Enchanting tales of distant lands; Excellent anthopolgy
594390
This book is an excellent way to introduce anyone to the joys of cultural anthropolgy. It exams various aspects of different cultures in each chapter, thereby making it easy to read as each chapter presents a  different culture. Davis is the ultimate story-teller, though his tone is  that of science as opposed to the average traveler tales. Unfortauntely,  most scientists with something to present do not present it in a way that  is pleasant to read; Davis is the exception. This book is good reading if  you wish to experiance forgein lands; it will remind you of those childhood  stories of far of places. This book introduces thoughts on the paradox of  the delightful differences yet beautiful unity of lands and their people.  It makes the land come alive. Scholars will appreciate this book as  informative relaxing reading. It is a fantastic way to introduce a student  to the joys of understand people around the world. Children would delighted  in most of the stories; the concepts are presented in such a way that even  they can grasp the meaning. As a high school student trying to settle on a  major which will entice my interest and challege me for the rest of my  life, Davis has managed to help me find my quest. Anthropogy opens in this  book. The thoughts on the importance of having a land have been abandonned  by the philosophical community, so it is good to see a scientist stepping  out to remind us that there is something to having a homeland.
270628
What a terrific collection of stories this is! From the first story ("The Clearing") to the novella that brings the collection to an end ("The Outside World"), these linked fictions are as engaging as any you will read. Linked by their setting--Ambler County, a slow-moving rural spot in North Carolina--and by the occasional recurring character, the stories explore what it means to be an outsider. The language is fluid and beautiful, and each story is filled with surprises.
1604110
On the face of it, this novel seems like little more than a rousing tale of swords and sorcery with a faux-historical sheen. But it's more, and better, than that simple description would indicate.

David Gemmell's Rigante series (at least in the first two volumes) seems akin to the (excellent) fantasy of Guy Gavriel Kay - places from real-life history, re-named and fictionalized, become the settings for epic adventures rich in intrigue, magic, and derring-do.  In this case, we have the Keltoi, a loose confederation of tribal peoples patterned after the Celts, complete with god-like nature spirits called the Seidh (Sidhe), and the city and ever-expanding empire of Stone, patterned after the Roman Republic/Empire. For good measure, he throws in the tree cult, a persecuted religion that meets in secret and preaches peace, love, and harmony, very much like first- and second-century Christians.

And that's where "Midnight Falcon" becomes so gripping and enjoyable. As the Keltoi culture clashes with the culture of Stone, and subcultures within each of those societies clash with each other, Gemmell is able to portray in a fascinating light the eternal struggle between man's innate nature of venality and violence and selfishness, and our ever-present impulse towards something better, more generous and peaceful. The conflict between our nature and our BETTER nature is played out in an oh-so-satisfying manner in the political maneuvering, bloody death bouts, and emotional batterings (intentional and otherwise) in which Gemmell's oh-so-human characters are engaged here.

And there are so many wonderful and important characters. Despite the somewhat misleading description on the book's back-cover, the hot-tempered Bane (the son of "Sword in the Storm"'s main character Connavar) is but one part of this story. We also meet young Banouin, torn between two cultural identities and living too much inside his own head; Rage, a famed gladiator whose nature belies his deadly skills; the surprisingly sweet and funny Persis Albitane and his snarky servant Norwin; the darkly inscrutable Seidh goddess called the Morrigu; and scores of other significant supporting characters.

"Midnight Falcon" is not just some random blood-and-thunder Conan knockoff. It is a layered and infinitely effective portrayal of cultures at war, peopled with memorable and believable characters who live through the crucible in which their characters, and the ideas we all must contemplate but ultimately never can fully resolve, are tested to the fullest. A thoughtful and immersive read, highly recommended.

