Once Upon a Bookshelf

This is my second book for the From the Stacks challenge. It’s also the first book in the Merlin Codex by Robert Holdstock, and after finishing this book, I think I’ve decided to keep my eyes open for the other books in the series. This was one of the better first-book-in-a-fantasy-series (YA excluded) I’ve read in a long time - possibly since the first book in Sara Douglass’ Troy Game.

The whole premise of this book is that Merlin was one of the Argonauts when Jason went to steal the golden fleece. Which is one heck of a long time before Arthur was around. (Man! Think how old that makes Merlin in Arthur’s time!) So, 700 years after Jason dies, Merlin has heard rumours that Jason’s sons (whom Jason’s wife Medea killed) are alive, and so raises Jason from the dead (except it turns out that he wasn’t really dead in the first place, only … mostly dead. You know, like in the Princess Bride.) Confused yet? It’s gets better. So, it turns out that Medea is the same type of person as Merlin - living for an extremely long time, and only aging through the use of magic - and they were childhood friends, only didn’t remember it until half way through the book… THEN, there’s also the fact that Arthur’s ancestor-of-some-sort is also sailing on the newly-raised-from-the-ocean Argo.

Right. So. This book isn’t nearly as confusing when you’re reading it as it is when you’re reading my summary - it’s explained a lot more thoroughly. It’s also not as cheesy as it sounds like it would be. And the fact that it’s a crossover of two of my favourite things (Greek mythology and Arthurian legend) gives it major brownie points.

There was only one chapter in the book that I didn’t enjoy, that I felt interrupted the flow of the narration, and I had a hard time caring about that part.

And though this is the story of Merlin, it’s also majorly the story of Jason in his search for his sons. Well, I really DID NOT like Jason at all. I tried to be sympathetic, really. I mean, I know he was dead 700 years, and before he died his son’s had been killed right in front of his eyes, and so waking up to realize that you’re in a practically completely new world, and that your sons aren’t really dead… well, it’s bound to throw anyone for a loop. But as soon as he mentioned the fact that he didn’t like Odysseus? PFFT. Totally in my bad graces - Odysseus is cool, man. Don’t mess with Odysseus if you want me to like you.

This is the first of my books for the From The Stacks challenge, and has been sitting on my shelf for years. I think I had bought it in between the time The Lord of the Rings movies were in the theatre, but I’m not completely sure; I had always been meaning to read it, but got extremely wary of it when everyone kept telling me how difficult a book it was. And then I promised an uncle I would have it finished by this Christmas. Oi.

For those who may not know what this book is about, The Silmarillion is a prequel to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It tells the story of the creation of the earth, the history of the elves, pretty much everything up to where the Sauron is “defeated” for the first time.

In all honesty, I’m rather torn about what I think of this book. Most of the time I was reading it, I couldn’t go more than a few pages at a time before I just couldn’t concentrate on it anymore. A large number of times, I had to go back a couple pages when I picked it up because I couldn’t remember what I’d read before. And those parts read like Numbers or Leviticus. (If I wanted to read Numbers or Leviticus, I would pull my Bible out from hiding for the first time in years and read that instead.)

But oh, there were parts of this book that I positively devoured. I’m a big mythology nut, so I found the bit about the creation of the world so enjoyable. The parts that expanded on what I had read, watched and remembered from the Lord of the Rings were awesome too, helped me to understand a little bit better exactly what was going on and whatnot. I loved the story of Beren and Lúthien.

Then of course, there is the way that Tolkien writes:

When Manwe there ascends his throne and looks forth, if Varda is beside him, he sees further than all other eyes, through mist and through darkness, and over the leagues of the sea. And if Manwe is with her, Varda hears more clearly than all other ears the sound of voices that cry from east to west, from the hills and the valleys, and from the dark places that Melkor has made upon Earth.

It’s just beautiful. The imagery and feelings it evokes! Ah!

I don’t know if it was just the fact that I know the story of The Lord of the Rings, and how things finally end in the trilogy, but I found that even though there were some parts that were really desperate and dark, there was such an underlying theme of hope throughout the book.

So yes, there was all this good stuff about the book, and some stuff I didn’t like. But even when I was at the good parts, it didn’t drive me to finish the book. The only reason I pushed myself through this book and didn’t drag it on for another month (which I totally could’ve done) was so that I could move on to the next book I want to read. And that’s rather frustrating. I want to finish books that I want to read for the sake of themselves, not so that I can move along to what’s next.

Will I read this again? Probably not. There are bits I might go back to. But I am happy that I read it this time as it’s provided a bit more background for next time I want to have a go with a rereading of The Lord of the Rings.

Oh my goodness! My first blog entry here that isn’t a review of a book! Le shock! But it is justified - I am posting about how I have joined the Winter Challenge. You see, I had been planning on doing what this challenge is about on my own anyway, and it seems like it would be more fun as a part of a challenge that a whole bunch of people are doing! The challenge is as follows:

If you are anything like me your stack of purchased to-be-read books is teetering over. So for this challenge we would be reading 5 books that we have already purchased, have been meaning to get to, have been sitting on the nightstand and haven’t read before. No going out and buying new books. No getting sidetracked by the lure of the holiday bookstore displays.

