Fatal Revenant by Stephen Donaldson
This book, like all the others in this and the earlier Chronicles, was a difficult and frustrating read. There is now so much history in this world created by the author in seven previous books over thirty years, that there is a need for a lot of explanation that sometimes hinders the story. Also the author’s main characters are so flawed that you just want to throttle them, to shake some sense into them. Only one more book to go in this final trilogy.
‘Linden Avery watches from a balcony while Thomas Covenant and her adopted son, Jeremiah, ride desperately towards Revelstone. But their reunion has vast consequences which she could not have foreseen. Soon she is betrayed by people whom she most needs to trust. Transported deep into the Land’s past, she is forced to confront mysterious strangers, legendary heroes and ancient evils, and to stand alone against the malevolence of the Despiser’s minions.
When she finds herself abandoned in Garroting Deep, the most bloodthirsty of the Land’s long-dead forests, she reaches a fearsome decision; if she is to end the Despiser’s evil and her own son’s suffering, she must reshape reality. For this, she needs to find Loric’s krill, a weapon lost in the Hills of Andelain millennia ago. And she needs the aid of friends and allies who would turn against her if she revealed her intent.’
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Catch the Kiwi...
We managed to catch up with our illusive and shy Kiwi friends on a couple of occasions recently. The first we collared Marc and Heather in London and after a quick circuit of the British Museum we had a meal at a local restaurant with them and Jamie. At that time Heather was just about to present her thesis and we now know she passed without comment and is now a doctor. Now she has the task of finding a ‘real’ job.
A few weeks later we met Heather again, this time when Mary was briefly in London on her way to Paris with work. We had a meal, reminisced, gossiped and looked and photos that Mary had brought with her.
A few weeks later we met Heather again, this time when Mary was briefly in London on her way to Paris with work. We had a meal, reminisced, gossiped and looked and photos that Mary had brought with her.
A Night on the Town...
Sue took me out for a meal for my birthday at a local restaurant, Two to Four, that we had passed many times. The name reflects its address on West Street and didn’t reveal anything about its character, which was cosy and classy at the same time. The older building was lovely restored and decorated to a high finish, the staff attentive but not intrusive. The food was superb, well balanced flavours, beautiful produce, and good portions that were not too large as to discourage additional courses. This is definitely a good place to come for a special treat.
Before we went to the restaurant we met at the Star, probably our favourite pub in Dorking. It is not the cheapest place to drink in but the atmosphere is special and welcoming to all.
Before we went to the restaurant we met at the Star, probably our favourite pub in Dorking. It is not the cheapest place to drink in but the atmosphere is special and welcoming to all.
Under the Surface...
Dorking Heritage Trail
We were quite aware of parts of the local history and we had recently been to a talk about the Dorking Caves. But while we were at the theatre (which doubles as the tourist information centre) we noticed that they were being opened up (once a month – closed for winter) and so we booked a tour that included a guided walk around the town first. We found out some additional information we had not known before and explored some parts of the town we had not seen. The underground tour was also a revelation as these caves exist in the heart of the town hidden away from the bustle behind an unimpressive door in a wall.
We were quite aware of parts of the local history and we had recently been to a talk about the Dorking Caves. But while we were at the theatre (which doubles as the tourist information centre) we noticed that they were being opened up (once a month – closed for winter) and so we booked a tour that included a guided walk around the town first. We found out some additional information we had not known before and explored some parts of the town we had not seen. The underground tour was also a revelation as these caves exist in the heart of the town hidden away from the bustle behind an unimpressive door in a wall.
All Song and Dance...
42nd Street
Dorking Dramatic & Operatic Society put on a large scale musical every year at the Dorking Halls. Last years performance was South Pacific, which was very good, this year it was 42nd Street – not a show we were familiar with so we did not fully appreciate the performance. Next year it is one of my personal favourite musicals – Return to the Forbidden Planet. The DDOS group do other performances throughout the year at a smaller venue behind the halls called the Green Room, which was a temporary structure for Canadian Troops during WWII.
La Cage aux Folles
Sue went on a girl’s night out to see this show and thoroughly enjoyed herself, saying that the guys did a great job including Graham Norton. I have seen the American version on film some time ago and enjoyed that.
