A tale of two underdeveloped stories
925786
I am a little puzzled as to what the point of this book was.

Is this book about Mr. Haraldsson, an eccentric Icelander with elevated ideas about the Nordic civilization? Well, I think that the author could have developed this character more. Mr. Haraldsson was nothing more than a cartoon struggling to become a real character. This character is funny at times with his observations and quirkiness, but, again, he felt cartoonish to me during the entire novella.

Is this book about Caeneus and his tale about the Argo and the Argonauts' quest for the Golden Fleece? While this was very interesting to read about, there is nothing original, on behalf of the author here, since it is the retelling of a Greek myth. I liked how Sjn inserted a Scandinavian myth into the story, and his description of the infamous rape scene shows what a talented writer he is, but, again, this Greek myth was not created by him.

Considering the premise, I thought I was embarking on a tale of two characters all the way to the Black Sea. However, once the ship arrived in Norway, I felt the author was unable to develop and entwine both stories and that is why the book ends so abrutly, leaving me unsatisfied and wondering about the intention and the meaning of this short novel. Sure, both characters are very different and are both entertaining, but they both come off as underdeveloped and without a common purpose or a real reason to be together within the book.

I gave it three stars because I was never bored, but I was never excited either while I was reading the book. It had potential to be a wonderful read, but the book seems rushed and shallow in its execution. I loved Sjn's book called "The Blue Fox", but this book, "The Whispering Muse", seemed to have been written by a different author.
826476
2 stories in the same place but different times. The story of young Sarah in 1942 was captivating and well told. The story of Julia in 2002 anchored the story in a famaliar way for contemporary readers and was a good device. Unfortunately the "Julia" storyline took over and she was pretty dull. The present day story included a lot of behavior, reactions, and attitudes that I found unrealistic. In fairness maybe that my own cultural ignorance prohibits my understanding. The 2002 characters really weren't interesting or very likable. That said, the 1942 story was so engaging and heartbreaking that I couldn't put the book down. I was enthralled by Sarah and riveted by her story. Even though more than half of this book was less than average, I still give it 4 stars because the Sarah part was so good.
1808067
This book is a sequel to a sequel to a sequel. The original, written almost 30 years ago, was called The White Masai and told the story of the author, a woman of either tremendous courage or tremendous naivety depending on your point of view, who decided that she loved a Masai tribesman. The upshot was that she married him and went to live with him in his village. The reader will not be surprised to learn that the marriage ended acrimoniously after a few years, and the self-styled White Masai fled Kenya with the couples infant daughter in order to resume her comfortable life in Switzerland. This first book was a tremendous success, which sold millions and was made into a film. In the years since then Corinne Hofmann has published two other books, Back from Africa, and Reunion in Barsaloi, both written to capitalize on the success of the first.

Africa, My Passion is a very strange book as its divided into a number of parts which appear to have little to do with each other. However, all the elements are interesting in their ways. First, theres the expedition she joins after seeing an advert in a travel magazine, which involves a couple of months walking in northern Namibia. This is moderately adventurous but despite the author being in her late forties, its more gap year than Livingstone. Then theres the description of her visit to Nairobi which furnishes her with inspiring stories from the slums. This is the stuff of Sunday supplements; feel-good but not ground-breaking. Then finally theres the story which forms the core of the book, the trip the author and her daughter make to Kenya.

I have to confess that I hadnt read any of her earlier works so I came to this narrative quite unprepared. To my mind, this book provides a wonderful opportunity to get inside the head of one of the most exasperating women you can possibly imagine, without having to meet her yourself. As far as I can see, she is interested in other places and people only in so far as these encounters reflect favorably on her, and in real life I doubt I could spend an hour in her company without giving her a sharp slap out of sheer exasperation.

In the end, the authors meeting with her ex-husband is an anti-climax and there is no discernable feeling on her part or his. The daughter diary entries are wooden and as she returns to Switzerland to resume her hairdressing course, she baldly concludes that shes had a good time and will return one day. I bet her African family can hardly wait.