(I would, however, also highly recommend reading the first Rigante book, "Sword in the Storm," first. While not quite the equal of this second volume, it is definitely enjoyable in its own right, and also provides a valuable introduction to both the Keltoi and Stone without which I think this story would suffer.)
3013594
The Spira Mirabilis (I add "the" because the volume is a stand-alone world) covers a lot of ground in in its collection of eight short stories.  Some are very accessible and easy to read and immediately appreciate and enjoy.  Others are far more complex and dense, requiring some effort in order to extract their wonders.  Unfortunately, the first two stories fall into the latter category, forming a barrier to entry for those of faint spirit.  If you  can browse, and if you have difficulty penetrating the first story, I recommend paging forward to the third story -- A love of Mine.  Here, Ralph Sevush channels the spirit of Isaac Asimov and spins a heartwarming tale in which two robots teach us about the meaning of love.  There is something for everyone in this volume, as long as you are a fan of science fiction, fantasy, and complex storytelling.  The Spira Mirabelis is a universe unto itself, and while its exploration is not easy and sometimes individual stories may not prove to be everyone's cup of tea, the adventure is well worth the effort.  Mr. Sevush goes boldly where few have gone before.  majQa'
1370430
Connoisseurs of obscure history and fantastic legend will delight in this collection, which gathers together the contents of Connell's twenty-year-old (and long out of print) books A Long Desire and The White Lantern, and adds two more recent pieces. The twenty essays are a mostly entertaining and fascinating bunch, touching upon all manner of historical curiosities. In every case, the topic has been previously dissected with great detail by "professional" historians - witness the 300 or so books that appear in the bibliography. Yet one should be thankful that an armchair historian and accomplished writer such as Connell has distilled many thousands of pages until only the the most potent brew remains to excite the imagination.

Ranging in length from 10-65 pages, the essays delve through the back corridors of history in wide-ranging, chatty fashion. Their topics are generally either quests of a physical or intellectual nature. The former tend to be the more engaging, as they involve feats of derring-do, greed, folly, and old-fashioned adventure. For example, in various essays Connell covers the following: hundreds of years of attempts to locate the Northwest Passage, the search for the passage to India, Norse settlement of Greenland and America, the race for the South Pole, the prodigious wanderlust of 14th-century Moroccan traveler Ibn Battutah, the mass hysteria and lunacy of the dual 13th-century Children's Crusades, the futile Spanish quest for El Dorado, the Spanish quest for the mythical Seven Cities, and Mayan gold. The intellectual quests are also generally interesting, but by their very nature more abstract. These include Atlantis, the mythical Christian King Prester John, the search for the "missing link", an overview of medieval alchemy, decoding ancient languages, interpreting the heavens, the origin of the Etruscans, the mysterious cliff dwellings at Mesa Verde in New Mexico, and finally, graffiti carved into a monolith in New Mexico. Probably my favorite piece fits into neither category, "Gustav's Dreadnought" describes a 17th-century nautical folly spawned by Sweden's King Gustav.

Connell's relates everything with a natural storyteller's voice. The prose is always lively, however can be choppy at times due to his propensity for short paragraphs. And of course, not every essay will appeal to every readers - I personally skimmed two of the longer ones about linguistics and astrology. In general, the more specific the focus, the stronger the essay. The collection's one significant flaw is the absence of maps. On the whole though, this is a great book to dip into, say one essay a week, allowing the reader to revel in the mysteries and adventure of the past.
3234829
An enchanting and idiosyncratic collection of essays that manages to weave together the geological origins of the Italian peninsula and the physical and sometimes mystical attachments of the Etruscans, Virgil, Dante and Da Vinci to very specific features of the Italian landscape.  A renowned geologist, Ms. Pizzorusso takes us on a charming journey and pauses along the way to point out details and connections that few of us would ever be likely to observe.  There is even a delightful side trip along the way to examine the jewels referred to by Pliny and others, including the authors noted above, and the implicit allegorical meanings of these stones to those writers.  Lavishly illustrated with photos, prints and famous artwork this book is a fascinating collection of arcana within a robust scientific framework.  Ms. Pizzorusso writes in a warm conversational tone which feels as if one were sharing a glass of wine with an entertaining and particularly erudite friend.  A wonderful read, and highly recommended, this reader couldn't put it down.
1753358
The Arabian Nights: Tales from A Thousand and One Nights  -translated by Sir Richard F. Burton

