Joint Review: A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness

Deep in the heart of Oxford's Bodleian Library, scholar Diana Bishop requests a manuscript called Ashmole 782 in the course of her research. Coming from an old and distinguished lineage of witches, Diana senses that the ancient book might be bound up with magic - but she herself wants nothing to do with sorcery; and after making a few notes on its curious images, she banishes it quickly back to the stacks. But what she doesn't know is that the old alchemical text has been lost for centuries, and its sudden appearance has set a fantastical underworld stirring. Soon, a distracting horde of daemons, witches, and vampires descends upon the Bodleian's reading rooms. One of these creatures is Matthew Clairmont, an enigmatic ad eminent geneticist, practitioner of yoga, and wine connoisseur - and also a vampire with a keen interest in Ashmole 782.

Equal parts history and magic, romance and suspense, A Discovery of Witches is a novel of epic scope, traveling from the cobbled streets of Oxford to the chateaus and mountains of the Auvergne to a small town in upstate New York. It also takes us into a rich fifteen-hundred year history that spans Clovis and the Crusades, the Knights Templar, and the American Revolution. As Matthew and Diana's alliance deepens into intimacy, Diana must come to terms with age-old taboos and her own family's conflicted history - and she must learn where the modern woman she is meets the source of ancient power that is her legacy. With a scholar's depth and the touch of a great storyteller, Deborah Harkness has woven a tale of passion and obsession; the collision of magic, alchemy, and science; and the closely guarded secrets of an enchanted world.

Today I bring you a three way conversational review between Kelly from The Written World, Heather from Capricious Reader and myself! Kelly has the first part of the post, Heather the second part, and this is the third and final part of the conversation! Heather's thoughts are in black, Kelly's in light blue and mine in dark blue.

Enjoy!

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Marg: Let’s talk about the main characters, Matthew and Diana. I’ve already mentioned that I found Matthew to be a droolworthy. He is portrayed as handsome (of course), extremely intelligent, rich, urbane and more. Was he too good to be true (ignoring the whole vampire thing of course)? How about Diana? Was she too naive at the beginning?

Heather: Matthew had to grow on me. At first there was that whole “what are his intentions here” and all. He was so secretive and standoffish and mysterious! And yet, he was mysterious. And as you say, obviously handsome. And the more we the reader got to know him, the more, well, too good to be true he became (and partly why I constantly compare him to Edward) (sorry!). He may be a smidge “too good to be true,” but I think that’s part of his charm. Plus, he’s just so damn well read. I would kill for his library. What isn’t there to like about a gorgeous man who will live forever and has a library like that? I mean really.

As for Diana. Her naivety was part of my problem with her. She was so I AM NOT A WITCH in the beginning, but then it didn’t take her long to embrace it. At least it didn’t feel like it to me. And then she got kinda Bella on me with all the neediness. HOWEVER. I do think she has the potential to become very un-Bella like in the next book. I’m dying to read what happens after she truly comes into her powers!

Kelly?

Kelly: Yes, I can totally see how Diana was a lot like Bella. She seemed to change rather drastically in personality. I was not very impressed when she started to like Matthew just a bit too much for my liking. I am very sick of the obsessed romance plot-line at the moment. It turned out to be a minor problem for me, though. Diana had other characteristics that made up for it and I think she will really grow in the second book. I am looking forward to seeing more from her! I don’t really think she accepted her ‘witch’ abilities that easily, though. She had them her entire life and tried to ignore them, but we learn that there is a lot more to that than she was aware of, so it is hard to say what would have happened if she had been allowed to grow-up normally.

As to Matthew, I was just jealous of his library. Actually, the houses that he lived in sounded pretty amazing, too! He might have written a bit too ‘perfectly’, but he has had many years to develop his persona. If she had written him like most men then it might not have seemed as believable that he was very old and worldly. That’s my thought anyway.

Marg: I really wanted to say how much I loved Matthew and Diana together as well though. He knew her strength before she did, but even then was surprised and impressed by her. She drew him out of himself, making him realise that he held himself apart from the people in his life, and I loved the connection between them. This was one of my favourite moments between them.

Quote from page 340

"There you are," he said. "I thought I was going to have to fish you out of the water."

Desire shot through me, and my knees went weak. The feelings were exacerbated by the knowledge that what I was about to say would wipe the smile clean off his face.


Please let this be right, I whispered to myself, resting my hands on his shoulders. Matthew titled his head back against my chest and smiled up at me.


"Kiss me," he commanded.


I complied without a second thought, amazed at the comfort between us. This was so different from books and movies, where love was made into something tense and difficult. Loving Matthew was much more like coming into port than heading out into a storm.


"How do you manage it?" I asked him, holding his face in my hands. "I feel like I've known you forever."