I enjoyed reading about Kenya and Namibia, but what will remain with me is a question unrelated to Africa; how can a person arrive at middle-age without learning any of the lessons life offers along the way? Despite her extensive travels and encounters with people from other cultures, time has brought Corinne Hofmann little self-knowledge, humility or wisdom. Her passion is reserved for herself rather than for Africa.
1457004
One previous reviewer rightly noted that Cheever is a much stronger short story writer than novelist. I have to agree. I did enjoy this book, but had a number of problems with it. The novel chronicles three generations of the Wapshot family, an eccentric group of people living in St. Bolophs. The story primarily follows the three men - father Leander and sons Moses and Coverly, and we watch as tragedy and an essential "settling" for what life has handed to them takes place. The novel starts off slowly, but picks up when Moses and Coverly leave their small town to make their fortunes. The end is tragic, similar to many of his short stories, but it is in the sadness and despair that you see the power of Cheever's writing.

As much as I enjoyed the story, there were two major issues. The first was the level of intricate detail that at first was interesting as he painted a picture of the small town, but then became too much. It was as if he was trying to create the same level of detail you find in a short story, but without realizing that a novel has a different kind of pacing, a different kind of arc. My second main problem was the number of loose ends and events that never are resolved or revisited. I understand the "realness" of the story Cheever has created, but so many little characters who are built up as being important dart in and out of the story at such a rate that you wonder when something substantial is going to happen. Artistically, it places more emphasis on the Wapshots, but it takes away from the vibrancy of the prose.

Overall, it's a decent novel from someone who is a master of a different literary form.
787432
Both of these stories are quite well-written, with one major caveat which I'll get to later; if you enjoy the characters of the Ferengi, or stories about them and their culture, you'll probably enjoy the first half of the book, "Satisfaction is not Guaranteed". I don't, so I didn't, although I will admit to having been gladdened by the resolution to one particular sub-plot; to specify which one would risk spoiling a plot-point, so I won't do so.

The second story, "Olympus Descending", might have been tolerable, although I don't much care for the storyline involving Odo interacting with other "Founders" in the great link; the storyline involving Kira and Taran'atar had great promise, but I can't forgive it one tremendous flaw: it had a chapter in which a tremendously important (and unpleasant) event was seen to transpire, only to have that event negated after a chapter's digression by the EXTREMELY trite and unacceptable device of "and then the little boy woke up and discovered that it was all a dream". Totally unforgivable cop-out.
2053318
Two stories. One set in Germany during WWII and the other in El Paso, present. The writing is modest with some metaphors being truly cringe worthy. Nevertheless, the German story has its compelling moments. The German characters are developed and we care about them. The Texas story has cardboard characters and the parallels the writer tries to draw to the German story are strained and border on offensive. In the end I stuck with it because of the German story which made it a worthwhile read overall.
682429
To portray the issues and crises of a Diaspora culture in East Africa is one thing, but to write about them using the tools of various genres is quite another. Pally Dhillon has written a story about the clash of divergent cultures, of diametrically opposed religious beliefs, of the political and social struggles of a man who journeyed across the Indian Ocean to help build a life, a family, and a society. Kijabe is an impressive effort.
Borrowing devices from popular genres--from murder mysteries and love stories, from political thrillers and the well-known rags-to-riches motif--Dhillon tells the story of his grandfather, a poor Sikh emigrant who went to Kenya to work for the railroad industry, operated by the British at the beginning of the twentieth century. This is the same man who became one of Kenyas most powerful political figures, and whose mysterious death serves as the beginning of the book.
Kijabe is the fictional account of Dhillons life-long research into the life of his ancestor. The history and culture underscoring the narrative greatly enrich the readers experience and keep the story from falling into the trappings of genre fiction. But at the same time, the aspects of genre writing keep the story from becoming mired in its own attempt at historical accuracy.
Though this is Dhillon's first novel, it would be difficult to discern from the text. He writes with clarity and ease, with strength and power. Substantial portions of the book are devoted to the journals of his family's patriarch, but not to the extent that one voice dominates the tale. The complexity of the story requires a glossary of terms and an Appendix of Characters at the end to assist the readers enjoyment. A small explanation of the nature of Sikhism and a concise history of Kenya reside at the end as well. For those who enjoy reading about the histories of far-away places, genealogy, sex, murder, and corruption, Kijabe is a book worth reading.
John Stoehr
1580195
Bryan Davis's latest book, "Starlighter" is really two fantasy stories that merge into one about 65% through the book.

