried brothers. Nicholas and his pregnant wife, Jennifer, are at Beauvois in France ( When I Fall in Love , 4). They have a son, James. Joanna of Segrave is her maternal grandmother. Abbess Mary at Caours is Isabelle's paternal grandmother. Sir Etienne de Piaget was her grandfather. Sister Jeanne at the abbey is very good with her hands. The horribly crushed Gervase de Seger, Duke of Monsaert, has his country seat at Chateau Monsaert in France. The silent and efficient Sir Aubert is his best friend and the captain of his guard. Parsival had been his favorite horse, Diablo is his best warhorse, and Philip is his second-fastest horse. He has six half-brothers: Lord Joscelin is his favorite, and Lord Guy runs the estate. Then there are Lords Lucien, Pierre, Fabien, and the six-year-old Lord Yves who is in need of a smack. His stepmother, Margaret, Duchess of Monsaert, is a nasty woman, unloved by any of her sons. Abelard was his grandfather and had some adventures as a nun. His father, Gaspard, seems to have been an absolute wastrel. Master Paquier is the nasty, reluctant personal surgeon to Gervase. Mistress Jehanne is the cook; Adele is one of the kitchen maids. Sir Denis and Sir Lucas are the guards Sir Aubert assigns to Isabelle. Master Humber is his prévôt, his forester, and why his forester would be involved in the spring planting, I don't know. Cyon is a page. Master Simon is the stablemaster. Frédéric, the Duke of Coucy's daughter, Evelyne, broke off her engagement with Gervase after his accident. Arthur of Harwych is a would-be suitor. Captain Allard is the captain of the ship Isabelle escapes on. The Cover and Title The cover is consistent with the title. Unrelated to the story. It is a lovely cover with its door-sized wrought iron gate, surrounded by lilac bushes, and opening onto a gravel path bordered with greenery. I have no idea how the title, Dreams of Lilacs, came about (the only place "lilacs" appear is in the title and on the cover). It would have made much more sense if they had been forget-me-not dreams. ...more |
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May 01, 2015
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Kindle Edition
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| 0380975343
| 9780380975341
| 0380975343
| 3.87
| 4,857
| 1997
| Dec 01, 1997
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it was ok
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Second in the Straton Family historical western romance series and revolving around the Straton family. The couple focus is on Chandos and Courtney's
Second in the Straton Family historical western romance series and revolving around the Straton family. The couple focus is on Chandos and Courtney's daughter, Casey, and Damian. It's 1892 in Texas. My Take How very disappointing. I expected so much more from Lindsey, but most of the story was tell with very little show. I was expecting a story more like A Heart So Wild , 1, in which Lindsey grabbed hold of me and pulled me in. This one? Well, I wanted to read more about Chandos and Courtney, find out how their lives turned out. They've got their HEA even if Chandos finds it boring. As for Casey and Damian, it is a cute read, and I do love a primary protagonist who will not accept second place — yay, Casey! As for love, well, there's that lack of show again 'cause I sure didn't feel it. I didn't feel much at all, really. There were a number of places where I expected Lindsey to wring out that tension. Then I was expecting to read more about Casey's affection for Old Sam. Casey was all I expected in a Chandos-Courtney offspring — feisty, confident, and good with a gun. I liked her. She was TALENTED and, lol, spunky. I want her on my side. Chandos, however, was not very believable. I liked that he was willing to give his daughter some space, but his insistence that she was too young…how old was he again when he first rode onto Fletcher Straton land? Then there's that firm expectation that she should up and get married? No. Of course, if she isn't old enough, ahem, to run the ranch, how can she be old enough to get married and start poppin' out kids? *eye roll* Hypocrite much? I do appreciate that Chandos rides out to keep an eye on her, and lets her roll her own way. Which is another lost area for tension. Lindsey starts out a tiny bit slow as she sets the character of the characters and puts them in motion to encounter each other. It is a trope how they meet, but Lindsey twists it nicely and makes it fun. There are a couple of other tropes that she doesn't twist. They are minor and don't impinge much on the story. There were, however, a couple of tropes that did drive me nuts: Damian being unable to speak about his feelings and