Kelly: I just have to say that I read this quote and was left thinking if I hadn’t read this book all ready, this quote would not have lead me to it. I just thought that illustrates well the different tastes of readers that would love this book.

Marg: For me it is really that idea of coming into port that I really loved, but needed the rest of the quote for context!

One thing I loved about the book was all the description of food and wine. You could tell that the author loves her food and wine, and even a couple of the trailers show her talking about food and wine.

Heather: You KNOW I loved the descriptions of the food and wine. I have yet to find a wine I like (I’m not much of a drinker) but this book made me want to run out and buy until I find one I love as much as Matthew obviously relishes his wines.

Kelly: I went through a moment earlier in the year where I was going to understand the whole attraction to wine, but I never did go through with it. I live in an area where there are several vineyards, but even though I have gone to tastings I have never been able to find a wine I like. I think when I read books that wine features in a great deal, I always want to know what the big deal is. I suppose it is like people trying to understand my obsession with reading. They can try it, but they can not necessarily have the same connection.

Marg: So in closing, would the summary be that Marg loved it from beginning to end, Kelly loved it after a bit of a slow start and Heather really enjoyed it with a couple of reservations?

Kelly: That sounds about right to me! I am really looking forward to the sequel next year. And, now it is being said it is going to be a movie. That can be both a good and bad thing. I suppose we will have to wait and see!

Nightsiders by Sue Isle

In a future world of extreme climate change, Perth, Western Australia’s capital city, has been abandoned. Most people were evacuated to the East by the late ’30s and organised infrastructure and services have gone.

A few thousand obstinate and independent souls cling to the city and to the southern towns. Living mostly by night to endure the fierce temperatures, they are creating a new culture in defiance of official expectations. A teenage girl stolen from her family as a child; a troupe of street actors who affect their new culture with memories of the old; a boy born into the wrong body; and a teacher who is pushed into the role of guide tell the story of The Nightside.

Last week I posted about Love and Romanpunk, which was the second book that was released as part of the Twelve Planets series published by Twelfth Planet Press. This book, Nightsiders by Sue Isle, was the first published.

I hadn't read anything by Sue Isle before but knew as soon as I heard what the setting was that I wanted to read this collection of four short stories, one of which (Paper Dragons) had previously been published. The collection is predominantly set in the city where I was born, the city where most of my relatives still live, the city I visit quite regularly - Perth in Western Australia. This Perth however is only barely recognisable as the city I love to visit.

The book is set in the near future in a world where there has been dramatic climatic change in addition to bombings that have destroyed much of the infrastructure and housing. The temperatures soar during the day, forcing the few hardy souls who remain to take shelter where ever they can find it, and water is scarce. Most of the activity happens at night, hence the community being known as the Nightside. Most people have been evacuated to the East, and for the most part those who have been left behind have been forgotten.

The first story in the collection is The Painted Girl. The main character is Kyra, a young girl who travels with Nerina. They have travelled from place to place always being careful to behave appropriately as they travel through other groups areas and never to outstay their welcome. For the first time they that Kyra can remember, they are headed into the city proper. This story has familiar elements - the isolation you feel coming into an established community and not knowing how to act, a coming of age tale where getting to know yourself is made harder by the fact that you are not who you thought you were at all, but the harshness of the environment sandblasts these providing a rawness that is quite affecting.

The second story is Nation of the Night, and this is the story that is for me the lynch pin of the collection. The main character of the story is Ash, a young man born into a female body, and desperate for the gender reassignment surgery that will help him be the young man he feels himself to be. He has no choice but to head East to Melbourne for his operation. Whilst there are people that Ash meets in Melbourne that are welcoming to him as an outsider, the authorities or not. The city that I live in now is portrayed as overcrowded with refugees and suffering from it's own climactic issues, different from those faced in Perth, but with its own devastating implications for those who live in this city. As well as looking at the identity issues for Ash, there is also discussion of the fate of refugees in the city and the difficulties that they face like being able to provide and educate their families, as well as dangers facing those who don't belong. To me, this felt like a political statement given the emotional reactions that people have to the refugee issue, not only in Australia, but also in other places around the world.

The third story in the collection, Paper Dragons, is the one that worked least well for me, not so much because of the story itself but because of what we had already learned about the world. This story focused again on the younger members of the group with Ash appearing again within the narrative. I did think about using the word tribe rather than group but hesitated to do so, but there is almost a tribal feel to the group with all the members having prescribed duties. I think that the tribal element really comes to the fore in the fourth story, but more on that later. When on a mission to search through some of the dwellings for anything that might be of use to the group, Itch and Shani find some papers, which turn out to be a manuscript. When the troup of Players talk of performing the play, there is opposition from within the group as they fear that some of the memories of the past may be awakened and cause new ideas to be born that may cause changes that some within the group. The power of entertainment to provoke discussion and change is an interesting concept to explore in this setting.

