THE APOTHECARY’S CURSE – Barbara Barnett

Posted by Daniel on September 22, 2017
Posted in: MYSTERY, SF/FANTASY. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

There is a romantic quality to this fantasy that is subtle but ever-present and works well for this story.

Oddly enough, I had just finished another mystery in which an immortal apothecary was seeking a book of ancient writing that provided the secret to immortality when I started this book.  It wasn’t an intended synergy but the similarities in stories actually helped me enjoy this book just a little more, I think.

In Victorian England, physician Simon Bell and the apothecary Gaelen Erceldoune create a potion meant to cure the cancer in Bell’s wife.  Instead it kills her.  Bell, distraught, drinks the remainder of the liquid, hoping to kill himself, but in fate’s cruel irony, it instead gives him an everlasting regenerative power and makes him immortal.  Later, Bell learns of a man with unusual recuperative powers and, upon discovering Gaelen, knows that his one chance at dying lies with Gaelen’s ability to decode the book.  But the book is missing.

Fast-forward to the present day, with Gaelen now a rare and antiques book seller in Chicago. Just as had happened in the Victorian era, someone has come to suspect that Gaelen has unique abilities of self-healing.  And with modern abilities to search historic records and to do DNA testing, it is harder and harder for Gaelen to hide.  But because he’s being suspect for his regenerative healing abilities and even being suspect as having a long history, the book he’s spent multiple lifetimes searching for comes to his attention.  But does the woman he possesses the tome know what she has?  Is she a distant relative?  What is her true reason for seeking Gaelen out?

Author Barbara Barnett has put together a delectable mystery with a form of urban fantasy attached to it. I enjoyed my trip here and I would enjoy reading more about Gaelen and his search for knowledge.

Looking for a good book? The Apothecary’s Curse by Barbara Barnett is a very satisfying mystery/fantasy that will make you believe the potion for eternal life exists.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Apothecary’s Curse

author: Barbara Barnett

publisher: Pyr

ISBN: 1633882330

paperback, 340 pages

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SPUTNIK’S CHILDREN – Terri Favro

Posted by Daniel on September 21, 2017
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

WARNING — THIS REVIEW MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS

This was … well … unusual.

Debbie Reynolds Biondi is a comic book creator and writer who achieved fame for her superhero series “Sputnik Chick Girl with No Past.”  It’s been 20+ years and much of Biondi’s life is now attending conventions, signing autographs, and listening to fan after fan asking her to please tell them Sputnik Chick’s backstory, while she simply wants to find some attractive guy and get laid without having to talk about comics.

But the comic world is struggling and Biondi has trouble coming up with new adventures for Sputnik Girl and finally relents to sharing her origins, which – not surprisingly – mirror Biondi’s own strange origins. Sputnik/Biondi comes from an alternate universe. But in a slightly unusual twist, Biondi herself may be more of a superhero than her crime-fighting creation, having saved the entire human race but then relegated to anonymity and losing everything she’s loved the most.

The book is very interesting and author Terri Favro’s understated style carries a melancholy tone that is so appropriate to Biondi’s plight (though we don’t know that until much later in the book).  But at times this melancholy appears to occur at the expense of story.

Although this is quite readable and will pull the reader in, what we have – aside from a story within a story – is a book that is 90% backstory.  After being introduced to Biondi, we get to learn all about her (her backstory) – first through her creation, and then her own story.  It’s a fascinating way to read/tell a story.

The last ten percent of the book is the culmination of Biondi’s story, but it stands out as being different enough – in story and in tone – from the rest of the book that it feels as though this was an action tale with too much back story to get to the climax.  It was exciting, but it really was so different – much more of a fantasy than we’d had to that point.  Though Favro tried to give us some hints (with one character in particular) we just didn’t see the magic room and space/time hopping coming.

The fact that some of this feels like a story within a story within a story because Terri Favro is also a comic book writer, added just enough hint of autobiography to keep the reader guessing as to where the story would go.