The first story is of Jason, a young peasant who dreams of more than what his society can offer him so he hones his fighting skills.  Given a chance to serve the governor he instead finds himself in an odd plot that somehow connects to a legend that has been told for ages concerning dragons that kidnap and enslave humans.  This is a rather traditional heroes quest with addition of a few sidekicks who sidetrack the story a bit too frequently for my tastes.

The second story is of Koren, a young woman who is one of the enslaved humans serving a dragon master.  Hers is an heroic tales of survival and personal pursuit of morality in the face of certain death.  While others aid her, hers is a solitary tale of choosing freewill over easier enslavement.

We get hints at how the dragon society works but not much beyond that until Koren works her way up the slave hierarchy a bit and uses her special gifts to bargain for her and her new other world allies freedom.  Frankly had the book stayed solely in the dragon's world and gone more into their lives and those of their slaves I would have enjoyed this better.  As it is I was left with questions and suspicion this will be followed up by another novel.

Over all it was solid fantasy storytelling with a few unique twists from Koren's side of things.  I just do not see this as being "Christian" as some folks are labeling it.  Morality isn't limited to one philosophy or religion.
1634690
This version of the Robin Hood story tells two adventurous tales and gives some historical context to the legends and facts surrounding Robin Hood.

The first tale is a pretty standard retelling of the most popular bits people know about Robin Hood. Robin robs from the rich to give to the poor who are being overtaxed by the Sheriff of Nottingham. The Sheriff lays a trap for Robin in the form of a contest. Robin competes in disguise and wins the contest by splitting a bull's eye arrow. The reward for winning the contest is a job--protector of the Sheriff's treasury. After all the greatest warrior in the land should be able to keep Robin's hands off it, right? There are some nice twists and turns at this point that made it more interesting to a veteran of Robin Hood tales like me. Jacob and Lucy loved the story.

The second tale is about Much Middleton, teenage son of the village miller. One day the Sheriff comes to collect taxes and a riot breaks out. Much's dad is captured and sent to the dungeon. Much escapes and finds Robin in Sherwood Forest, sure that he will help. Robin doesn't immediately act, other than bringing Much into his band and training him for the eventual conflict at the end of the tale. This was a new story to me and has that "kid gets to work with his hero" plot that engages readers well.

The final part of the book discusses life in the middle ages and the possible origins of Robin Hood. The original stories about him are from the 1200s and 1300s, with the first written reference in Piers Plowman. The stories spread all over England and many of them have conflicting details, e.g. some say he was once a wealthy lord while others claim he was a poor villager. The lives of the rich, the poor, and the outlaws are all described. The discussion around outlaws caused a tricky conversation with my children--trying to explain that most outlaws were evil men and Robin Hood was a very rare exception proved more difficult than I imagined.

The illustrations by Alan Marks are nice but not great. They suggest swashbuckling and the distant past but don't quite hit the mark. It doesn't detract from the text but doesn't provide a great enhancement either.

Overall, this is a fine introduction for children to Robin Hood.
158322
First Sentence:  I was born twice.