Though the collection is incomplete (this edition contains only the "most famous and representative" tales from the entirety), the compendium outshines any expectation or foreknowledge of the stories and is choc with the marvelous wit of ancient Arabian storytelling.  The stories have an underbidding theme all alike, good is good and evil is evil, Allah is all and always and man and manhood will be sundered, for without fail comes with the tail of every tale "the Destroyer of delights and Severer of societies, the Plunderer of palaces, and the Garnerer of graves."  Reminding sundry-reader that, despite diamond caches and throes of love, all is vanity of vanity, and only the story will exist for aught.  The structure of each of these stories is thematically similar: a poor man happens on a souterrain of riches, he is espied by someone of evil, foul play ensues, a moon of moons of a beauty entrances one and all, a jinn sneaks out of a signet ring, the enemy is bewitched, and the hero is consummated with love and gold.  Or, the reverse.  Or, the inverse.  But what is unique to each of these stories is the complete freedom of happenstance.  A man fishing in a pond nets a monkey.  A marooned sailor flies with a giant bird to freedom.  A man blind in one eye runs into another blind in one eye and they run into another blind in one eye.  Ali-Babba overhears an eponymous password to a storehouse of plunder.  Everything and anything goes.  As well with the language, in "fairest favour and formous form," Sir Burton spares no joyance of neologism coined, alliteration aligned or rhyme rhymed.  The text is bedight with proper consciousness of Shaharazad, "for interest fails in twice told tales," and "Words cannot undo the done," as we are gently and thematically reminded of the bookends: the murderous king and the maiden, Shaharazad's "fictitious" fight for survival.  The stories that have so obviously leaked into our culture, Aladdin, Ali-Babba and the Forty Thieves, are so much richer, more profound, and less coddling than our cartooned interpretations (as is also the case with the Grimm and Andersen tales).  In the end, it is obvious that nor King nor author nor Queen is the hero.  None save the stories themselves and the love of the telling will live on.
2911364
A wonderful collection of four short stories that bring to life mythical creatures, the book's strength lies in the author's ability to weave a tale that flows with great ease, scooping you up and carrying you into a world you will find yourself easily immersed in. I also love the way these stories touch, as gently as the author writes, on topics such as awareness of nature's beauty in the first story, Cascade. I hope that another short story collection is already on its way!
4379397
Each of these stories is a dense, tightly packed narrative that proves to be immensely satisfying as the story unfolds, and the layers are artfully stripped away.  This is one of those collections where you find yourself reading each short story more than once to pick up all of the gems you missed in the first read.  The prose is lovely, with an elegant lyrical quality that flirts with mysticism without ever allowing the work to  decline into genre writing.  My favorite story, Green Peas and Lightening, straddles both the gritty realness of world the narrator is living in (one rife with death and abuse) and the "otherworldliness" of God the Sun, who inhabits an innocuous milk cooling shed.  Highly recommend this collection for a relaxing evening by the fire.
1665516
Set in a timeless village by the Black Sea, Mystical Emona tells a tale of a love that has spanned centuries and seeks realisation once more in this present time. The quaint little town sits easily alongside the legends and myths that have grown with it over the centuries and its inhabitants have no inhibitions in publicly proclaiming their beliefs.  New arrival Stephan is initially amused by the odd customs he sees, the tales he hears, but he is soon to be brought into the very heart of a wondrous world that captures his imagination, his heart, his very life. It is a world where fabled animals roam, where moonbeam-clad faeries dance in the glades, where light-winged dryads of the trees sing of summer and joy.

I know little of fantasy.  It is not a genre that I would normally read. It is not a landscape that my mind tends to inhabit. But I would guess that the imagination that creates such a fabulous world must equally seek to describe it in language that goes beyond the mundane into the ethereal, the mystical, the poetic.  And so it is with Mystical Emona.  The mythological world that leaps from the pages is made all the more mythic by the poetic nature of the writing.

The difficulty with true poetry, however, is that it requires restraint.  Lyricism must be precise, delicate; it must not be allowed to become fulsome or overly ornate. It is here that the writer's enemy is the `adjective'.  It seems churlish to offer a criticism of a book that is so beautifully written but sometimes in their pursuit of lyrical perfection, the writers of Mystical Emona succumb to excessive use of adjectives, even double adjectives. It's a small point but adjectival overkill can also hint at performance anxiety, as if precision in writing would not be enough to ensure that the reader grasps the intended meaning.

But it is their enthusiasm to bring colour, atmosphere and enchantment to their tale that drives the authors and the lyrical passages are integral to the magical aura that pervades the story. It is a lyricism that enhances and makes more real the wondrous manner in which modern Bulgaria is enabled to sit easily beside the ancient land of the samodivi. It is a language that subtly opens the reader's mind to the existence of a dreamland beyond the normal. It is a poetry that helps the reader accept unquestioningly the strange inevitability of a burgeoning romance in the modern village of Emona superimposing itself upon another love story that is aeons old.

This is not my normal reading fare at all but I loved this book and I am suddenly sensing what it is that makes fantasy such a popular genre.  I loved the story. I loved the characters, each a real and breathing person with depth and individuality. I loved Carina's struggle to bring Stephan to the realisation of who he really is. Most of all, I enjoyed the magnetic allure that this mystical landscape exercised upon my own imagination and spirit, drawing me into the very heart of its legendary essence.