There was a lot to like about this book, and I really want to read this again, now that I know where it is going, to hopefully better pick up on some of the (hopefully) clues in the book.  I was caught up in the story and looked forward to seeing where it would go, but at the same time, once it was over I was left feeling unsatisfied.

Looking for a good book? Sputnik’s Children is a fantasy novel by Terri Favro and takes a unique path to tell a complicated story, but it’s left just a little too unresolved for full satisfaction.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Sputnik’s Children

author: Terri Favro

publisher: ECW Press

ISBN: 1770413413

paperback, 360 pages

 

MUSIC TIME – Gwendolyn Hooks

Posted by Daniel on September 20, 2017
Posted in: CHILDREN'S. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

This is a thirty-three page Easy Reader book intended for those youngsters who’ve just discovered the joy of reading, and hopefully getting them interested in music as well.

In many ways it does just what it sets out to do.  It is short.  The stories (there are multiple chapters in this brief book) are simple and easy to follow. The art is bold and lively and helps hold the young reader’s interest.  It will certainly be purchased by school libraries and some public libraries with a large children’s collection.

But I have two small issues with the book – not meant to discourage younger readers, but for adults to consider.

First … it’s titled Music Time but it’s about drumming.  As someone who played drums for 8+ years in school and still sits at a trap set now and then, I’m intimately familiar with the fact that drums are an integral part of music, but drums are a rhythm instrument and not typically considered a ‘musical’ instrument.  You play beats but not musical notes.  And while there is a variety of sounds one can play, particularly on a trap set, anyone the correct age for this book is not likely to be put on a trap set.

As a drummer, it’s nice to see a drummer get some attention, and even nice to be included in ‘music’ but it may make a few people pause.

My second issue is with diversity.  The cover features a moderately diverse group of youngsters, but the featured child musician is a blue-eyed blond boy.    There’s nothing wrong with that … blue-eyed blonds are a part of a diverse culture as well, but in an element (drumming) that has been dominated my males for years, perhaps a young girl would have been nice?

It’s a nice book.  Were my children of the right age to be interested in this, I probably would have read it to them once or twice and perhaps they would have read it themselves once or twice over the course of a few years, but it certainly wouldn’t have been an ‘in demand’ read.

Looking for a good book? Music Time is an easy reader by Gwendolyn Hooks with art by Shirley Ng-Benitez that features a young boy who loves to play drums.

I receive a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Edelweiss, in exchange for an honest review.

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Music Time

author: Gwendolyn Hooks

artist: Shirley Ng-Benitez

publisher: Lee and Low Books

ISBN: 1620143437

hardcover, 33 pages

TWILIGHT OF THE DRAGONS – Andy Remic

Posted by Daniel on September 19, 2017
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a comment

I just finished the first book in this series, The Dragon Engine, and I jumped right in to this next book because I was on such an octane high from the story.

Author Andy Remic picks up right where the previous book left off and adds some complications (as if Beetrax, Lillith, Dake, and Talon needed more complications).  In addition to the story following our band of intrepid heroes we have the story of the dragons who’d just been released back into the world at the end of the previous book, as well as the (re)introduction of a different band of heroes – those from Remic’s Rage of Kings series.  And we also have a slightly surprising side story of one of the villains from the previous book.  It is non-stop action upon action, bouncing between all the different aspects of the story.

And that’s a little bit of a problem.

In the previous book we had a relatively clear story path.  We followed Beetrax and his associates through battles and highs and lows (fearsome lows!) and we had faith that following the characters would tell a story.  Which it did.

But now instead of a character-driven story, we’re suddenly tossed an adventure with multiple characters and multiple stories and it’s just a little bit challenging to keep it all straight and to really enjoy what Remic has put together.  Instead of the pinnacle that Remic was preparing for through the various books and series’ we get a conglomerate mess and an unfocused story.

Still…it’s Andy Remic, and if you like his work, there is still much to enjoy.  There are still the colorful characters and brutal battle sequences that practically define a Remic story.  The problem is that there is so much of it that you can’t really savor what’s there.

