Death By Disputation - Anna Castle

   2014; 360 pages.  Book 2 (out of 8) in the “A Francis Bacon Mystery” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Historical Fiction; England; Historical Mystery.  Overall Rating : 8½*/10.

 

    Thomas Clarady is going to college!  He’s enrolled at that prestigious institution, Cambridge University!

 

    Well, actually, Thomas is attending Corpus Christi College, one of a number of colleges that comprise Cambridge.  And studying to get a degree is not the main reason he’s there, he’s been commissioned by Sir Francis Bacon to do some spying.  Corpus Christi College is a hotbed for members of the Puritan sect, and it is rumored that a secret group is being organized there, plotting sedition against the English Crown.  The Crown wants to know whether that's true, and if so, who the leader is.

 

    Thomas’s job is to keep his ears and eyes open and report back to Francis anything he overhears that smacks of potential rebellion.  That might sound exciting, but Thomas hasn’t heard anything even a bit suspicious yet.  Frankly, he’s bored.

 

    But then his tutor, Bartholomew Leeds, is found hanging, dead as a doornail, from the rafters in the room where Tom does his studying.  He isn’t bored anymore.

 

What’s To Like...

    Death By Disputation is the second book in Anna Castle’s Francis Bacon historical mystery series.  I read Book One, Murder By Misrule, a couple years ago and was quite impressed.  Its review is here.  This time around, Bacon’s protégé, Thomas Clarady, is the main protagonist, with Francis cast in a supporting role as Tom’s mentor.

 

    I love the historical fiction aspect of this series.  Death By Disputation is set in 1587 London, and the famous playwright, Christopher Marlowe, also has a major part in the tale.  Interestingly, Wikipedia confirms that both Bacon and Marlowe were at Corpus Christi College around this time.  Tensions between the Anglican church and the upstart Puritan movement are running high, and this religious angle plays a major role in the storyline.

 

    The mystery aspect is also done well.  The “was it suicide or murder” question is solved fairly quickly, but Tom then struggles to make further headway. Marlowe pursues his investigation, and at one point each protagonist suspects the other of murdering Leeds.  When Trumpet, a recurring character from Book One, gets involved, things get really complicated.

 

    I liked the attention Anna Castle pays to historical details.  At one point Thomas is shown an exciting new invention: a wood-encased writing implement that its creator calls a “pencil”.  A number of “archaic” English expressions are used in the dialogue, some examples of which are listed below.  There’s a "Historical Notes” section included in the back of the book which I found fascinating.  Anna Castle also seasons the tale with a bit of romance (after all, Tom is a handsome fellow) and humor (will “Eggy” ever remember Tom’s last name correctly?) which makes the story even more interesting.

 

    Things close with all the plot threads getting successfully tied up.  Leeds’ death is solved, the question of possible sedition within the Puritan movement is resolved, and Tom comes to grips (at least for now) with his feelings of passion.  I wouldn’t call the ending particularly exciting, but it is both appropriate and heartwarming.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Cozener (n.) : a dishonest person who uses clever means to cheat others out of something of value.

Others: Brabble (n.); Nidget (n.); Dizzard (n.).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.3*/5, based on 846 ratings and 118 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.08*/5, based on 621 ratings and 78 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “Am I that obvious?”  He tried for nonchalance, but his voice sounded plaintive to his own ears.

    “No.”  Marlowe chuckled softly as Tom exhaled a sigh of relief.  “I happen to be interested in religious politics.  My uncle, partly, but also for my own reasons.  Theatrical reasons.”

    “Whose side are you on, Kit?”

    “Side?  A playwright doesn’t take sides.  He creates both heroes and villains.  His job is to present them both and let the audience choose.”

    “That’s not a good enough answer,” Tom said.

    “It’s the best you’re going to get.”  (loc. 1888)

 

    She smiled a virtuous smile, batting her thick black lashes at him.

    Tom knew she was lying through her pearly teeth.  She’d undoubtedly rifled through everything he owned: clothes, books, bedding, the secret drawer at the bottom of his writing desk.  The worst of it was he hadn’t noticed a thing out of place.  He popped another almond into his mouth and chewed it with deliberate care, showing her his teeth.

    She stuck her tongue out at him, the unrepentant little minx.  (loc. 4115)

 

Kindle Details…

    Right now, Death By Disputation goes for just $0.99 at Amazon.  The rest of the books in the series cost anywhere from *free* (Book 1) to $4.99 (Book 8).  Anna Castle has two other series (The Professor & Mrs. Moriarty and A Cunning Mystery) and a number of short stories for your reading pleasure.  The books in those series are priced at $4.99 and $2.99 respectively; the short stories cost $0.99 apiece.

 

“My father likes to be a little late.  It’s the best way to avoid being early.”  (loc. 2105)

    I couldn't find much to quibble about in Death By Disputation.  Cussing is sparse (just 4 instances in the first 33% of the book), which speaks well of Anna Castle’s writing ability.  There are a couple of rolls-in-the-hay, and some gay relationships are alluded to, but that’s all historically accurate.

 

    The sleuthing element is not really a whodunit.  It’s not so much a matter of putting the clues together to suss out the perpetrator as it is for Tom (and the reader) to be alert for the key clue when it appears.

 

    Several reviewers felt that there was too much focus on the religious aspect.  They have a point, but only if you’re reading Death By Disputation solely for its mystery aspect.  The reality of 16^th-century England is that religion dominated every part of one’s daily life, and to ignore that would really compromise the historical accuracy.

 

    Personally, I found Death By Disputation to be a great follow-up to Murder By Misrule.  The mystery kept my interest, the historical setting was fantastic, and there were enough action-&-intrigue and witty dialogue to keep me reading “just one more chapter” night after night.

 

    8½ Stars.  One small sidelight into Puritan customs of the day.  Parson Wingfield is a fiery preacher who believes his children’s names should reflect Biblical attributes.  For better or worse.  His eight kids were christened Abstinence, Tribulation, Obedient, Resolved, Diligence, Steadfast, Prudence, and Humility.  Thank goodness my parents weren't Puritans.

Nothing But Blue Skies - Tom Holt

   2001; 317 pages.  New Author? : No.  Genre : British Humour; Humorous Fantasy.  Overall Rating : 7*/10.

 

    It rains a lot in England.  Most people believe the “official” explanations that it has to do with storm fronts, high- and low-pressure systems, global warming, and whatnot.

 

    Some freethinkers, otherwise known as conspiracy nuts, say they know the real cause: Weathermen.  Weathermen magically predict downpours, and storms inevitably follow.

 

    A few of those conspiracy nuts believe in an even deeper conspiracy: Dragons.  They say that dragons cause rainstorms when they get excited.  That sound like a bunch of hogwash to me.  But hey, maybe we can make it finally stop raining by forcing all those storm-causing weathermen to make nicer forecasts.

 

    After that, it'll be Nothing But Blue Skies.

 

What’s To Like...

    Nothing But Blue Skies is set in various locations in England, but all roads eventually lead to Canberra, Australia.  The book's written in English, not American, so besides the usual weird spellings, us Yanks have to suss out words and phrases such as skiving off, widdling, razzle, poxy, naff, and the mysterious acronym JCB.  As always, I loved this.

 

    The dragons have some unique features, such as being able to shapeshift into human and fish forms at will.  Alas, those apparently are the only body-switches they can make and there are certain limitations.  I had fun trying to figure out which characters are really humans and which ones are dragons in drag.

 

    As with any Tom Holt book, Nothing But Blue Skies has lots of absurdities, including Applied Metaphysics and Transdimensional Badminton and the organization Meteorologists Against Dragons.  You’ll learn the answer to “What made England great”, and there’s even a love triangle of sorts for those who like a bit of Romance mixed into the tales they read.

 

    The storyline switches around among three plot threads.  Karen, a dragon, is searching for her missing father; another dragon is stuck in a fishbowl (not a spoiler, see the cover image above); and two weathermen, Neville and Gordon, are debating with each other whether dragons are, or are not, responsible for the soggy weather.

 

    All the plotlines converge on a showdown ending.  You can see it coming, but Tom Holt infuses it with several surprises that startle both the reader and the main characters.  Things are resolved in a pleasing manner, albeit not a very exciting one.  Nothing But Blue Skies is a standalone novel, and AFAIK not related to any of Tom Holt’s other series.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.1/5 based on 84 ratings and 14 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.73/5 based on 973 ratings and 39 reviews.

 

 

Excerpts...

    “Come on.  Or I’ll leave you here.”

    Gordon thought about it for a moment.  On one hand, he really didn’t like the thought of getting out of there because Neville had been able to decipher a secret access code using his third eye.  On the other hand . . . as the old adage goes, if you’re starving in the desert and a headless skeleton riding a winged fiery camel swoops down out of thin air and hands you a cheeseburger, eat the cheeseburger.

    “Coming,” he said.  (loc.2354)

 

    Imagine Manchester.  Sorry, had you just eaten?  Let’s try a gentler approach.  Imagine a place where it rains all the time.  Imagine a place where baths are for drying off in, where you fill a kettle by holding it out of the window for a second and a half, where the current in the gutters is strong enough to turn hydroelectric turbines, where they thought Waterworld was a documentary, where Noah fortunately didn’t send out his doves (or he’d be sailing yet), where even the privatised water companies can only manage to cause a hosepipe ban one year in three.  (loc. 3678)

 

Kindle Details…

    Nothing But Blue Skies sells for $3.99 at Amazon right now.   Tom Holt has more than a dozen other fantasy e-books for your reading pleasure, ranging in price from $2.99 to $9.99.  At times, he also uses the pseudonym of K.J. Parker to write his fantasy novels, but I haven’t yet read any of those to see just what the difference is.

 

“I’m a scientist, dammit.  Trying to bore me to death is like trying to drown a fish in water.”  (loc. 2134)

    There are some things to nitpick about in Nothing But Blue Skies.

 

    There’s a moderate amount of cussing: I noted 14 instances in the first 10% of the book.  There were also more typos than I expected in the e-book version: Bfore/Before, acidentally/accidentally, off/of, and the S’sssn/S’ssssn variations of the name of one of the dragons.  Autocorrect went nutso with that last one.

 

    Tom Holt’s writing is superb, as it always is; but the storytelling seemed to dawdle at times.  To be fair, I read this while traveling, so it’s possible my brain was a bit fried.

 

    Overall, the author’s literary skills save Nothing But Blue Skies.  There may be some slow spots, but at least the reader has Tom Holt’s witty writing to make this an enjoyable read.  If you’ve never read any of the author’s novels, don’t make this your introduction to him.  But veteran Holt fans will still find this a solid effort.

 

    7 Stars.  Nothing But Blue Skies was my twenty-second Tom Holt book, and I have find any of his novels boring.  I have a few more on my bookshelf/Kindle and Amazon informs me his next one, The Eight Reindeer of the Apocalypse, is due to be released this coming October.  I await it eagerly.

Dragonflight - Anne McCaffrey

   1968; 286 pages.  Book 1 (out of 25) in the “Dragonriders of Pern” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres: Time Travel; Epic Fantasy; Dragons.  Overall Rating: 7*/10.

 

    The dragonriders are coming!  They’re on an official Weyr Search, so quick, hide the women of the village!

 

    Well, maybe show the riders a couple of the older ones, so they don’t get suspicious that Ruath Hold isn't holding out on them.  After all, they do have a right to be on this hunt.  A new queen dragon is about to be hatched and a suitable maiden must be found to form a lifelong bond with the royal beast.

 

    Lessa isn’t worried.  She’s already in hiding, disguised as a lowly serving girl, and the sole survivor of the former ruling family of Ruath Hold which was wiped out by its current overlord, Fax.  She has sworn vengeance, and is biding her time, making plans on how to kill Fax.

 

    Lessa views this Weyr Search as a golden opportunity.  The dragonriders are heavily armed and any one of them just needs to be manipulated into challenging Fax to duel to the death.  Their leader, F’lar, must most certainly be the best swordsman in the group.

 

    And he seems dimwitted enough to be easily maneuvered into challenging Fax to a fight.

 

What’s To Like...

    Dragonflight is the first book Anne McCaffrey’s signature science-fantasy series “Pern”.  The series is actually a family project: Books 1-16 were written by Anne, books 17-24 were written either by her son Todd alone or in collaboration with her, and Book 25 was written by Anne's daughter Gigi.

 

    F’lar and Lessa share the spotlight as the two human protagonists, but their dragons, Mnementh and Ramoth, get equal billing.  The main storyline concerns the possible return of the “Threads”, a kind of concentrated acid-rain phenomenon that might be real or legend.  Subplots include the strained relationship between the elite (who live in the Weyrs) and the commoners (who live in the Holds), the depletion of the dragon ranks, and of course, F’lar’s and Lessa’s relationship.

 

    I liked that all the characters are gray.  Lessa is manipulative and aspires to be a killer.  For F’lar, duty trumps ethics.  And although the lords of the Holds may be disloyal to the Weyrs, their discontent stems from a valid point:  why do they have to pay tithes of grain and livestock for the protection of the dragons against a threat that hasn't been seen in ages?

 

    The world-building is fantastic.  There’s a short introduction at the beginning of the book, giving the backstory of Pern.  Book One apparently takes place in the future and is the result of a Terran colonization effort abandoned by the home planet after Pern was almost entirely wiped out by the Threads.  Fire-spewing dragons and fire-lizards were developed be the surviving Pernese to counter the destruction wrought by the Threads, with limited success.  Pern ekes by, due more to the Threads going away than to the eradication program.

 

    The book is divided into four parts.  There are no chapters, but Anne McCaffrey inserts a short poem each time a new sub-section begins.  There’s a “Dragondex” in the back; bookmark it; you’ll be referencing it a lot.  There are zero cusswords in the text; instead, made-up cussing is used: “in the name of the Egg”, ”by the First Egg”, “by the Void that Spawned us”, etc.  I wish more sci-fi/fantasy writers did this.

 

    There’s not much magic—at one point Lessa casts a “Blurring” spell, but that’s about it.  There is a couple instances of using chemistry, which is always a treat since I’m a chemist.  Here it involves things like “black heavy-water” and a substance called “Agenothree” which is revealed in the Dragondex to be nitric acid.  The dragons are telepathic, which I thought was a neat twist.  They communicate mentally with each other, as well as whatever human they are bonded to.  Oh yeah, if you like sci-fi books with time-travel in them, you’ll love Dragonflight.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.6*/5, based on 7,060 ratings and 909 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.45*/5, based on 36,056 ratings and 169 reviews.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Captious (adj.) : tending to find fault or raise petty objections.

Others: Disinter (v.).

 

Excerpts...

    “Well, isn’t it possible that our conviction about the imminence of the Threads could stem from one of us coming back when the Threads are actually falling?  I mean . . .”

    “My dear girl, we have both analyzed every stray thought and action—even your dream this morning upset you, although it was no doubt due to all the wine you drank last night—until we wouldn’t know an honest presentiment if it walked up and slapped us in the face.”  (loc. 2896)

 

    “I don’t need to be reminded of Moreta right now,” F’lar growled, bending to the maps.  “She could talk to any dragon in the Weyrs.”

    “But I can do that!” Lessa protested.

    Slowly, as if he didn’t quite credit his ears, F’lar turned back to Lessa.  “What did you just say?”

    “I said I can talk to any dragon in the Weyr.”

    Still staring at her, blinking in utter astonishment, F’lar sank down to the table top.

    “How long,” he managed to say, “have you had this particular skill?”

    Something in his tone, in his manner, caused Lessa to flush and stammer like an erring weyrling.  (loc. 2931)

 

Kindle Details…

    Dragonflight will cost you $3.99 at Amazon right now.  The rest of the 25-book series range in cost from $5.99 to $9.99, except for Books 3,4, and 6, which for some unfathomable reason are not available in Kindle format.

 

“If a queen isn’t meant to fly, why does she have wings?”  (loc. 1304)

    There are some quibbles.  A map is included, but it spans across two pages, which means the East-West midpoint area is impossible to read because of the book's crease.  The e-book version, which doesn’t have a crease, suffers from this as well; apparently the map pages were just photocopied for insertion into the e-book version.  Also, the choice of font to write the place names is also not very reader-friendly.

 

    The mass market paperback version, published by Del Rey, had a few typos: ot/to, slaming/slamming, etc.  I read the first 25% of Dragonflight in this format, then switched to Kindle, and was happy to find all the typos had been corrected.

 

     The biggest issue was the ending.  Things build toward an anticipated climax, but just as we reach the climax. the book closes.  It's at a logical spot, but it's devoid of any action.  Even though it's a foregone conclusion as to what happens next, the book doesn’t bother to confirm this.  It’s as if the whole purpose of the book was to just introduce the reader to the world of Pern.

 

    Still, I found Dragonflight to be a decent read, and I have two more books from the series on my Kindle, including the sequel, Dragonquest.

 

    7 Stars.  Wikipedia indicates Dragonflight is, for the most part, a blending together of two Pern novellas from 1967, Weyr Search and Dragonrider, and originally published in the sci-fi magazine Analog.  Combining several shorter tales to make a full-length novel can be clunky, and perhaps that’s why the ending is weak.

All Together Dead - Charlaine Harris

   2007; 324 pages.  Book 7 (out of 13) in the “Sookie Stackhouse” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Paranormal Romance; Mystery; Vampires.  Overall Rating : 8*/10.

 

    Sookie’s got a new job!  But don't worry, she still has her old waitressing one at Merlotte’s in Bon Temps, Louisiana.  The new one’s a moonlighting gig, literally.

 

    She’s going to a giant gathering of vampires, where a number of trials will take place, including the murder charge being brought against Sophie-Anne Leclerq, the Vampire Queen of Louisiana.  The vamps want Sookie to use her telepathic powers to “tap into” the other humans in the crowd, most of whom will be unaware of Sookie’s talent, and might be thinking important clues about the cases being tried.

 

    The work should be easy enough, but it is potentially dangerous as well.  This is a large, well-publicized meeting of the undead, and there are humans out there—most prominently, The Fellowship of the Sun—who are vehemently anti-vampire and feel called by God to kill as many of the fanged fiends as they can.

 

    Even worse, the gathering may also attract some individuals—both living and undead—who have scores to settle with Sookie personally.

 

What’s To Like...

    All Together Dead is the seventh book in Charlaine Harris’s ultra-popular paranormal series, which Amazon labels as the “Sookie Stackhouse” series, while Wikipedia prefers to call it the “Southern Vampire Mysteries” series.  I’ve been reading it in chronological order, so I’m now about halfway through.

 

    The book’s main setting is new turf for Sookie, a fictional city called Rhodes located up along Lake Michigan.  I think this is the furthest Sookie’s been away from her home state of Louisiana.  As usual, the storyline is a pleasant blend of Romance (Sookie is still mad at Bill and currently involved with Quinn), Mystery (well you expect there’ll be some murder-&-mayhem at the convention, right?), and Paranormal Fantasy (human and vampire interacting).

 

    Vampires are by far the main paranormal creatures in All Together Dead, although weretigers, werepanthers, werewolves, fairies, witches, half-demons, and Britlingen all make at least cameo appearances.  I think the Britlingen are new to the series, and I definitely hope to see more of them in the remaining tales.

 

    There were at least eight separate plotlines to follow in the book.  All but one or two of those are tied up nicely.  Charlaine Harris uses italics for the telepathic conversations between Sookie and others, which made such dialogue easy to keep track of.  Speaking of things to keep track of, there are a poopload of characters woven into the storyline.  Most of these are recurring ones, and I think the author does this deliberately to provide mini-backstories for them as an aid for readers who aren’t worrying about book-order to better understand “the bigger picture” of the series.

 

    There are plenty of thrills-&-spills which build to an action-packed climax that's somehow both uplifting and somber.  To give details would entail spoilers and we eschew them in these reviews, but suffice it to say, the pacing is rapid and there are no slow spots.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.6*/5, based on 3,375 ratings and 561 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.07*/5, based on 197,536 ratings and 3,855 reviews.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Fangbanger (n.) : a lover and blood donor of a vampire (slang, made-up).

Others: Catahoula (n.).

 

Excerpts...

    “I’m going to a wedding shower tomorrow.  Not for Jason and Crystal.  Another couple.”

    Pam had paused, her hand on the doorknob of Eric’s office.  She considered my statement, her brows drawn together.  “I am not remembering what a wedding shower is, though I’ve heard of it,” she said.  She brightened.  “They’ll get married in a bathroom?”  (loc. 107)

 

    Andre made a beeline for me.

    “I know,” he said, “that is, Sophie-Anne tells me that I have done wrong to you.  I’m not sorry, because I will do anything for her.  Others don’t mean anything to me.  But I do regret that I have not been able to refrain from causing something that distresses you.”

    If that was an apology, it was the most half-assed one I’d ever received in my life.  It left almost everything to be desired.  All I could do was say, “I hear you.”  (loc. 3600)

 

Kindle Details…

    All Together Dead is presently priced at $8.99 at Amazon.  The rest of the 13-book series range in cost from $2.99 (Book 1 only) to $8.99.  Charlaine Harris has several other series for you, none of which I’ve yet started to read.  The e-books in those range from $4.99 to $12.99.

 

“Save your drama for your mama.”  (loc. 1694)

    As always, there isn’t a lot to nitpick about in All Together Dead.  The cussing is sparse—just 7 instances in the first 20%, including one f-bomb; plus a couple of rolls-in-the-hay along the way.  If you don’t like stories told in the first-person POV, be aware that this book, and the entire series, are all told this way.

    There’s no progress on the Romance angle.  Bill, Eric, and Quinn are all candidates to be Sookie’s true love, and I don’t expect that to be resolved anytime soon.  As already mentioned, there are gazillions of characters to meet and greet, which can get tiresome occasionally, but it's all for a good cause.

 

    The biggest issue, as noted by other reviewers, is the Murder-Mystery aspect.  Sookie finds an ally who is also telepathic, and the two of them set about sleuthing all the mayhem that’s afoot.  Alas, while there’s plenty of intrigue and excitement, the “great reveals” are relegated to just being dialogue in the final chapter.  It felt rather anticlimactic.

 

    But let’s be honest, we read this series for Sookie’s witty narration, for the interspecies interactions, and to witness Sookie falling into an abundance of troubles, yet somehow squirming her way out of it.

 

    All Together Dead succeeds nicely on all those counts.

 

    8 Stars. About halfway through the book Sookie attends a gay wedding, a royal one to boot, and nobody blinks an eye.  On a larger scale, the hypothesis being presented is that, no matter what our superficial differences are (does it really matter what humanoid species we belong to?), we need to learn to accept others as they are.

    Something to contemplate as we hobnob along with Sookie and a slew of vampires.

City of Endless Night - Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child

   2018; 374 pages.  Book 17 (out of 21) in the “Agent Pendergast” series.  New Author? : No, and No.  Genres : Suspense; Thriller.   Overall Rating: 8½/10.

 

    The body of a young women has been found in an abandoned garage in New York City, under a pile of leaves.  Well, that’s not so unusual, there are some rough neighborhoods there, and Lieutenant Vincent D’Agosta knows this is one of them.

 

    Unfortunately, the young lady has been identified, and she’s a well-known, rich, young, spoiled socialite.  Great news fodder for the local tabloids.  That’s going to put a lot of pressure on the NYPD to solve this quickly, and in particularly on D’Agosta, who’s in charge of the investigation and has just arrived at the crime scene.

 

    He’s not particularly surprised when his friend, Special Agent Aloysius Pendergast also shows up.  Pendergast has some amazing deductive talents, and D’Agosta welcomes any help he can get.  Maybe it was a mob hit.  Maybe drugs were involved.

 

    Let’s just hope it’s not the work of a serial killer.  Because whoever did this also decapitated the corpse.  And took the severed head away for some unfathomable reason.

 

What’s To Like...

    If you like the idea of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child returning to the tried-and-true formula of FBI agent Aloysius Pendergast teaming up with Lieutenant Vinnie D’Agosta to solve a series of brutal murders, you’ll love City of Endless Night.  Connie Swanson is a no-show, and Constance Greene and Laura Hayward only make cameo appearances.

 

    It’s not a spoiler to reveal that a string of murders-by-decapitation follow the initial one described above.  Pendergast’s normally reliable Holmesian deductions are stymied by a seemingly lack of killing pattern, which opens the door to possible multiple and/or copycat murderers, or even random slayings just to blur the killer's motives.

 

    There are several secondary plotlines that bolster our protagonists’ sleuthing.  Tabloid reporter Bryce Harriman decries the lack of progress in the investigation, and comes up with a whodunit theory of his own, which even Pendergast has to admit has merit.  Harriman also coins the titular phrase “City of Endless Night” to describe a city terrified by a plethora of killings that the police seem to be unable to solve.  Meanwhile, an ex-Jesuit priest stirs the passions of the populace by reinventing the historical “Bonfire of the Vanities”.  I found it fascinating how Preston & Child smoothly blended both of those plot threads into the main storyline.

 

    As with any Pendergast thriller, the pacing is quick, plot twists abound, and our protagonists teeter on becoming the next victims.  At least one recurring character in the series fails to make it to the end of the book.  I liked that the perpetrator(s) are just as cunning and resourceful as our heroes.

    The chapters are short: 66 of them plus an epilogue to cover 374 pages.  The ending is 100 pages of excitement and thrills.  Pendergast finds himself being forced to play and badly outwitted in a deadly game where only an adjustment in his usual thought processes will keep him alive.  All of the plot threads are nicely tied up.  City of Endless Night is both a standalone novel and a part of a great series.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.5*/5, based on 12,771 ratings and 1,287 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.07*/5, based on 18,763 ratings and 1,718 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    “Our private investigators have submitted a preliminary report on Harriman.”

    “Give me the short version.”

    “All reporters are of questionable character, so I’ll leave out the minor sins and peccadillos.  Aside from being a muckraking, ambulance-chasing, rumormongering, backstabbing journalist, the man is a straight arrow.  A preparatory school product who comes from old, old money—money that is petering out with his generation.  The bottom line is that he’s clean.  No prior convictions.  No drugs.”  (pg. 135)

 

    “We must understand the anomalies before we can understand the patterns in what followed.  Why, for example, did somebody take the head twenty-four hours after the girl was murdered?  Nobody seems troubled by this anymore, except for me.”

    “You really think it’s important?”

    “I think it’s vital.”  (pg. 237)

 

“It’s only hubris if I fail.” (Julius Caesar)  (pg. 258)

    The quibbles in City of Endless Night are minor.

 

    There’s a fair amount of cussing: 29 instances in the first 10% of the book.  I noted eight different cusswords utilized, including a couple of f-bombs and a sexual allusion.  Preston and Child will never be accused of penning a cozy murder-mystery novel.

 

    The character-building of Bryce Harriman is stereotypical, as shown in the first excerpt above.  Just once I’d like to see a tabloid reporter that turns out to be a valuable ally of a crime investigator.  Also, if you like the “is it natural or supernatural?” spin that Pendergast novels occasionally have, that’s totally absent here.  Lastly, dogs die.

 

    But I pick at nits.  City of Endless Night is a strong entry in the Agent Pendergast series, a real page-turner and a welcome rebound after what I considered a subpar previous offering, The Obsidian Chamber, and which is reviewed here.  But that was a rare exception to the fine books Preston & Child turn out.  I’ve been hooked on this series for several decades, and am still a half-dozen books away from being caught up.

 

    8½ Stars.  For those who think that the “Bonfire of the Vanities” scene is too outrageous to be believable, I once attended a “book/music/movie burning” here in the greater Phoenix area.  LPs, VHS tapes, and paperbacks were heaped into pile, battered by zealot wielding a sledgehammer, then put to the torch via a liberal helping of lighter fluid.  All in the name of the Jesus.  That was 30 years ago or so.  Today it's 2023, and we’re seeing an upsurge in book-banning.  A present-day “Bonfire of the Vanities” event seems to get more plausible each passing day.

A Count of Five - Erin L. Snyder

   2015; 259 pages.  Book 1 (out of 9) in the series “The Citadel of the Last Gathering”.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres: Time Travel; Fantasy; Alternate Timelines.  Overall Rating: 5½*/10.

 

    Alaji has learned a new spell!

 

    Actually, that’s not such a big deal, since magic, at least on a limited basis, is a common ability among her people.  Men learn spells to help them in combat.  Women, including Alaji, are taught household magic, such as self-weaving thread and fire-starting spells to instantly light torches.

 

    However, Alaji has figured out how to do a decidedly more powerful spell, one that allows her to travel through time.  So far, all she can do is skip back a couple seconds at a time, not a very useful talent unless, say, someone is trying to punch you.  There must be some way to make bigger time-jumps, transport others through time with her, and jump forward in time.  Alaji plans to keep experimenting with the spell until she discovers how to do these things.

 

    There is a catch in all of this.  Time-travel is considered to be “a spell of the gods”, reserved solely for deities, and forbidden to humans.  If any of Alaji’s fellow tribesmen find out she’s learned how to cast this spell, they will kill her without any hesitation.  The gods demand it.

 

What’s To Like...

    A Count of Five is the first book in Erin L. Snyder’s sword-&-sorcery/time-travel series “The Citadel of the Last Gathering”.  The book’s title references the Alaji's people’s counting system, based on 5 digits, instead of our 10-digit system.  Surprisingly, that allows them to quickly do complex additions via their fingers, and presumably their toes if whatever they’re counting are numerous enough.

 

    I liked the character-building of our protagonist, Alaji.  Yes, she has the usual heroic qualities, but she is also capable of cold-blooded murder if need be.  Her on-again/off-again sidekick Yemerik is equally “gray”; he will quickly switch allegiances if the situation calls for it, and his past is shrouded in mystery, both as to where he comes from, and when.

 

    For now, the fantasy angle takes a back seat to the time-travel element.  The only otherworldly creatures I noted were goblins and dragons.  Both species can be a threat if you’re wandering around in the wilds, but they don’t have a major impact on the plotline here.  However this is only Book One.

 

    There’s much greater emphasis on the time-traveling.  It has a huge impact on the main storylines: Alaji wants to get back home and “revive” her dead brother by altering the timeline; Yemerik wants to get to the titular Citadel of the Last Gathering and (from his viewpoint) restore the timeline to its original and proper sequence of events.  Along the way, they will make use of a huge Time Portal door, which, if you have trouble envisaging it, is depicted on the book’s cover.

 

    The ending is more of a stopping point than the culmination of a tale.  Alaji is still honing her chrono-hopping skills, her traveling companions change frequently, and both Yemerik’s and her quests are a long way from being completed.  The book closes with some helpful background information about time-magic and what I presume is a teaser for the next book.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.0/5 based on 26 ratings and 12 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.14/5 based on 22 ratings and 7 reviews

 

Excerpts...

    “The words may be different or have altered meanings.  Even the syntax could have changed.  I have a pendant that will equalize my speech, but it might take time to adjust.  Until it does, I’ll have to make do with body language and tone.  It will be awkward until then.  Even after that, you won’t understand much of what we’re saying, if you understand any of it.”

    “And if they attack us?”

    “Then forget everything I just said and kill as many as you can, starting with the leaders.”  (loc. 1546)

 

    “Well.  I think that should do it, more or less.  I hope.  We’ve got several thousand years leeway, so there’s reason to be optimistic, anyway.”

    “The gate is . . . open?”

    “No.  It’s primed to be opened.”

    “Then . . . what?  It opens when we go through?”

    “Yes,” Yemerik replied, somewhat surprised she’d figured that out.  “When we go through with the fragments, the gate will open.”  He cleared his throat then corrected himself.  “Should open.  I’m still working more from theory than experience.”  (loc. 1951)

 

Kindle Details…

    A Count of Five is presently priced at $2.99 at Amazon, as are the other eight books in this series.  Erin L. Snyder also offers three standalone novels for your Kindle; they too cost $2.99.  The most recent e-book by this author, the closing volume in this series, was published in 2020.

 

“I’m a constructive historian, not a thaumaturgist.”  (loc. 1515)

    There are some things to quibble about.  First the good news: there’s amazingly little cussing in the book.  I noted just five instances in the first 40%, one excretory mention and four references to cosmic condemnation.  I’m always impressed when an author doesn’t rely on an overuse of cusswords to set the tone in a book.  That's what adjectives and a thesaurus are for.

 

    I found the pacing of the story to be slow and, for most of the book, not a lot of action to keep the reader turning the pages.  To be fair though, the ending does include an exciting and unanticipated calamity.  Still, I expected more thrills-and-spills given the presence of dragons, goblin, magic, and time-traveling.

 

    A map would have come in handy, although admittedly that would be a challenge since landmarks change over the course of centuries when centuries of time leaps occur. There are no page numbers in the Kindle format, but to be fair, the reader can use the "percentage read" figure to estimate how much more he has to go.

 

    Last, and nit-pickiest, syncing the “time remaining” estimates to the 70 “Sections” instead of just the five “Parts” would have been far more useful.

 

    Overall, I greatly enjoyed the time-traveling aspects in A Count of Five.  Erin L. Snyder is not afraid delve into the realms of Time Paradoxes and Timeline Manipulating, and I was impressed with that.  A few readers found that confusing, but I like it when a storyteller isn't afraid to tackle thins like "what happens if I go back in time and meet myself?"

 

    For me, the main issues were the shortage of action and lack of any of the plot threads being tied up in the ending.  This is a nine-volume saga, and I have to wonder if other books in the series have the same drawbacks.  Luckily, Book Two, A Tide of Ice, is on my Kindle, and perhaps reading it will give me a better idea of where this series is heading.

 

    5½ Stars.  Yemerik is an enigmatic character.  He is aware of things like tuning forks, coins and other historical anachronisms.  I found myself wondering if he’s actually from our present time and world, and can't wait to learn more of his backstory.