This is a book that will not let the reader down.  Aficionados of fantasy will love it; indeed, anyone with a heart who can empathise with love, loss, and renewed hope will love it as well. A well-crafted story, filled with magic, mystery, passion and wonder, Mystical Emona is book that will let no one down.
1010955
Cecilia Dart Thornton obviously loves the English language. Her prose tends to wax more poetic when she gets her juices flowing. The Bitterbynde trilogy, loosely based on the Celtic faery tale of Midir and Etain, also demonstrates her love for the faery lore of the British Isles, notably Scotland and Ireland.
In this first installment, we are introduced to a nameless, amnesiac mute, horribly defaced, and the world in which "he" lives. It's a primal world of incredible beauty and danger, where humankind is safe only within their walled cities and towns, with the rest of the world belonging to capricious nature spirits. These faeries fall into one of two categories: Seelie, or benign to humankind, and Unseelie, or malign. Interestingly, there seems to be a lot of shifting and overlap, and the brownie that is your friend one day can easily be your persecutor the next. These nature and household spirits pale in comparison to the great Faerun, based on the Sidhe of Ireland, who vacated the world a millennium earlier for unknown reasons.
Dart Thornton does have a gift for weaving imagery, and, while most times enjoyable, other reviewers are correct that she occasionally falls foul of attempting to overwhelm the reader with detail. However, her command of the English language is superb, and the imagery evocative. Presumably, she is a new author, and will improve her technique with time.
What's not to like? Dart Thornton has obviously read her faery tales, and I suspect was an avid RPG player at one time in her life. Her character has a tendency to have everything thrown at "his" feet, warded against every dangerous situation, and it is therefore hard to really get too concerned about any crisis "he" faces, since "his" benefactors will inevitably rescue "him". Also, faery tales are comedic, with the protagonist only getting his just reward (or punishment) at the end of the journey from hardship. Dart Thornton's protagonist is constantly showered with unique windfalls of the monetary and esoteric variety throughout. It's hard to sympathize with any protagonist who finds such good fortune, particularly in the very first of a three part series.
182621
Laini Taylor has a remarkable gift. Her stories are rich magic, and I don't really have the words, but I will stumble through. She writes fairy tales from an alternate universe, but a universe related to our own in some tangible, recognizable ways. When I read these three stories (Goblin Fruit. Spicy Little Curses Such As These. Hatchlings), I was quickly and completely sucked into their worlds, with all the attendant sights and smells and textures and tastes. It was the same when I read her Daughter of Smoke and Bone trilogy. When I get to the last sentence of her stories, I always feel exactly the same way:  As if I've emerged from a dark theater, after a very long movie, and directly into the inexplicable sunlight. It's momentarily confusing and disorienting, though an echo of that feeling lasts for days, and I want to go back because this new thing feels all wrong. Cognitive dissonance?  I think that's the phrase. In any case, I think she's aware of this effect, because the order of the stories is ascending.  Or her publisher is aware of it. The first one, Goblin Fruit, is the most grounded one. The second, Spicy Little Curses Such As These, takes you a bit more behind the curtain. The final story, Hatchlings, is full-on otherworldly. And now, here I am, back out in the jarring sunlight, blinking and looking around for her next book so I can go back.  Sidenote:  LOVED the illustrations by Jim Di Bartolo.  The pictures in my head were different, but it was a wonderful way to set the tone of the stories. Plus, they were just plain beautiful to look at.  NOTE TO PUBLISHER:  Grab Jim (or another artist) and come up with some breathtaking, sparkly, colorful but dark, magical illustrations, and turn Spicy Little Curses into the scary/awesome children's book it is screaming to be. I really want to buy that book for my niece, Riley, and if I can't just buy it, then I'll have to make it myself, and I'm already knee-deep in projects. I'm telling you, it would be the new "Where The Wild Things Are".  Only, EPIC!
1268823
Set of "Arabian Nights"-like stories, in Spanish (originally in German, with English translations). The stories are very beautiful, avocative, adventurous and funny. The illustrator in the Queromon edition is Jiri Trnka, and his work is nothing short of magical. I still have the copy that my mother gave me more than 50 years ago, and I am getting ready to read it  to my grandchildren, as soon as the start arriving.
105866
The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories is another masterpiece by Susanna Clarke. It is a collection of eight short stories set mostly in England in the early 19th century. The stories are absolutely magical. Characters include Mary Queen of Scots, the Duke of Wellington, Jonathan Strange, and John Uskglass (the raven king) among others. Each story has that wonderful, magical charm that she put into every page of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Fairies appear in many of her stories. I love her fairies because they are not your traditional fairies. One of my favorite stories in this collection is "Tom Brightwind or How the Fairy Bridge was Built at Thoresby". In this story, her fairy, Tom Brightwind, is six feet tall, has somewhat of a malicious side and has no wings at all. Another favorite is "On Lickerish Hill", which is Susanna Clarke's version of Rumplestiltskin.

What makes this book even more magical is Charles Vess' illustrations. The whole package of the book makes you feel like you hold a treasure in your hand. The cover is designed beautifully, the stories are magical, the pages of the book are antiqued, and the illustrations are just gorgeous. I feel special for owning a copy of the book. Charles Vess' illustrations are very Victorian looking and go wonderfully with the stories. I felt as if I were reading an old book of fairy tales from the 19th century complete with illustrations of the time and all. It's very easy to forget that this book was published in 2006.

Clarke truly is a master of her genre. She spins tales that become classics as soon as they're written and her use of the english language is simply beautiful. I can't wait to see what we can expect from her in the coming years. She has announced that she has somewhat of a sequel to Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell in mind, though it will probably take place after Strange and Norrell are long gone. I'm sure that whatever her brilliant mind produces next, it will be just as much of a pleasure to read as her first two books have been.
3889410
Cat Rambo is a wonderful writer with an eye for realism in the fantastic.  Her prose is sharp, the settings well detailed, and the characters engaging on multiple levels.

The book is divided into two sections. "Nether Here" explores secondary worlds and high fantasy settings, most notably the world of Tabat (the setting for her Tabat series of novels), and "Nor There" explores fantasy within alternative Earth's (steampunk, modern urban fantasy, etc.)  This approach allows readers to fully immerse themselves in one type of fantasy before turning the book over to indulge in another taste of the fantastic.

Though I tend to prefer alternative Earth stories, I have favorites from both sides.  From "Neither Here" I particularly enjoyed "Love, Resurrected" and "To Read The Sea".  From "Nor There" I loved "The Coffee Maker's Passion", "Snakes on a Train", and the excellent "Clockwork Faeries".

If you enjoy fantasy, you will definitely enjoy Cat's work.
3709297
This is one of the best books I've read in a long time and very unusual. The writing was lyrical, magical and seductive. The characters were very sympathetic and well formed. I loved the way the three main stories all evolved together. The interactions between people and the natural, wild world were astonishing. I wish I could know what they are doing now!
4819584
a subtle convergence of worlds occurs under lucy wood's pen in the guise of metaphor and legend of english rural place, and with rural place.  the rural landscapes are seascapes and the towns near them.  in the sea, or on the outskirts of town, may be mermaids, sirens who allure husbands, and giant children who play in stonehenge settings made of bone instead of stone.

lucy wood isn't writing science fiction, she's writing the short story, the art of which she has given considerable thought.  several of her stories evoke chekhov's precision of character and environment, a fine relationship rendered in careful yet spare detail which offers up upon conclusion emotional epiphanies.  readers, particularly readers who become writers, have wondered how chekhov achieved his affects--welcome lucy wood to that club.  future writers have something to learn from her of the shoals of tawdry mysticism and phantasmagoria; she tills her craft well, ulysses could not have done better.  her stories are human stories, the distance of relationships and loneliness of everyday life.  where chekhov succeeded inimitably, wood relies on suggestion of cultural legend and myth to stand in for the silences of inner life, as well as she should, only in her twenties, describing characters senior to her by decades, what of their inner lives could she possibly know without presumption, and without presumption she merely describes and in her description is everything--what she gets right is what  readers who are peers with certain of her characters recognize, even as lucy wood, herself, cannot know.

but what's most eerie and wondrous and, hopefully, generous about lucy wood is that she possesses a flair for storytelling, as though she's found a very old book of legends there in cornwall, and with that book a key.  from the last story in this collection she teases with the words of the droll teller, hundreds of years old when we are introduced to him as tour guide of the seaside town with the mines, attractive of a tourist trade, who makes up stories for the stories he has forgotten of what we might expect from her:  "It seemed to the droll teller as if something was climbing up out of the mine.  His senses sharpened, knitted together.  It could be a deep tapping, or it could be that bell, tolling. Was the bell in the mine or in the sea?  He remembered a bell sunk in a shipwreck that still tolled underwater.  A man had a premonition. ... He could hear the story creeping out of the mine towards him.  it was backing out slowly, hauling itself out bit by bit.  It was taking its time. ...The bell tolled louder and now here he was beginning again; somehow, despite everything, he was beginning again."