I really can’t promise that this is going to stop me from buying new books, but we shall see.

So, my books for this challenge are:

The Silmarillion by J.R.R. Tolkien - okay, I admit it now that I had started this book a little bit ago, but Michelle gave me permission to use it for the challenge anyway. Besides, it’s been sitting in my “to-read” pile on my bookshelf for … years. I don’t know how many years, but it’s been quite a lot. Possibly since The Two Towers was in theatres, which would mean … oh gosh, 4 years.

Celtika by Robert Holdstock - my aunt gave my grandmother this book who gave it to me a long while ago. It’s been sitting on my shelf since then, and I would really like to tell them that I’ve actually read it. Merlin sails with Jason and the Argonauts. It could either be really good or really cheesy. Maybe a little bit of both.

North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell - I’ve been meaning to read this one since I finished Wives & Daughters. I’m hoping that since TVO’s showing the miniseries of N&S this month, it’ll spurn me on to wanting to read it immediately.

Watership Down by Richard Adams - I don’t know how long this has been sitting on my bookcase waiting to be read, but I think that perhaps it’s about time I actually go about and do it. Heck, I don’t even know why I bought it, quite frankly, but I have a feeling if I don’t read it for this challenge then I may never actually get to it.

Fairies at Work and Play by Geoffrey Hodson - I had bought this book about six months ago, while visiting Shannon. It’s a short little thing, but sounds interesting - a little field-guide sort of thing about fey.

You’ll note that I have not included any of the rest of the Hornblower books there, but you see, I know I’m going to get to them eventually anyway. And this doesn’t cover half of the books that I own that I haven’t read. OH GOSH, will it ever end?!

For reasons unknown to me, other than the fact that the world in general wants to mock me - “haha, it’s the weekend so we’re going to knock you on your back with the worst cold you’ve hard since you were a wee elementary school student!” - I have been visited by the world’s worst cold all weekend. (BOO!)

As a result, I have spent most of my weekend curled up on the futon with a stack of books, and thus far have only manged to actually finish one of them. (Though, I’ve still got a number of hours left today so perhaps I shall make a good deal of progress with my other books on the go. If Hugh Laurie in the form of Wooster doesn’t beckon to me, that is. Or Nathan Fillion in the form of Mal Reynolds. Hmm.)

Anyway, I’m rambling.

This is the second volume in the Sin City series by Frank Miller.

Our main guy in this volume, Dwight, has been contacted by a dame who broke it off with him three years ago. He’s led to believe that this girl’s life is in danger, but it turns out that’s she’s still the same lying, manipulative, gold-digging girl she always was and just needed to use Dwight to kill her husband - making this dame the richest woman in Sin City.

I love the language used in this series. “Dame.” How fun! The language itself is enough to make me want to read more.

This story starts a little bit before the story in The Hard Goodbye, and certain events overlap. I wish I still had a copy of The Hard Goodbye, instead of having gotten these through the library, just so I could go over the stories together and see how much more would jump out at me from The Hard Goodbye after reading this one. It made things interesting, though, to start to understand a bit more about the time line about the series. I probably wouldn’t recommend these books to people who have to read a series in the order that events occur, just because of how events overlap from different peoples points of view and whatnot.

OH GOODNESS. So, the author? I can’t get over how old she is. Nineteen. NINETEEN. A small part of me feels extremely unaccomplished about the fact that I’m older than her and have nothing to put to my name, but most of me THRILLS to think of what she will be writing 20 years from now. If this book was this good, when she’s only 19, imagine what she’s going to be capable of when she’s 39! Oh gosh!

The Extraordinary and Unusual Adventures of Horatio Lyle is exactly that - extraordinary and unusual. On the same day that he employs a girl who broke into his house in an attempted robbery, Horatio Lyle has been enlisted by a member of the Queen’s staff to find a plate that has gone missing. A plate that, Horatio later learns, has some sort of mystical powers to it. The same plate that an ancient and dangerous race is trying to reclaim.

I really don’t even know where to start with this book. There was so much good stuff going on, and nothing that I didn’t like.

Horatio! (I think there is some unwritten rule that says that if your character’s name is “Horatio,” then he has to be awesome.) Pockets full of explosives! A science geek! And oh! It was wonderful to have this adult in a children’s book totally not believing in anything that can’t be explained in science, and then beginning to doubt what he always believed, and to see the growth of an adult in a children’s book.

It was a pleasant surprise to have a children’s book of this sort where the kids don’t have to totally fend for themselves because there aren’t adults around, or the adults who are there are a little evil, or at least they don’t believe the kids or have time for them! Think Peter Pan, or The Golden Compass, or heck, even Narnia. A kids book like this where the adults actually NEED the kids in the story to help them figure out the mystery.

Then there was the way she actually WRITES. Like this, just the act of closing and locking a door came across so vividly: Horatio “quietly closed the door, turned every lock, and drew a bolt across the top, a chain across the middle and a small but distinctly heavy table across the bottom.” It was wonderful.

And how could I not love Tess? (Though in an odd way, she did remind me of Short Round from Indiana Jones. Don’t ask.)