Continuing with the idea of change and growth, the fourth story is also one I found very touching. In The Schoolteacher's Tale, Ellen Wakeling (the teacher of the title and oldest member of the group) is asked to perform the function of elder at an assembly to be held outside of the time and in conjunction with a tribe of native Australians. Whilst the vast majority of the people who live in this Perth stay close to the city centre, a few hardy souls have been spreading out into the surrounding areas, and now, there is a chance to move out to the Edge. For Ellen the trip to the Edge is a journey that forces her to think about the way that the people left behind in the colony have learned the skills that they need to survive and whether it is time for new ways to be examined and put into place. In some ways the expansion into the surrounding areas, and the meeting up with the Aboriginal communities felt a bit like a chance for recolonisation this time in partnership rather than through conflict.

Part of the reason I think that this story affected me as much as it did was that I recognised the journey that Ellen took, out through Mt Lawley, along the railway line (no longer in use in this book), out past the Peninsula hotel, as this is the route that I take most times I go to Perth and visit my family.

This book and Love and Romanpunk are completely different books, connected only in that they have been published as part of the Twelve Planets series, but they were both really good reads, and I can't wait for the next one to arrive in my mailbox in the next few weeks. I will definitely be ordering the future releases in the series and can't wait to see where I am taken next.

 Rating 4/5

This book  counted for the Aussie Author Challenge and I also counted it for the  Once Upon a Time V challenge which officially ends today (although it possibly fits under others of Carl's challenges just as easily). This is a therefore a good chance for me to list most of the books that I read during the challenge! Extra pleasing to me is to see that half of these authors are Aussie authors, and that I got to review all of those books! I actually didn't do that deliberately but I am glad it worked out that way.


The Third Pig Detective Agency by Bob Burke
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Glitter Rose by Marianne de Pierre
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan
The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts

Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts

Thousands of years ago, Julia Agrippina wrote the true history of her family, the Caesars. The document was lost, or destroyed, almost immediately.


(It included more monsters than you might think.)


Hundreds of years ago, Fanny and Mary ran away from London with a debauched poet and his sister.


(If it was the poet you are thinking of, the story would have ended far more happily, and with fewer people having their throats bitten out.)


Sometime in the near future, a community will live in a replica Roman city built in the Australian bush. It’s a sight to behold.


(Shame about the manticores.)


Further in the future, the last man who guards the secret history of the world will discover that the past has a way of coming around to bite you.


(He didn’t even know she had a thing for pointy teeth.)


The world is in greater danger than you ever suspected. Women named Julia are stronger than they appear. Don’t let your little brother make out with silver-eyed blondes. Immortal heroes really don’t fancy teenage girls. When love dies, there’s still opera. Family is everything. Monsters are everywhere. Yes, you do have to wear the damned toga.


History is not what you think it is.

Some times when you read a new author, you just know that you are going to enjoy their books because you enjoy their voice! Tansy Rayner Roberts is one of those authors. She is a new author to me this year. I first read her story Relentless Adaptations in the Sprawl anthology, and then she guest posted for me, and finally, on the strength of loving this short story collection I have also now purchased the first book in her Creature Court trilogy, Power and the Glory.

Before I talk any more about this particular collection, I wanted to talk about the series that this is part of.

Love and Romanpunk is the second book in the Twelve Planets series that is being published by a small Australian publisher called Twelfth Planet Press. Here is their description of what this series is all about:

The Twelve Planets are twelve boutique collections by some of Australia’s finest short story writers. Varied across genre and style, each collection will offer four short stories and a unique glimpse into worlds fashioned by some of our favourite storytellers. Each author has taken the brief of 4 stories and up to 40 000 words in their own direction. Some are quartet suites of linked stories. Others are tasters of the range and style of the writer. Each release will bring something unexpected to our subscriber’s mailboxes.

I was going to wait for this book to come out in ebook before ordering but then I saw that the cover was purple and had to have a physical book! And seeing as I was getting this one, I also ordered Nightsiders by Sue Isle (which I have read and enjoyed) and then upcoming release by Lucy Sussex which is titled Thief of Time. Other authors who are going to be included in the series include Margo Lanagan, Rosaleen Love,  Deborah Biancotti, Kaaron Warren, Cat Sparks, Kirstyn McDermott, Narrelle M Harris, Thoraiya Dyer and Stephanie Campisi. The vast majority are new to me authors so not only will I get some good spec fic short stories, but I will also be fulfilling my personal challenge to read more Australian authors.

Anyway, that's enough about the series. What about this book?