A young, poor boy from Bermondsey is almost swallowed by a tiger when walking the street.  Thus begins the adventure of Jaffy, who is befriended and somewhat sponsored by the owner of the tiger, Charles Jamrach, an importer and seller of various exotic animals and birds.  While working for Jamrach, Jaffy discovers that he has a quieting way with animals and his gift serves him well at this, his second job.

Jaffy has always dreamed of becoming a sailor, and eventually he and his friend Tim, who also work for Mr. Jamrach, sign on to The Lysander, a whaler,  to sail on a mission with Dan Rymer, a sailor who often brings Jamrach animals on commission.  There is another point to this particular excursion:  Dan is to bring back the Ora - a dragon of sorts, for the owner of the ship, Mr. Fledge.

We follow Jaffy on his new adventures, meeting new and exotic people and traveling to far-flung lands.  Some things work out as expected, and some tragically don't.

The first part of this story is delightful in places, but if all this tale was about was a poor boy's tale of working with animals during the day and in a tavern at night, unrequited young love, and an at-times antagonistic burgeoning friendship, the storyline would have quickly become stale.

The whaling adventures and misadventures, a heartbreaking tragedy at sea, and a tale of desperation brought about by starvation - THIS is where I see how this novel is deserving of a Man Booker Prize.  Impeccable pacing brings the reader into the choppy sea, in one of a pair of flimsy lifeboats, after the Lysander is capsized.  I really can't say much more without spoilers; but I felt as though I were fighting to survive along with the characters.  This is a tale of the triumph of the human spirit, able to beat back against seemingly insurmountable odds.  Ms. Birch loosely bases the Lysander's sinking on that of the Essex (the inspiration for Moby Dick), and inserts another real-life character in Mr. Jamrach.  Nineteenth-century England, with all of its grit, poverty, desperation, and hope comes to life in these pages.

If you like historical fiction, adventure, or character-AND-action driven literary-type fiction, you can't go wrong in picking this one up.

QUOTES (from an ARC; may differ in final copy):

The women in the Spoony Sailor were whorier than the ones in the Malt Shove, but not as whory as those in Paddy's Goose, though the Goose girls were by far the swishiest and the prettiest.  I knew a girl there who wouldn't be called a whore, said she was a courtesan.  Terrible women, some of them, I suppose, but they were always nice to me.

I had never walked like this, hand in hand with a man as I had seen others walk with fathers, and it made me feel peculiar.  My own father's name I didn't know for sure.  Sometimes Andrea, sometimes Theo, you never could tell with Ma.  A dark sailor with a glass to his eye.

"I was lying in the gutter," said Dan, "and a small dog had just pissed upon my shoulder."  He took a drink.  "'Dear God', I said. 'Thank you.  Thank you , my God.  It could have been my face.'"

Writing:  4 out of 5 stars
Plot:  5 out of 5 stars
Characters:  4.5 out of 5 stars
Reading Immersion:  4.5 out 5 stars