‘The idyllic existence of Georges and the dazzling drag artiste Albin, star of the La Cage aux Folles club, is threatened when Georges’ son announces his engagement to the daughter of a right-wing politician, who wants to close down the local colourful nightlife! With a visit from the prospective in-laws imminent, they all decide to take drastic action to hide their lifestyle... but can they keep it up?’
Dorking Dramatic & Operatic Society put on a large scale musical every year at the Dorking Halls. Last years performance was South Pacific, which was very good, this year it was 42nd Street – not a show we were familiar with so we did not fully appreciate the performance. Next year it is one of my personal favourite musicals – Return to the Forbidden Planet. The DDOS group do other performances throughout the year at a smaller venue behind the halls called the Green Room, which was a temporary structure for Canadian Troops during WWII.
La Cage aux Folles
Sue went on a girl’s night out to see this show and thoroughly enjoyed herself, saying that the guys did a great job including Graham Norton. I have seen the American version on film some time ago and enjoyed that.
‘The idyllic existence of Georges and the dazzling drag artiste Albin, star of the La Cage aux Folles club, is threatened when Georges’ son announces his engagement to the daughter of a right-wing politician, who wants to close down the local colourful nightlife! With a visit from the prospective in-laws imminent, they all decide to take drastic action to hide their lifestyle... but can they keep it up?’
Old Folk...
At the Dorking Folk Club
We continue to support our local Folk Club and have seen many an accomplished artist there that we have never heard of before. We are becoming educated to what is almost an underground scene that has existing for some time now after its popularity in the sixties and seventies. Many of these artists have been plying their trade since that time and perfecting their own particular sound, the skill of which is making it all look so simple.
Mick Ryan and Paul Downes
also at
http://www.pauldownes.com/index.html
http://www.mickandpete.co.uk/
'An inspired pairing of two highly respected artists in their own right:
Mick Ryan is well known on the folk scene as a fine singer of traditional and original songs, writing for radio and a series of highly successful folk musicals such as 'A Tollpuddle Man',
'The Voyage' and 'The Navvy's Wife.'
Paul Downes has a rich musical background working with artists such as Phil Beer, Show of Hands and Pete Seeger. A great acoustic guitarist with a dazzling array of styles performed with effortless brilliance and also a wonderful singer of songs.
This talented duo combine a heartfelt and masterly performance of self penned and beautifully arranged material – a rare and memorable treat'
John James
‘One of the most spectacular and entertaining guitarists combined with a warm humour –
`Old Tyme’ gospel, Western swing or classical rags from a true exponent of the art’
We continue to support our local Folk Club and have seen many an accomplished artist there that we have never heard of before. We are becoming educated to what is almost an underground scene that has existing for some time now after its popularity in the sixties and seventies. Many of these artists have been plying their trade since that time and perfecting their own particular sound, the skill of which is making it all look so simple.
Mick Ryan and Paul Downes
also at
http://www.pauldownes.com/index.html
http://www.mickandpete.co.uk/
'An inspired pairing of two highly respected artists in their own right:
Mick Ryan is well known on the folk scene as a fine singer of traditional and original songs, writing for radio and a series of highly successful folk musicals such as 'A Tollpuddle Man',
'The Voyage' and 'The Navvy's Wife.'
Paul Downes has a rich musical background working with artists such as Phil Beer, Show of Hands and Pete Seeger. A great acoustic guitarist with a dazzling array of styles performed with effortless brilliance and also a wonderful singer of songs.
This talented duo combine a heartfelt and masterly performance of self penned and beautifully arranged material – a rare and memorable treat'
John James
‘One of the most spectacular and entertaining guitarists combined with a warm humour –
`Old Tyme’ gospel, Western swing or classical rags from a true exponent of the art’
More of wot I have seen…
Recently we went to see Ray LaMontagne at the Barbican.
This guy is a gravel-throated hero of the Americana/Blues sound. We have seen him before in a much smaller venue with just a bass player. This time his fame has grown and he has come with a full band that allows him to have a bigger sound – occasionally it might be too big as it threatens to drown out his particular vocal sound. A shy and otherwise uncommunicative artist he seems to let his music do the speaking for him, and the songs are full of emotion and passion.
I picked up his latest offer at the gig and found it to be equal to his previous albums with evidence of his experimenting with new ideas and sounds.