I mentioned above that Tansy Rayner Roberts voice really works for me, and that is really embodied in my reaction to this book. Roberts has taken her love of spec fic and of Roman history and combined them with the paranormal to come up with something that is totally unique (or at least I haven't read anything like it) and so much fun! And I must give a huge congrats to whoever wrote the cover blurb because I do think that the humour and fun that is present in the book is very much reflected in the blurb!

Within Love and Romanpunk, there are four connected stories that take us in time from ancient Rome to the future. The first story is Julia Agrippina's Secret Family Bestiary where the title character tells us all about the strange goings on within the Roman imperial family. Julia was the daughter of Agrippina Major, widow of Tiberius Claudius Nero, wife and niece of Emperor Claudius and mother of Emperor Nero, and she gives us a glimpse into a family filled with paranormal strength (which can be a good and a bad thing) and the special powers that have been bestowed on the Julias. And the creatures - they are legion. Well actually they aren't, but there are a lot of them - from werewolves to lamia, to harpies and dragons, and so much more.

The second story is Lamia Victoriana, and is set in the Victorian era. It features two young girls who run off with a debauched poet and his sister. There are elements of forbidden love and passion, and a willingness on the part of the participants as to the type of people the poet and his sister really are. Somewhat fittingly seeing as it is inferred that there is a connection to Mary Wollstonecroft this story is somewhat darker, more gothic in tone than the others that make up the collection.

The third story, The Patrician, was my favourite. I loved this story from the relationship between the two main characters to the concept of having a theme town that is built in country Australia called Nova Ostia, built with some of the original bricks from ancient Rome. If you think about historical villages but instead of showing what life would be like in the old west or frontier life the enactment is of Roman life and you would be close to the concept. It is all very well for the tourists who come and visit but for the people who have to live there and appear as authentic as possible it can be a drag.

When we meet Clea Majora when she is a teenager who is growing up in Nova Ostia. Her life is changed when she meets Julius. I can't tell you too much more about Julius without spoiling too much but I can probably say that over the years he disappears and reappears in Clea's life, their relationship changing and redesigning itself as Clea gets older, but Julius doesn't!

The fourth and final story in the collection is called Last of the Romanpunks and is set further into the future and features as it's main character Clea's grandson Sebastian and a very feisty young waitress. When Sebastian is deceived into attending the launch of a new airship that has been converted into a floating Roman themed taverna, he doesn't realise that for him and for some monsters, it will be a matter of life and death.

Whilst these stories could be read as standalone stories, I think it is a collection that begs to be read in order. Not only does the author manage to take us on a journey through time, we also wend our way through subgenres including historical and urban fantasy, with a touch of the gothic, and a little romanpunk as well (if romanpunk isn't already a subgenre it totally should be).

I thoroughly enjoyed my foray into Love and Romanpunk and can't wait to read more of the Twelve Planets books, and more from Tansy Rayner Roberts.

This post is posted as part of the Short Story Quest for the Once Upon a Time V channel, and because I just had to tell you all about this book!

Rating: 4.5/5

Sunday Salon: May Reading Reflections

I was very nearly tempted to not worry about doing my May wrap up post until the end of June, but I think I am glad that I changed my mind because I looked at this list of the books that I have read and found myself thinking was it really only 6 or so weeks ago that I read some of these books? Feels like much longer!

Here are the books I read in May:

Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay 4.5/5
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress by Dai Sijie 4.5/5
Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan 4.5/5
Little Paradise by Gabrielle Wang 4/5
Bumped by Megan McCafferty 4/5
Love and Romanpunk by Tansy Rayner Roberts 4.5/5
Emily by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles 4.5/5
The Vampire Narcise by Colleen Gleason 4/5
The Midnight Palace by Carlos Ruiz Zafon 3/5
Nightsiders by Sue Isle 4/5
Angelique in Love by Sergeanne Golon 4.5/5
The Rose Garden by Susanna Kearsley 5/5
The Dark Enquiry by Deanna Raybourn 4.5/5
The Homecoming by JoAnn Ross 3.5/5

In terms of the challenges that I am participating in Yellowcake, Little Paradise, Nightsiders and Love and Romanpunk are all by Australian authors and I have therefore now completed the Aussie Author Challenge for this year.

Little Paradise, Russian Winter, Emily and The Dark Enquiry all are books that I have read for the Historical Fiction Reading Challenge. I now have 7 books left to read in order to reach my commitment level for this challenge.

Yellowcake, The Rose Garden, Love and Romanpunk and Nightsiders all qualified for Once Upon a Time V so that challenge is now complete too!

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen

The New York Times bestselling author of The Girl Who Chased the Moon welcomes you to her newest locale: Walls of Water, North Carolina, where the secrets are thicker than the fog from the town’s famous waterfalls, and the stuff of superstition is just as real as you want it to be.