BOOK RATING:  4.5 out of 5 stars

Sensitive Reader:  It's a book about sailors; expect cursing like a sailor :)
1485693
I enjoy stories whose authors take an historical figure about whom little is known, and try to fill in the blanks with talent, imagination, and solid research. This is such a story. The positives about it are the author's research, which seems solid, and her attempt to make the characters come alive on the page. The main negative was that the black evil and debauchery of the "bad guys" was so extreme that it left a kind of two-dimensional, almost flat ,impression.  That flatness may have been inevitable because the story was told in the first person. The protagonist herself was pretty believable because we were able to get "inside her head," to know her thoughts and emotions. Having said that, however, a couple of things did bother me. The first was the emphasis on the queen's virginity. The story makes much of showing the Sanhedrin the bloody sheets of the marriage bed to prove that the queen was a virgin. But this was he second marriage. She was supposed to have been in an unconsummated  marriage for several years before her first husband was killed. Why hadn't the Sanhedrin insisted on similar  proof from the wedding night with that first husband?  My second criticism is that the queen lived in a palace, yet we read very little hint of palace gossip or palace intrigue.  For example, couldn't palace gossips inform the queen--or sympathetic members of the Sanhedrin--about a plot to kill the first king? Wouldn't palace servants loyal to a popular queen keep t here informed of her second husband's secret activities or the Sanhedrin's plots? She certainly saw some of the  open defiance if one of her goals was to keep peace in Jerusalem, she would have used he servants to advantage. Such details would have fleshed out the story, made it more credible.  But regardless, the story is a good one, and a decent addition to the literature.
1494280
This short book is a combination of two shorter novellas, and seems expensive at the price.  The first story, 'I Can Make it to California Before it's Time for Dinner' tells of an teenaged boy with learning difficulties who goes on an impromptu journey.  He gets blamed for a girl's death, then later is taken advantage of by an older man.  The boy, Jimmy Dembrowski, is well realised. He half-understands what goes on around him and of course doesn't understand strange people's motivations. However I didn't much like the story, unlike 'Flowers For Algernon' the SF classic.

The second story, 'May-September' is quite a contrast. Sandra is a grandmother whose daughter Andrea, living a distance away, has talked her into writing a blog.  This should keep Andrea and her kids up to date with her life.  Reluctant but hiding it, Sandra buys a computer which she cannot use.  She posts up an ad in a shop and Alice answers, a young woman who is willing to help with computer skills and if needed to ghostwrite the blog.

There are no quotation marks in the latter story - we readers like our comforts - which can make it difficult to follow at times and it's hard to be sure of who is saying which sentence. Sandra is only sixty-seven but her life is stagnant and she and Alice swap details of their lives. The women in this story are self-absorbed and Sandra tends to look back over her life rather than view the worldwide web, as most people would when handed a net-connected computer.

COULD YOU BE WITH HER NOW is not a casual read but concentrates on characters and could best suit students of modern creative writing.
969811
These short stories offer unique views on a specialized theme.  But the editor is wrong, there are a couple of duds in the set of twelve short stories.
506653
Bolano's novel is about two fictional poets, Ulisses Lima and Alberto Belano, (a thinly-disguised stand-in for the author) who headed a fleeting literary movement referred to a visceral realism. Their story is told through two approaches.

The first is via Juan Garcia Madero, a law student turned aspirant poet, in 1975-76. He encounters the poets and is "invited" into their movement. Much of the first part of his story is less about interactions with them, which are intermittent, than with his involvement with the Joaqun (Quim) Font, Font's daughters and their friends.

His narrative is left off in favor of a multi-voiced series of accounts that take up the middle two-thirds of the book. They cover a period from 1976-1996 and the travels of Lima and Belano in the period.
Garcia Madero's narrative is taken up where he left off as he, Lima, Belano and Lupe, a prostitute they rescued from her hotly-pursuing pimp, quest in northern Mexico for a semi-legendary poet who was the precursor of visceral realism.

There is much to like in the book. The Garcia Madero narrative is quite good. The idea of a precocious teenage playing "Gotcha!" with the technical terms of poetry is dead on target as the idea of his phasing himself out of law school to hang out with the local bohemians.

Likewise, the quest for Cesarea Tinajero, the ur-visceral realist, was a nice touch--worthy of anything one might see in Pynchon. The idea of the story of Lima and Belano being told through third parties did much to enhance their semi-legendary quality. Even the bloated middle section had some intermittently nice touches such as the saber duel between a Spanish critic and a writer and the pathetic encounter between Ulisses Lima and the real-life (and Nobel-winning) Octavio Paz.

Unfortunately, the size and meandering nature of this section totally take the steam out of this book. Telling a story of one party via another should be just as much about the narrator as about the object of the narrative. That works well in the first and third sections. However, there are too many disparate characters and the narrative is too ramshackle to hold the reader's interest. This section was in need of severe and disciplined editing.
4014244
Pleasant and entertaining, the romantic anthology TAPESTRY features two outstanding short stories and two that are pretty decent.