I’ll keep reading Remic, and I’d like to stay within this world, but I’d rather a slower series of events that tells a story than this rapid fire adventure.

Looking for a good book? Twilight of the Dragons by Andy Remic follows up on the adventures begun in The Dragon Engine as well as the Rage of Kings series but loses some focus by trying to do too much.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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Twilight of the Dragons

author: Andy Remic

series: The Blood Dragon Empire #2

publisher: Angry Robot

ISBN: 0857664573

paperback, 336 pages

HOW TO DRAW COOL STUFF: HOLIDAYS, SEASONS AND EVENTS – Catherine V. Holmes

Posted by Daniel on September 18, 2017
Posted in: NON-FICTION, OTHER, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

“How to Draw…” books typically don’t impress me, but this is now the second book of this sort from Catherine V. Holmes that has excited me for what it is doing.

Holmes breaks down a drawing so that it starts with very obvious, basic shapes and then she adds bits and pieces so that the basic shape begins to look like the intended object and she finishes it with shading.  Sometimes the leap from basic drawing to finished, shaded drawing seems like a pretty large jump, but I haven’t yet read Holmes’ book about shading which might help the beginning artist make that leap.

Holmes offers some very important tips in her foreword, including: draw lightly so that you can erase, and to step away from it for a while if it is going the way you want and are getting frustrated with it.

This particular book, as the subtitle suggests, focuses on Holidays and special events.  Holmes goes through it month by month, hitting all the major holidays and giving a sample or two of simple drawings to help identify the holiday.

I really appreciate how simple Holmes makes this look, and yet her finished drawings look pretty spectacular.  Mine don’t look quite the same, when I try these drawings, but that’s okay.  She’s even says in her foreword that the reader’s drawings shouldn’t look exactly like her.

In addition to the drawings and the step-by-step process, Holmes gives the reader a list of “Special Days” for each month so that the reader/artist can try making some different holiday/special day drawings.  Reading these lists is almost worth the price of the book alone.  Who knew (besides Ms. Holmes) that, for instance, in July we have a “Compliment Your Mirror Day” and a “Cheer Up the Lonely Day” and “Embrace Your Geekness Day” and many, many others?

Looking for a good book? How to Draw Cool Stuff: Holidays, Seasons and Events is a great, “how to draw” book by Catherine V. Holmes that lays it out in simple terms, offers a great looking finished drawing, and prompts the reader with many fun holidays and special event days throughout the year.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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How to Draw Cool Stuff: Holidays, Seasons and Events

author: Catherine V. Holmes

artist: Catherine V. Holmes

publisher: Library Tales Publishing

ISBN: 0692661980

paperback, 426 pages

THE RETURNED – Jason Mott

Posted by Daniel on September 15, 2017
Posted in: SF/FANTASY, YA. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

The dead are coming back to life.  Not as zombies or ghosts or any other form of ‘undead’ supernatural creatures, but as themselves, just as they were when they left their mortal coil. It is an interesting concept.  As much as we miss those who have passed away, and as hard as it is to come to grips with someone leaving our lives so permanently, we do come to terms with it.  A ‘returned’ then is an interruption. It is an unnatural, often un-welcomed reminder of what was missed.

Take, for example, Harold and Lucille Hargrave in this book.  Their son died at age eight in 1966.  Now they are in their golden years when Jacob returns, still eight, on their doorstep. All over the world similar stories are suddenly happening. The obvious questions are: are they real? Are these really the same individuals, returned for some inexplicable, miraculous reason? And of course “How”” and “Why?”

But author Jason Mott’s book is not about the fantasy aspects of the dead returned to life, but about individuals and their reactions to such an unexpected phenomenon.  From the individual, moralistic (sometimes religious, sometimes not) point of view to the political, governmental approach to dealing with the unexpected.

It is, as I write, an interesting concept and attempt to explore, and it doesn’t bother me at all that we don’t get solid answers to the obvious questions.  But for an experiment of this sort to really work we need to sympathize with someone.  We need to buy in to the shock and the fear of the unknown or the lack of understanding of the characters filling the book.  And we don’t.

Mott keeps the reader at bay – allowing us to observe but not to feel along with the central characters. This is surprising, given that Mott is a celebrated poet and poetry is all about the feelings.  But the sparseness of language in poetry that evokes images and mood, doesn’t do the same thing for character and even the Goodreads description of the book mentions “spare, eloquent prose.”

The emotion does come through near the end of the book, and I was truly moved by what was happening, but it was a little too late to have me actually caring.  The ending would have served better earlier in the book as a catalyst to character action.

Looking for a good book? The Returned by Jason Mott has an interesting sci-fi concept but there’s too little character development, coming too late, to make it a worthwhile read.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

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The Returned

author: Jason Mott

series: The Returned #1

publisher: Harlequin MIRA

ISBN: 0778315339

hardcover, 338 pages

THE RADIUM GIRLS – Kate Moore

Posted by Daniel on September 14, 2017
Posted in: NON-FICTION, Uncategorized. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a comment

I don’t typically have a problem with my blood pressure, but reading this book got my blood boiling.

This well-researched non-fiction book takes a look at the dark side of a once-glowing industry.  During the first World War there was a demand for watches and clocks and other instruments with glowing dials.  The Radium Dial Company in New Jersey set up shop and become one of the biggest producers of glowing dials and numbers and hands for watches and clocks.  The glowing paint was made with a combination of phosphor and radium – a relatively new source (at least a new form of radium [with a half-life of 10,000 years – though that wasn’t known at the time]).

The girls (women were hired, like with many jobs, because the men were serving in the military) were paid by the dial and precision was as important as speed and the girls were taught to take a fine brush, bring it to a tight point by using their lips, then dip in the phosphor/radium paint, and paint.  Repeat.  They were assured, time and again, that the paint was completely safe and they even laughed and played with the fact that they would glow in the dark themselves. And because they were paid by the dial, they often ate their lunches at their work table in order to be more productive.

This isn’t a mystery, though…the reader knows what’s coming.  Soon the girls start to experience unusual aches and pains.  Local doctors haven’t seen these sorts of things and the wasting away of the girls is attributed to a number of things, including venereal disease. And when a death certificate says that the cause was from a sexual disease, it’s pretty hard to pin it on the business and get due compensation from them.

Because the radium was ingested by the mouth it attacked the bones in the jaw first, in most cases (radium eats away from the inside and destroys bone tissue).  Therefore, it was often dentists who first noticed the effects and it was a specialist in New York City who really uncovered the problem.  And though that in itself was a long (and painful) process (too late for some), it was only the beginning of the problems workers at Radium Dial Company (and another plant in Illinois) would face.  Denial by the company owners and management continued long into and throughout legal processes.

And this is where my anger tuned in.

I wanted to get up and punch Radium Dial owners in the nose.  The lies, the deceit, the cover-up.  It all seemed so clear (in hindsight) that they knew (or at the very least suspected) that something in their materials was making their employees sick, but in usual corporate fashion – even in the 1920’s and 30’s – it was better to leave the women to fend for themselves and mount huge medical debts.

It is a heart-breaking story.  I can’t imagine anyone reading it and not being moved by the plight of these women.  Author Kate Moore makes it personal – introducing us to the girls and letting us get to know them individually.

Moore builds this story nicely and we come to realize that what the girls … and the world … needs is a champion – someone to take up their cause and fight – to give them a small amount of relief and to help change the laws for the future.

You’ll have to read this to see how it turns out.  It’s a powerful read and there aren’t many happy endings here, given the nature of the story, but it’s something that should be read.

Looking for a good book? The Radium Girls by Kate Moore is a powerful story of young women facing death by industrial poisoning and their efforts to stay alive, be compensated, and ensure this doesn’t happen again.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

* * * * * *

The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women

author: Kate Moore

publisher: Sourcebooks

ISBN: 149264935X

hardcover, 480 pages