Gossip in the Grain by Ray LaMontagne – album review
The support artist for Ray was a young American Korean girl called Priscilla Ahn, who played solo to the packed auditorium and charmed everyone there with her personality and sensitive, sweet songs. I also bought her album and as I do enjoy a good female voice I was entranced with her offering, playing it through twice in a row.
A Good Day by Priscilla Ahn
This guy is a gravel-throated hero of the Americana/Blues sound. We have seen him before in a much smaller venue with just a bass player. This time his fame has grown and he has come with a full band that allows him to have a bigger sound – occasionally it might be too big as it threatens to drown out his particular vocal sound. A shy and otherwise uncommunicative artist he seems to let his music do the speaking for him, and the songs are full of emotion and passion.
I picked up his latest offer at the gig and found it to be equal to his previous albums with evidence of his experimenting with new ideas and sounds.
Gossip in the Grain by Ray LaMontagne – album review
The support artist for Ray was a young American Korean girl called Priscilla Ahn, who played solo to the packed auditorium and charmed everyone there with her personality and sensitive, sweet songs. I also bought her album and as I do enjoy a good female voice I was entranced with her offering, playing it through twice in a row.
A Good Day by Priscilla Ahn
More of wot I have heard…
I received several new CDs for my birthday that I had listed in the Amazon Wish List tool and have not been disappointed by any of them.
Some new Indie beats from bands that are relatively new to me. All of them are great pop sounds with cleaver lyrics and gentle sounds, but Fleet Foxes certainly do have something extra with virtually all tracks being top notch.
Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes
Scouting For Girls by Scouting For Girls
Peaceful The World Lays Me Down by Noah And The Whale
Compilation albums can give the listener a variety of different sounds that they may not come across otherwise, and I have found that the Late Night Tales series is very exciting with the compiling artists mixing favourites from days gone by with obscurities never heard of before. It often shows the influences and passions of those doing the selecting which is revealing. Nu Cool is a throwback to a time when I was first interested in music and the disco inspired sounds are an indulgence for me. Several of Mark Ronson’s tracks have made it to the mainstream and all of them are clever reinterpretations of songs you know done so well they often eclipse the original.
Late Night Tales compiled by Nouvelle Vague
and
Late Night Tales compiled by Fatboy Slim
Nu Cool - Lounge Grooves & Sassy Beats From Hed Kandi by Various Artists
Version by Mark Ronson
These two albums are both something away from the mainstream which is in it self something to celebrate. Bellowhead are the dance act of the folk scene with pounding rhythms and strong driving beats giving the genre a welcome boost with its energetic and well crafted music. Lambchop are a firm favourite of mine and have taken Country and Americana folk to new levels, sometimes it can be variable but this album is them at there best – truly sublime.
Burlesque by Bellowhead
Ohio by Lambchop
Some new Indie beats from bands that are relatively new to me. All of them are great pop sounds with cleaver lyrics and gentle sounds, but Fleet Foxes certainly do have something extra with virtually all tracks being top notch.
Fleet Foxes by Fleet Foxes
Scouting For Girls by Scouting For Girls
Peaceful The World Lays Me Down by Noah And The Whale
Compilation albums can give the listener a variety of different sounds that they may not come across otherwise, and I have found that the Late Night Tales series is very exciting with the compiling artists mixing favourites from days gone by with obscurities never heard of before. It often shows the influences and passions of those doing the selecting which is revealing. Nu Cool is a throwback to a time when I was first interested in music and the disco inspired sounds are an indulgence for me. Several of Mark Ronson’s tracks have made it to the mainstream and all of them are clever reinterpretations of songs you know done so well they often eclipse the original.
Late Night Tales compiled by Nouvelle Vague
and
Late Night Tales compiled by Fatboy Slim
Nu Cool - Lounge Grooves & Sassy Beats From Hed Kandi by Various Artists
Version by Mark Ronson
These two albums are both something away from the mainstream which is in it self something to celebrate. Bellowhead are the dance act of the folk scene with pounding rhythms and strong driving beats giving the genre a welcome boost with its energetic and well crafted music. Lambchop are a firm favourite of mine and have taken Country and Americana folk to new levels, sometimes it can be variable but this album is them at there best – truly sublime.