"To Kiss in the Shadows" by Lynn Kurland fleshes out an incident mentioned in her full-length novel STARDUST OF YESTERDAY.  Set in medieval times, the heroine Lianna is scarred by pox and her hero knight, Jason, is feared as a sorcerer.  It's a non-sexual story, but that's not what bugged me.  What bothered me were pertinent questions that were not answered, like why was Lianna's family killed and why would no one tell the King that his ward was poisoned?  Rating: 3 stars.

"An Interrupted Tapestry" by Madeline Hunter had good passion and a believable background between the main characters.  Set in London 200 or 300 years ago, wealthy merchant Andreas is helping Giselle raise money to pay her kidnapped brother's ransom.  It's almost painful to watch them deny their feelings for each other.  Rating: 5 stars.

"Dragonswan" by Sherrilyn Kenyon was the reason I bought this anthology; it was also a letdown.  Don't get me wrong: I love Sebastian, from his frankness to his dark sexuality to his cool facial tattoo.  I also loved the fact that he was a dragon who could travel through time.  Everything else about the story was blah.  Kenyon's Dark-Hunter fans will want to read it though, for its explanation about the were-hunter's "claiming" ritual.  Rating: 3 stars.

"Into the Dreaming" by Karen Marie Moning was a delight.  I'm not a fan of hers, so I'm still reeling in shock over the fact I liked this story the most.  Highlander Aedan has one chance to free himself from eternal servitude to a dark (and deliciously intriguing) faery king, and Jane is sent back in time to help him.  The characters are great, the attitude fun.  Rating: 5 stars.
3960758
This book contains two slightly-connected stories set in the same vaguely Near Eastern fantasy world.

Bacigalupi's piece, "The Alchemist", is the real gem of the pair, an eloquent parable on what has to be sacrificed to deal with an environmental catastrophe caused by human short-sightedness. The story is readable for its dark twist and the moral question at its heart, as well as its even-handed, credible character voice.

Buckell's piece, "The Executioness", a story about a middle-aged woman who discovers her inner hero, treads standard fantasy ground. I found it enjoyable enough to justify the purchase, but not especially memorable.
2016005
Centuries ago, humankind left earth.  Ten thousand starships transported passengers to destinations throughout the galaxy.  They took their literature with them, but much of this literature was lost in the period before the creation of the Galactic Commonwealth.  While some stories, once known as the Arabian Nights survived, those stories have changed over the centuries.  Different versions of these stories have become folklore on barbarian worlds: the stories have been transformed or transmuted, corrupted or enhanced by the changing worlds they are told in.  And now, they have been rediscovered.

In these thirteen stories, we read of the war between Men and Jinn, of Hafwen (sometimes Halfwen) and her story, of Nouredan and Nesjella, of Elgelt of Gloune, and Aubwoo.  We learn (with Hekaib) that it is best not to be early for some appointments.

The stories vary in length, some stand alone, others are interwoven.  Some characters we meet but once, while others appear in different stories.  While my favourite is the story of Halfwen (or Hafwen), the story of Nouredan and Nesjella is the centrepiece of the collection.  Definitely echoes of the Arabian Nights and I was also reminded at times of some of Herodotuss descriptions of peoples in The Histories.

I enjoyed reading this collection of stories, and am likely to reread at least some of them.  In many ways, these are traditional stories in an alternative world setting.  Is it science fiction?  Not really, its more fantasy: the distant galactic future provides some (as yet) unknown possibilities, but these are secondary to the stories being recounted.  If you enjoy short stories, if you enjoyed the Arabian Nights, you may well enjoy 1,001 Lightyears Entertainments.  I did.

He never again left the city, though on occasion he wondered what parts of his life were memories and what parts were dreams.

Note: I was offered, and accepted, a copy of this book for review purposes.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith