3.5 stars Devon Ravenel, along with his younger brother West, are the last of a long line of rakish Ravenels. When their cousin, who neither of the brothers could stand dies, Devon unexpectedly inherits an earldom and the accompanying town house, estate and lands. The brothers show up to survey the inheritance when they discover that their cousin had only been married for three days when he managed to get himself thrown off a high-spirited horse in a fit of the legendary Ravenel temper. He […]
A delightful fantasy debut
4.5 stars Bought and liberated as a child, and later adopted by the esteemed Sorcerer Royal, Sir Stephen Whyte, Zacharias Whyt now has the honour of being the first dark-skinned Sorcerer Royal of England. In a time when English magic is waning due to some mysterious restrictions from the Faerie courts and the country is still facing threats from Napoleon on the Continent, Zacharias is also facing personal challenges, with a seeming majority of the members of the Royal Society of Unnatural Philosophers (gentleman magicians) […]
What Do You Want From Me?
Simon Snow is the chosen one, the most powerful mage to have ever been born, destined to combat the greatest threat magic has ever known. His roomate and nemesis at Watford, the school of magic, is Tyrannus Basilton “Baz” Pitch. They have spent the entirety of their years at Watford scheming against each other. Everything has built into this final year at school, when their inevitable and final confrontation will come to pass. One will win, one will die. (This review contains mild spoilers – […]
A Recommendation from Gloria Steinem
Woman on the Edge of Time is a sci-fi or “speculative fiction” classic originally published in 1976. Author Marge Piercy has had critical success as a novelist and poet over a span of several decades, and I remember reading some of her poetry in college but it was a recent NY Times interview with Gloria Steinem that brought Piercy and this particular novel back onto my radar. Woman on the Edge of Time is a provocative tale of time travel that addresses poverty, race, sex, politics, […]
Difficult or challenging things, yes. I wouldn’t really say impossible.
Dan Cereill (pronounced “surreal”, NOT “cereal”) is not having an easy time of it. He and his mother are left shocked, abandoned and nearly penniless after Dan’s father simultaneously announces that his business has gone bankrupt and that he’s gay. Dan’s great-aunt Adelaide recently passed away, the terms of her will stating that Dan and his mother could live in her house (although the house and it’s contents were left to the National Trust). The house is ancient, drafty, cold as hell and reeks overwhelmingly […]
If she wasn’t such a prolific writer, this book would suggest that Nora Roberts had a second career as an interior decorator
3.5 stars for the story, 0.5 stars for the excellent narration Shelby Foxworth is only 24 when her husband dies in a boating accident, leaving her a widow with a three-year-old daughter. Shortly after her husband’s death, she discovers that the man who swept her off her feet and who she believed was rich and successful, was in fact a swindler and a con man, leaving her with mountains of debt. Going through his papers, she finds evidence not only that he cheated on her, […]