Writer of fiction, Book blogger, Autistic, Probably a Dragon, Owned by Hell Hounds
As I may have mentioned in a previous post, I’m working on a collection of short stories and have been for most of this year.
The collection came about because I wad on the train home from a concert last year and started writing ‘first line prompts’. I took one of these, two prompts from a Tumblr blog I follow, and a random picture I liked, and decided to see what I could do.
Continue reading “Progress report ‘Variations on a Theme’ short story collection”
I love his translation of Beowulf, such a sad loss.
It is always a sad day when a favorite writer dies. This morning, came the news that Irish poet and Nobel Prize-winner Seamus Heaney died at the age of 74. We have written about Heaney here at BFGB before, about his masterful translation of Beowulf and his delightful collection Human Chain. I do not think I can describe Heaney’s work better than to repeat what I wrote about Human Chain:
[Heaney] writes thoughtful, thought-provoking, poems that display a love of language and life. Since the 1960s, Heaney has used his poems to explore the natural world, farming and farmwork, the violence that shattered his native Ireland, the intersections of the Irish and English languages, and above all his own place in the world.
Knowing that there will not be a new work from such a wonderful writer makes the day seem dreary and sad. But at least there…
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I’ve seen this meme a few times. I still giggle every time.
The latest Anita Blake novel. Review will be online by Sunday probably.
It took me a while to get hold of a copy and to read it, because I’ve been busy.
Rose
Evening all.
I’m exhausted from looking after my niece and nephew all day. I’ve tried to get my reading and a bit of writing done, but haven’t had much luck.
..And I spent it at work.
But not tomorrow.
So tonight I’m getting quite drunk while watching series 1 of ‘Game of Thrones.’ I haven’t seen it yet, or read the books. It’s rather good so far. I really need to get to books. Apparently the series is close to the books with minor sub-plots that aren’t in the books.
Each episode is nearly an hour long and I’m quite tired since I was at work at six this morning and haven’t had a nap today. we will probably carry on with the rest of the series tomorrow. Our library has series two. If I had any cash I’d pop in on Tuesday and borrow the DVD’s for a week.
2012
Austin & Macauley Publishers Ltd.
One night in 1792 the cutter that ‘The Boy’, Jacob Swift, Swifty, King of Smugglers, was on came under attack from a 70-gun warship in The Channel just off Deal, Kent. She sank and every man aboard died. But not before Swifty sent a message in a bottle telling his gang where the greatest treasure he ever got his hands on was hidden.
Two hundred years later, and an unhappy young boy called Stanley is contemplating how best to survive the school bully when he spots something odd on the beach. His discovery leads him to the town’s old maritime museum and the curator, Reg Cooper, who has a story to tell. Thus unfolds the tale of Jacob Swift, poor fisherman’s son who rises to lead the greatest smuggling gang in Kent. It is a story of loyalty to friends, adventures on the high seas, running from the law, and brandy.
The narrative is detailed and colourful, moving along fairly quickly, and the dénouement, the discovery by Stan of a major treasure, and resulting survival of the museum, is fulfilling. The tale of Jacob Swift’s rise and fall is entertaining, if ultimately sad.
The characters of Jacob Swift and his friends are well developed, but the modern day narrator, Reg, and Stan, are flat characters. Their purpose is to tell the story of their antecedents, rather than it being their story. They do not develop at all. There is very little plot; the plot that does exists is merely a vehicle for a more interesting tale. It works, but in a limited sense.
The author is a local historian and writer from Kent; he should know a fair bit about his own county’s history. What I wonder about is his general grasp of eighteenth century history. There are several anachronisms in his text; I don’t think, though I’m not certain, that balaclavas were in general circulation in the 1780’s or that English smugglers would have used litres to measure how much brandy they were importing. Please, correct me if I’m wrong. I mention these because I’d be trotting along happily reading this novel and then I’d be jarred out of the narrative. Also, there were errors of spelling and grammar, ‘along’ instead of ‘a long’ for instance, small things that an editor should have picked up on and corrected. These faults irritated me slightly but didn’t stop me enjoying the essential story.
Not yet published – Publication date 3rd September 2013
Angry Robot Ltd
Recently I joined www.netgalley.com, as I mentioned in a previous post, and this is one of the first books I have had the pleasure of reading and reviewing. It, like most of the books on Net Galley, is an ARC, or advance reader copy. Therefore I shall restrict this review to the plot and characters, and not discuss any perceived faults in the text, just as the author has asked. I’m nice like that.
‘The Woken Gods’ is set in Washington D.C. in the near future where all the gods have been woken from an eons long sleep. The Society of the Sun, which effectively rules the world now, as they were the ones who subdued the gods, keeps everything under control, with the help of magical relics.