Burlesque by Bellowhead
Ohio by Lambchop
More of wot I have read…
No Time for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay
This book had an intriguing premise that was well played out through the story and even managed to keep a few secrets until the end. It had a good degree of suspense and the characters and storyline were well written.
‘One night, when Cynthia Archer was 14 years old, her family disappeared. Now, 25 years later, she’s about to learn what happened to her mother, father brother, and she might be better off never finding out.’
Remembrance Day by Henry Porter
This book is a little ‘boys-own’ in style and suffers from dated technology (it is interesting how much things have changed in such a short time that we take for granted now). It also plays heavily on stereotypes and preconceptions such that some elements of the story become predictable.
‘Constantine Lindow is waiting for his brother Eamonn outside a central London tube station when a bus turns into the street and explodes. The next day Con is arrested as the prime suspect for the bombing.
Con is determined to prove his innocence, but the only way he can do that is to find the real bomber. As he digs deeper, he finds himself confronted by his own brother's secret life - and the cold-blooded killers from his past.The trail leads Lindow halfway across the world and back to London, where he tracks down a killer with a genius for encryption codes. Only Lindow can crack the code. Only Lindow can stop that telephone ringing... ‘
Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This a story based on real events of which I knew nothing about and for that reason alone it would have been an interesting read. But the author also manages to bring a real sense of humanities worst and best extremes that can be exposed in times of trouble. Well worth a read to educate your self about a little known struggle.
‘A masterly, haunting new novel from a writer heralded by The Washington Post Book World as "the 21st-century daughter of Chinua Achebe," Half of a Yellow Sun recreates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra's impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria, and the chilling violence that followed.
With astonishing empathy and the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters swept up in the turbulence of the decade. Thirteen-year-old Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professor's beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charisma of her new lover. And Richard is a shy young Englishman in thrall to Olanna's twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and they must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another
.
Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race—and the ways in which love can complicate them all.’
This book had an intriguing premise that was well played out through the story and even managed to keep a few secrets until the end. It had a good degree of suspense and the characters and storyline were well written.
‘One night, when Cynthia Archer was 14 years old, her family disappeared. Now, 25 years later, she’s about to learn what happened to her mother, father brother, and she might be better off never finding out.’
Remembrance Day by Henry Porter
This book is a little ‘boys-own’ in style and suffers from dated technology (it is interesting how much things have changed in such a short time that we take for granted now). It also plays heavily on stereotypes and preconceptions such that some elements of the story become predictable.
‘Constantine Lindow is waiting for his brother Eamonn outside a central London tube station when a bus turns into the street and explodes. The next day Con is arrested as the prime suspect for the bombing.
Con is determined to prove his innocence, but the only way he can do that is to find the real bomber. As he digs deeper, he finds himself confronted by his own brother's secret life - and the cold-blooded killers from his past.The trail leads Lindow halfway across the world and back to London, where he tracks down a killer with a genius for encryption codes. Only Lindow can crack the code. Only Lindow can stop that telephone ringing... ‘
Half a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
This a story based on real events of which I knew nothing about and for that reason alone it would have been an interesting read. But the author also manages to bring a real sense of humanities worst and best extremes that can be exposed in times of trouble. Well worth a read to educate your self about a little known struggle.
‘A masterly, haunting new novel from a writer heralded by The Washington Post Book World as "the 21st-century daughter of Chinua Achebe," Half of a Yellow Sun recreates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra's impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria, and the chilling violence that followed.
With astonishing empathy and the effortless grace of a natural storyteller, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie weaves together the lives of three characters swept up in the turbulence of the decade. Thirteen-year-old Ugwu is employed as a houseboy for a university professor full of revolutionary zeal. Olanna is the professor's beautiful mistress, who has abandoned her life of privilege in Lagos for a dusty university town and the charisma of her new lover. And Richard is a shy young Englishman in thrall to Olanna's twin sister, an enigmatic figure who refuses to belong to anyone. As Nigerian troops advance and they must run for their lives, their ideals are severely tested, as are their loyalties to one another
.
Epic, ambitious, and triumphantly realized, Half of a Yellow Sun is a remarkable novel about moral responsibility, about the end of colonialism, about ethnic allegiances, about class and race—and the ways in which love can complicate them all.’
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