It’s the dubious distinction of thirty-year-old Willa Jackson to hail from a fine old Southern family of means that met with financial ruin generations ago. The Blue Ridge Madam—built by Willa’s great-great-grandfather during Walls of Water’s heyday, and once the town’s grandest home—has stood for years as a lonely monument to misfortune and scandal. And Willa herself has long strived to build a life beyond the brooding Jackson family shadow. No easy task in a town shaped by years of tradition and the well-marked boundaries of the haves and have-nots.

But Willa has lately learned that an old classmate—socialite do-gooder Paxton Osgood—of the very prominent Osgood family, has restored the Blue Ridge Madam to her former glory, with plans to open a top-flight inn. Maybe, at last, the troubled past can be laid to rest while something new and wonderful rises from its ashes. But what rises instead is a skeleton, found buried beneath the property’s lone peach tree, and certain to drag up dire consequences along with it.

For the bones—those of charismatic traveling salesman Tucker Devlin, who worked his dark charms on Walls of Water seventy-five years ago—are not all that lay hidden out of sight and mind. Long-kept secrets surrounding the troubling remains have also come to light, seemingly heralded by a spate of sudden strange occurrences throughout the town.

Now, thrust together in an unlikely friendship, united by a full-blooded mystery, Willa and Paxton must confront the dangerous passions and tragic betrayals that once bound their families—and uncover truths of the long-dead that have transcended time and defied the grave to touch the hearts and souls of the living.

Resonant with insight into the deep and lasting power of friendship, love, and tradition, The Peach Keeper is a portrait of the unshakable bonds that—in good times and bad, from one generation to the next—endure forever.

Like we did for The Girl Who Chased the Moon, Kelly from The Written World and I are reviewing The Peach Keeper together. Kelly's thoughts are in black and mine in green. Enjoy!

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This is Sarah Addison Allen’s fourth novel, and I believe you have read all four of them like me. What did you think of this book in comparison? Do you think she has maintained the same aspects of her book that her fans have come to love, or did you find this one different from her previous works?

I have read all four of them. One of the hardest things about reading Sarah Addison Allen is having to wait for each new book!

I liked this book, but I don’t think I liked it as much as I liked the earlier books. The main reason for this was that I felt that it was missing the magical element for a significant part of the book. It appeared eventually, but there was no cantankerous apple tree, or food that influenced the emotions or books that magically appeared.

Having said that, she still has a lightness of touch when it comes to writing friendships, relationships and settings so while it was different, it was also a book that her established fans will like.

How did you find this book compared to her earlier ones?

Well, I was a bit unimpressed in the beginning. I read Allen for the magical realism and I was starting to wonder if there was ever going to be any. Once things started going, though, I was a bit more impressed. I think I enjoyed the earlier books better, but this one was still really good. It just didn’t take off for me like her other books. The magic realism is very understated, which I suppose it is in her other books too, but it is still there more than it was with this one.

What was your favourite part of the book?

****SPOILER WARNING ****

My favourite was definitely the relationship between Paxton and Sebastian. I really felt the confusion as Paxton realised how strong her feelings were and worried about his non reciprocation, and loved the resolution.

***END SPOILER ***

Other than that, the other highlight for me was seeing Claire from Garden Spells again. Just reading that small section had me wanting to reread that book!

What was your favourite part?

Okay, so I missed the Garden Spells reference. I saw a couple people mention it and in retrospect it was obvious, but I think I had other things on my mind when I read this book. Like, maybe actually reading something... I want to reread all of her books, but I read the first two from the library and am keeping my eyes peeled to find them at the second hand store. I own her two newer ones, so I would like to complete the set.

My favourite part of the book was anything to do with the house. Since I was really little, I have always been infatuated with older homes, so I loved reading about the restoration of this one. I could picture it in my mind and now I want to see it for real. This adds into learning the history of the home as we learn the history of the family. That’s something that has always interested me. I also really liked the fact that *blanking on name* thought that you could tell a lot about a person by the coffee that they drank. I am not sure why, but it really interested me. I am not sure if it is a proven science or anything, but Allen made it seem believable. (What was her name? I can’t find my copy of the book. Might have accidentally brought it back to ‘storage’. I know it will come to me, but I am still waking up.)

The name was Rachel. I liked that part too, and it actually inspired a Weekend Cooking post by me a couple of weeks ago.

Head over to Kelly's blog to read the second half of the review.


This book was read for the Once Upon a Time V challenge.

Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan

Yellowcake brings together ten fiercely original and quietly heartbreaking short stories from the extraordinarily talented author of Black Juice, Red Spikes and Tender Morsels.