Casey running off every chance she gets. Lindsey didn't even try to put a twist on these. If she'd at least have given them some emotion, some show, had her characters agonize about what to do, it might have made a difference. Instead it brings the story down. What was with Damian's temper? There was one mention that he used to bop kids in the nose when he was young, and his dad had a stern talking to with him, but otherwise nothing. He comes across as a cipher. Rigid, unyielding about his clothes. He seemed to be an intelligent man — and Lindsey TOLD us through his ignorance of camping and riding that he was a dude — but how can he possibly imagine that his eastern clothes will function well in the west? How does he not think that blending in is a better idea? Nor do I understand why he erupts so easily over everything. It's misinterpretation and a good lesson in why it is so important to communicate clearly. The conflict between Casey and Chandos isn't the only misinterpretation when Damian ends up owing his life over and over again to a young kid he assumes is a bragging cowboy. "'How dare you be a girl?''I don't think I had much choice in the matter.'"We do find out that Fletcher died about a year ago, and that Sawtooth is currently in charge of the ranch. I'm surprised he wouldn't be willing to back Casey up. But what happened to Maggie? Not even a mention. The Story The fate of Fletcher's Bar M Ranch is in question, and Sawtooth has been, temporarily, managing it since Fletcher's death. It's Chandos' attitude that sends Casey out. It's a challenge, and she'll prove she's ready. She'll make her father eat his words! Damian has his own quest. One of vengeance against his father's killers. He's destined to keep gettin' in K.C.'s way, although he does have a few surprises for K.C. The Characters Casey, a.k.a., Kid or K.C., is Chandos and Courtney's seventeen-year-old daughter, and she's feeling her oats. Old Sam is the colt Casey raised and trained from age twelve. Tyler is Casey's older (by one year) brother, who is going to be a lawyer; Dillon is fourteen. Fletcher Straton was Chandos' father and the kids' grandfather. He owned the Bar M Ranch. Chandos and Courtney have been running the K.C. Ranch for years (read their story in A Heart So Wild ). Sawtooth was the foreman for the Bar M Ranch before he retired. Dr. Edward Harte is still alive but retired. Damian Rutledge III, heir to Rutledge Imports, is a know-it-all Eastern dude with absolutely no clue about the wild west. Winnifred, the heir to C.W. & L. Company was the socialite to whom he was engaged. Damian II was our Damian's father. Henry Curruthers was Rutledge Import's accountant. Out West The fancy (and chatty) Luella Miller of Chicago is trying to get to Fort Worth. Billybob and Vince are the hapless stagecoach robbers. The Dalton gang includes Robert, Emmett, and Grattan Dalton (former U.S. marshals), Bill Doolin, Charley Pierce, and "Bitter Creek" George Newcomb. Mr. Melton is a horse trader. Judge Roy Bean is quite arbitrary and more interested in a buck than justice. "If one of his pals shoots someone, he figures out a way to acquit them. In one of his … decisions, he ruled that the victim shouldn't have gotten in front of the gun his friend was firing."Culthers Jack Curruthers is running for mayor. Jed and Jethro Paisley, Elroy Bencher, Candiman, and Mason are no-good gunmen who work for Curruthers. Larissa Amery is the schoolmarm who doesn't like Curruthers. Sanderson John Wescot is a dentist. Bucky Alcott is a range cook for a local ranch. Pete Drummond is a tenderfoot who now sells firearms. Chicago Milton Lewis' brother is a mine of information. Margaret Henslowe is a rich widow. New York City Sergeant Johnson was with the Twenty-first Precinct in New York. The Cover and Title The cover is a soft gradation from a cold yellow at the bottom up to a soft orange at top. The author's name is the largest text and at the top while the title is smaller and at the bottom. Both use a gold embossed font in all-caps. Separating the text is a deep red, embossed and stylized sun. The title might be better as "all I need is some show, instead we've got All I Need is You. Maybe Lindsey needs us to accept this story as is. ...more |
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Mar 25, 2015
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Mar 26, 2015
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Hardcover
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| 4.06
| 6,676
| Jan 01, 1986
| Dec 01, 1986
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it was amazing
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This is one I read over and over again for its romance and the Western flavor.
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| 0425260364
| 9780425260364
| 0425260364
| 3.95
| 11,938
| Aug 05, 2014
| Aug 05, 2014
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really liked it
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Eighth in the Her Royal Spyness historical mystery series and revolving around Lady Georgiana Rannoch as she sails off to America. My Take Georgie's mum Eighth in the Her Royal Spyness historical mystery series and revolving around Lady Georgiana Rannoch as she sails off to America. My Take Georgie's mummy drives me bats. She's so totally clueless when it comes to her own daughter. She's got money up the wazoo but never does anything to help her penniless daughter. Well, except to point out that her daughter could simply take up with a rich man, if only she weren't so huge and homely… So it was a total treat to read about Mummy actually paying for a wardrobe for Georgie. It's also too funny to read how very snobbish Mummy is as she puts down most of the people around her for being so very common. Her, the daughter of a Cockney who starred on the stage. I do hope she marries Max and that Max loses everything. Nothing against Max, I just want Mummy to be incredibly poor and for Georgie to have money, put that shoe on the other foot. Aboard ship, it's more of the snobbish and nosy. You'll adore the comment Georgie throws back at Mrs. Simpson, lol. Meoww. Oh, lord, then there's Lady Porter's question of the captain, asking if "ships like this sink very often". I loved the captain's response *more laughter*. Oh, boy, this is followed by Jerry's snide comment. Poor Georgie. Every time she's about to get some, Queenie shows up to save the day. Then there's the day when Queenie quits. Yeahh! She irritates the heck out of me, although Georgie drives me even more nuts that she keeps her. Then again, I can understand why. Ya know, Bowen never does explain how the bracelet gets returned. Why doesn't Georgie tell Darcy about that moment of total smoothness when Algie introduces himself to Goldman? I must say, Belinda certainly surprises me. I thought she had her mind set on one thing, turns out it was the other thing, lol. Darcy is such a sweetheart. Understanding, loving, and so anxious to make enough money to support the woman he loves the way he thinks she needs to live. It's Darcy who keeps bringing me back. I'm curious to know just what he really does, who he works for. And I'm curious to find out if he ever does make that fortune he wants. It's a whirlwind trip for Georgie. Wined and dined by movie stars, a fit of jealousy on Darcy's part, murder, mayhem, tension between the stars, and it seems as if everyone on board the ship shows up in Hollywood. Even Darcy gets in on the act. The Story It's Mummy again. Desperate for discrete companionship on her necessary journey to the depths of America, she arrives with a flourish at Kingsdowne Place (see Heirs and Graces , 7) and drags Georgie off with her. For once, Mummy forks out for clothes for Georgie, but of course, for purely selfish reasons. It does work well for Georgie and is certainly good for her ego as she's romanced by famous actors in Hollywood while Mummy fills her time with making a terrible movie. Meanwhile cat burglars and murderers are afoot. The Characters Lady Georgiana Rannoch is the daughter of a duke, a cousin to His Majesty King George and to the Princess Elizabeth, and too poor for words. Queenie Hepplewhite is her very inept maid. Mummy is Claire Daniels, a leading lady on the stage who would have stayed married to the duke except it required she live at Castle Rannoch. Instead she bolted, and she hasn't stopped. She's taken up with one man after another and the latest, Max von Stroheim, wants to marry her. Homer Clegg, a Texan, is her current husband whom she hasn't seen in ages. Granddad, Claire's dad, is a retired London bobby. Claudette is Claire's maid. Darcy O'Mara is the heir to an impoverished Irish estate, in love with Georgie, and spends most of his time jaunting about the world on secret missions. Aboard the Berengaria sailing for America Captain Harrison is in command. The passengers include Sir Digby and Lady Porter, Montmorency "Tubby" Halliday is a reporter for the Daily Mail, Princess Promila, Mrs. Simpson (yes, that one), and the klutzy Algie Broxley-Foggett sent to America to become a man. Cyrus Goldman is the impresario of Golden Pictures, and Stella Brightwell is his mistress and star. Stella was also part of a talented twin act — Gertie and Flossie Oldham. Flossie became Bella Brightwell. Helen Goldman is Cy's wife and lives in New York. Mostly. Juan de Castillo is a member of an impoverished Spanish family. Freddie is Stella's ex. Ronnie Green is Goldman's assistant. Maria is his housekeeper at Alhambra II, the tacky castle Cy is building up in the hills. Jimmy is the gatekeeper. In Hollywood Barbara Kindell, a gossip columnist, tries to slip inside Georgie's guard. Charlie Chaplin really likes Georgie, all that lovely innocence, unspoiled, and long legs. Dolores Hanford and her husband and friends are some of the tacky nouveau riche. Craig Hart is an international star with an interest in Georgie and a need to get married. Errol Flynn, Bing Crosby, and Norma Shearer get a mention. Sheriff Billings is with Ventura County Sheriff's Department. Deputy Hanson will guard the suspect. Belinda Warburton-Stoke, a.k.a., Mademoiselle Dubois, is Georgie's friend. And no longer welcome at home. Wanda will play the part of Mummy in Reno while Mummy goes off to act. Kingsdowne Place The dowager Duchess Edwina Eynsford and her half dotty sisters, Princess Charlotte Orlovski (she's into spiritualism) and the wrongly named Virginia, are having tea with Georgie. Edie is the head housemaid. The Cover and Title The cover is the woodcut design that has appeared on earlier books. This time it's a cruise ship in the background with Georgie in a green suit holding onto her cloche and leaning into a stiff wind. There's a man in a fedora and cream trench coat behind her and a woman with dark hair wearing what looks like a cross between a poke bonnet and a shepherdess hat. The trademark burgundy ribbon with a picot trim spans the lower part of the cover with the title and series information on it. The title is all about Georgie, for she is the new Queen of Hearts. ...more |
Notes are private!
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1
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not set
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Mar 20, 2015
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Mar 09, 2015
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Hardcover
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my rating |
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| 3.47
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really liked it
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Jul 27, 2014
not set
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Sep 11, 2024
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| 4.05
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liked it
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Jan 25, 2012
not set
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Jul 31, 2024
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| 4.04
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really liked it
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Aug 30, 2021
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Aug 30, 2021
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| 3.83
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really liked it
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Oct 28, 2019
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Oct 29, 2019
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| 4.09
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really liked it
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Sep 11, 2019
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Oct 16, 2019
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| 4.22
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it was amazing
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Sep 12, 2019
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Sep 13, 2019
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| 4.21
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it was amazing
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Sep 09, 2019
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Aug 30, 2019
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| 4.23
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it was ok
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not set
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Oct 25, 2018
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| 4.13
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it was amazing
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May 28, 2017
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May 29, 2017
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| 4.01
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liked it
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Dec 03, 2016
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Oct 27, 2016
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| 3.90
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it was amazing
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Jul 2016
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Jul 04, 2016
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| 3.83
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it was amazing
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Oct 19, 2015
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Oct 24, 2015
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| 3.95
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it was amazing
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Jul 15, 2015
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Jul 09, 2015
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| 3.94
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it was amazing
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Jul 14, 2015
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Jul 09, 2015
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| 3.94
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it was amazing
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Jul 14, 2015
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Jul 09, 2015
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| 4.08
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really liked it
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May 15, 2015
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May 17, 2015
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| 4.24
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liked it
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Apr 15, 2015
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May 01, 2015
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| 3.87
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it was ok
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Mar 25, 2015
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Mar 26, 2015
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| 4.06
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it was amazing
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Mar 15, 2015
not set
not set
not set
not set
not set
not set
not set
not set
not set
not set
not set
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Mar 16, 2015
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| 3.95
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really liked it
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Mar 20, 2015
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Mar 09, 2015
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