Normally on a Saturday I do a Weekend Cooking post, and given that the title of this book has cake in it, I really thought about including this post as Weekend Cooking, but really there is not a lot to do with food in this book, and the term yellowcake is often associated with uranium, so the link would be tenuous at the least! Instead, you get a straight review.

Margo Lanagan is an author I had heard a bit about before, and had recommended to me a few times by various people. When I saw that she had a new short story collection coming out, and it coincided with Aussie Author Month in April, I thought this would be the perfect opportunity for me to try a new to me author. I am now a fan, and I am trying to track down as much of her work as I can find.
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This is a collection of stories that have been published in various places over a number of years, with only one being previously unpublished.

Bearing in mind that at this stage I have only read the ten stories in this collection, Margo Lanagan seems to see the world a little differently than the rest of us and has an extremely fertile imagination. All of the stories in this collection are standalone, some of them show a world that is recognisable as being allied to our everyday life, but others are completely different. Some of the stories are poignant, others are confronting, and some are dark, but all of them are supremely crafted.

This wasn't a short story collection to read one after the other. For the most part I read a story and then took time to think about it before moving onto the next, so as a result it took me a while to read the whole collection. Whilst I love to read a book that I just can't put down, there is also something ultimately satisfying about taking your time and savouring each individual story. Yellowcake is definitely a collection to be savoured.

Here are my thoughts about each of the stories in the collection:

The Point of Roses - young kids meet some Travellers and play a game where the travellers have to guess what three items that Billy has bought with them. What they don't realise is that the residue from the three items settles over the Billy's family as well, forcing his grandfather Corin to reevaluate his life including his feelings for his wife and the way he has interacted with his children. One of the three items was a rose as referred to in the title of the story, and one of the items was a spinning ashtray. My dad had one of the spinning ashtrays when I was little, and my sister and I used to love spinning the ashes away. Makes me shudder a little to think about that now! Loved this story.

The Golden Shroud  - What happens when Rapunzel's hair takes on a life of it's own. So much fun!

A Fine Magic - a young man is rebuffed by two sisters and takes his revenge in a most unlikely fashion.The story features a carousel, and the rhythm of the storytelling definitely had me seeing and feeling the music and the motion of a carousel in motion.

An Honest Day's Work - Interesting story about a monster that is bought in from the sea and then large groups of men need to get to work on dismembering.  I didn't dislike it, but felt more disturbed by this one.  It was interesting to read that this story was inspired by the ship breaking that is done in India. Old ships that have reached the end of their life are taken to this coast and are slowly dismantled, removing all the items that can be reused. I had seen this mentioned before in Jojo Moyes book Ship of Brides, when one of the characters is travelling along the coast and sees the ship that she travelled to the UK on as a war bride.

Into the Clouds on High - only new story in the collection, and had an ethereal quality to it. Marcus's mother has been preparing him for this day, the day when she can literally no longer keep her feet on the ground.

Night of the Firstlings - retelling of the first Passover and the Exodus. I liked this one a lot, especially the final scene. I must confess that I had never thought about the fact that the floor of the Red Sea would have been anything other than smooth walking before.

Ferryman  - this was the first story I read out the collection - instantly made me think of the song Don't Pay the Ferryman. Sharon is going to follow in her father's career footsteps, but what happens when he is the ferryman who rows the dead across the river Styx.

Heads - didn't like this one as much as some of the other stories mainly because it was quite confronting. It is however a powerful piece on the effect of war, particularly on the young.

Living Curiosities - A man visits the circus to see all the freaks, and yet he ends up being the one who is observed. There are also ghosts, and a somewhat maniacal circus owner.

There were several quotes that I thought about posting from the collection, but I just loved this one, which also features the carousel.

And there in the golden glow I sat high-headed above the hats and feathers and turbans of the ghoulish crowd turned away from me. I wished the light were as warm as it looked; I wished the music were filling my ears. I dreamed - hard, as if the vehemence of my dreaming would make it happen - that my shiny black horse would surge forward beneath me, and that I would be spun away from this place and this night, lifted and lowered instead past Lake Geneva, past Constantinople, past Windermere and Tokyo Palace and Gay Paree, past Geneva again, and the Lake, again and again around the whole picturesque gilt-framed world, for as long as ever I needed.

Eyelids of the Dawn - a behemoth, that happens to be a suburban shopping centre complex, awakens and feels the need to wash itself clean of the human fleas by taking a dip in the ocean. This act is witnessed by two people - a young woman trying to settle her baby during the night and a milkman doing his early morning rounds.

Expect to hear more about Margo Lanagan on my blog in the future!

This book counts for both the Aussie Author Challenge, and Once Upon a Time V (short story peril)

The Carmine Island stories from Glitter Rose by Marianne de Pierres

The Glitter Rose quartet is set against the stunning background of Carmine Island where a decade ago spores from deep in the ocean blew in by a freak of nature and settled there. Their strange phosphorescence brings a glitter rose dusk at certain tides.

Colourless at first, the sandy beaches rapidly become carpets of tiny, shining, rose-coloured grains as the sky darkens after sunset. These spores bring fierce allergies to the island locals. And maybe other, more sinister effects too. Follow Tinashi’s journey as she moves to the island, settles into island life and begins to discover just what is really happening on Carmine Island.

If you are coming to these elegant, truthful and sensuous stories for the first time I envy you. They’ll haunt your dreams, yes, but what fabulous dreams.– Trent Jamieson

My original plan when I decided to focus on short stories was to post about individual stories (much like I did for Relentless Adaptations) but that plan lasted only until I picked up Glitter Rose by Marianne de Pierres. This collection features five short stories, but four of those have the same characters, the same setting, and so are indelibly linked. It seems silly to review them separately, so instead in this post I will concentrate on the four linked stories and then I will post about the stand alone fifth story later.

In one way having the four stories connected makes this a really good collection for those of us who don't really normally read short stories, because the linked narrative and the chronological way they are put together in this book means that it is almost like reading different chapters in a novel.

In the first story, Glimmer-by-Dark, our main character Tanisha is returning to Carmine Island after years of being away. It is clear that Tanisha is escaping to Carmine right from the opening line:

I drifted back to Carmine Island on a whim - a fragment of memory - like a warm current. A means to float, no matter how much I wanted to drown.

In itself this decision is interesting given that Carmine Island has been afflicted by spores that have destroyed the islands tourism industry.

The spores had settled a decade ago, a freak of nature blown in from deeper waters, settling like a veil over Carmine, bringing with them fierce irritations and allergies. The residents who couldn't afford the expensive immunosuppressants, suffered the exotic, often terminal, afflictions of the spores. Holiday makers deserted - traded for those resolute in their seclusion. Tourism confined itself to the indolent young rich, clutching their antidote, Tyline, searching for the hint of danger to shift their inertia.

Tanisha is an outsider, but is soon taken in by a group of the locals who share with her the dangers of living in this place. Some of the dangers are obvious, but others are hidden in the strange and ethereal beauty that the spores have bought to the island:

With the last of the sunset, The Bara dropped to a breath, and strange phosphorescence claimed the sand, colourless at first and rapidly changing to a carpet of tiny, shining, rose-coloured grains. Something about them compelled me to hasten to the beach and run them through my fingers and toes.

But no one knows how the spores will affect them, and everyone is effected differently, and the danger is not only from the spores.

In Moonflowers at the Ritz, the focus shifts to some of the previously mentioned "indolent young rich" - "wealthy, youthful faces of the Ritz blended into a morass of prematurely softening features and casual sneers peculiar to those who never need concern themselves with money." The spores affect even those few tourists who come to the island, and the locals who are now Tinashi's companions, including the beautiful Lauren and the intense Katrin, do not remain unaffected by the chain of events that occur.

The third story is, I think, my favourite. In The Flag Game, we finally find out more about Tanisha, about what it is that has driven her to Carmine Island in the first place. When the butterflies come to Carmine it signifies a fertile year, and the flag game is played.

"The sandcastles are spore work, Tinashi.. No-one quite knows how they remain standing against the tides."

I thought of the immense, rose-tainted citadels that stoically endured wind and water. How I yearned to climb their ramparts at low tide and learn their secrets. Like everything on Carmine, the most dangerous things were the most enticing.

"When the butterflies swirl, the locals play a game among the castles. It must be completed before high tide, for no swimmer ca survive against the water's pull."

And what does the winner receive?" I asked, intrigued despite myself.

Katrin regarded me from underneath her lashes. I saw a flash of cruelty. "To outsiders the prize is seen to be a parcel of land but the truth is that the spores decide."

In the fourth and final story, Mama Ailon, both Tanisha and the reader get to know some of the indigenous population of Carmine. When a series of tragedies occur, Tanisha knows that she has something to do with it, but she doesn't know how, or why. Whilst the other three stories have been published elsewhere before being put into this collection, this one is a new story, and certainly feels like it brings the four stories to a suitable close.

The prose throughout the four short stories is powerfully beautiful and evocative, with what description there is of the island and the spores being sufficient to bring the world to life without spending pages and pages in world building - something that there really wouldn't be much space for in the short story format. I can see myself revisiting these stories time and time again.

I have mentioned a number of times before that I am a read in order kind of girl. It would have to be exceptional circumstances for me to know that the book I was reading was not the next book chronologically in a series. The reason why I mention this is that before being bought together in one collection in chronological order, these four stories were published individually in different magazines which led me to wonder how they would stand up if you read the third story first for example. I can't unread the stories in order to try and read out of order. From what I can imagine they would, as evidenced by the fact that at least one of the stories, The Flag Game, was longlisted for a BSFA (British Science Fiction Award) when it was originally published.

I do have to say something about the quality of this book. It is a gorgeous pink coloured small sized hardcover, with illustrations included. It is not a cheap book by any stretch of the imagination, but it does feel and look gorgeous and includes several illustrations (which can also be seen at Marianne de Pierres website) and so for me was worth the money. I was also very excited when I opened the book and saw that I had managed to buy a signed copy. It was only later that I found out that it is a limited edition and that every copy is signed!

My plan is to post about the final story in the collection (a non Carmine Island story) in the next week or so.

This post was produced as part of Aussie Author Month, counts for the Aussie Author Challenge, and also counts for the Short Story Quest in the Once Upon a Time challenge.

Relentless Adaptations by Tansy Roberts Rayner (short story review)

When I was thinking about what I could do for Aussie Author month there were a couple of options. I could write at least some of the reviews that I have in draft for books by Aussie authors (which may still happen), or I could try something new to me - short stories. That option also seems like a really good way to expose myself to lots and lots of new to me Australian authors.

Luckily I had recently bought Sprawl, an anthology that fit the criteria perfectly that was published late last year by Twelfth Planet Press, a small publishing house based in Perth!

I am not sure why I don't read more short stories. I will read novellas, especially if they are part of a series, but the short story form seems to have passed me by. So far though, I have been pleasantly surprised at how much I have enjoyed the ones that I have read.

The first story I read from Sprawl was Relentless Adaptations by Tansy Roberts Rayner.

I think the thing that surprised me most about this story was that despite the fact that the story was only 12 pages or so, there was still time for a gradual unveiling of the world. This story is set in suburban Hobart, in what initially feels like the not too distant future. We start with a group of friends who meet regular for coffee in a bookstore with their young children in tow. They are asked "coffee or books" as they enter, but this is a world where that mean print on demand, and if you don't like something, even in the classics, then you can order your changes before it is printed. You may for example want to add a vampire or have a same sex relationship. Whilst there are differences between the world of Relentless Adaptations and our current world, and these differences are developed the further the story goes along, I also loved how recognisable things from our world today were incorporated and developed in the story, like the evolution of Twitter!

As someone who doesn't really like the classics mashups that have been so prevalent over the last couple of years, I loved where this story went, and the humour that was prevalent also worked for me! I actually read this story on the train on the way home from work one night, and I smiled the whole way through, to the point that I probably worried a few of my fellow travellers, and I was still smiling as I walked to my car and drove home.

I teased from this story a couple of weeks ago, and I participated in the Mighty Slapdash Blog Tour last week for her new release The Shattered City, book 2 of the Creature Court trilogy, and even in that short post I could hear an authors voice that definitely made me want to read more! 

This story has been nominated for an Aurealis Award in the Science Fiction Short Story category and even with my limited exposure to short stories, I can definitely see why. Sprawl was also nominated in the Best Anthology category and there was at least one other short story nominated in the same awards which gives me something to look forward to as I read more! The Aurealis Awards were set up in 1995 "to recognise the achievements of Australian science fiction, fantasy and horror writers".

Sprawl is available from Smashwords, and until April 15 is available for the reduce price of $4.99 (using the redemption code LY79G ).

This short story counts towards my Short Story Quest for the Once Upon a Time V challenge.

Once Upon a Time V

I am singing "it's the most wonderful time of the year", or maybe one of a couple most wonderful times, and no, I am not talking about Christmas!

It's time for Once Upon a Time V, hosted by Carl from Stainless Steel Droppings!

This year I am planning to participate in two different aspects of the experience.

Read at least 5 books that fit somewhere within the Once Upon a Time criteria. They might all be fantasy, or folklore, or fairy tales, or mythology…or your five books might be a combination from the four genres.

And this time, for the first time, I am also going to do:

This quest involves the reading of one or more short stories that fit within at least one of the four genres during the course of the any weekend, or weekends, during the challenge.

So here's the list of books that I will probably choose from:

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss
The Vampire Dimitri by Colleen Gleason
A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine

Bumped by Megan McCafferty
The Vampire Narcise by Colleen Gleason
Tooth and Claw by Jo Walton
Monsters and Men by Patrick Ness
A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett
Battle Royale by
The Reckoning by Kelley Armstrong
Gale Force by Rachel Caine
Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon
Dead in the Family by Charlaine Harris
A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness
Yellowcake by Margo Lanagan (short stories)
Sprawl anthology (short stories)