Druids - Anne Ross

   1999; 211 pages.  Full Title: “Druids: Preachers of Immortality”.  New Author?  : Yes.  Genres : Archaeology; European History; Non-Fiction.  Overall Rating: 8*/10.

 

    Druids.  What part of Europe did they spring up from?  What parts of Europe did they flourish in?  What roles did they play in ancient Celtic society?

 

    What did the Greeks and Romans have to say about them, and how accurately were their views?  How did the upstart Christian church respond to them, and how successful was that endeavor?

 

    What were the Druids’ key beliefs and how did they practice them?  What were their religious festivals?

 

    You can find answers to all those topics in Anne Ross’s book Druids.

 

What’s To Like...

    Druids is divided up into 12 sections, namely:

00a. Foreword

    The two branches of the Celtic language.

00b. Introduction

    Druids, Prophets, and Bards: the 3 groups of “Men of Learning”.

01. Druidic Origins

    Are Druids from Eastern Europe or Western Ireland?

02. The Classic Commentators

    Greek and Roman writers, Ogam writing.

03. Questionable Death and Unusual Burial

    Human Sacrifices, Bog Burials, and “Foundation Sacrifices”.

04. The Symbolic Head

    Decapitation and Drinking from a Skull.

05. The Vernacular Literatures

    St. Brigit, the Red Branch, and other ancient Irish texts.

06. Druids and Fenians

    Rival warrior castes, or allies?

07. Assemblies and Calendar Festivals

    Samain, Imbolc, Beltain, and Lughnasa

08. Unity and Diversity

    Druids and the Early Church; St. Patrick

09. Folklore and Festival

    Druidic Traditions, Rituals that survived to modern times.

Epilogue

    Druidism: where did it come from and where is it heading?

 

    The book is written in what I call “scholarly style”.  Anne Ross (b. 1925; d. 2012) was both an archaeologist and a scholar, and spoke fluent Gaelic, which I’m sure helped in her research for this tome.  This is a short book; the text is just barely over 200 pages and that includes lots of maps, drawings and photographs.  It is written in English, not American, although I didn't find that a distraction.

 

    As might be expected, the text is packed with fascinating details.  Lots of my heroes—Taliesin, Simon Magus, the Morrigan, the Tuatha De Danann—get mentioned, as well as an ancient Celtic board game called “fidchell”, which is said to resemble chess.   I learned the etymology of the word “Ireland”, and got some tips on how the read omens to tell whether it’s going to be an auspicious or inauspicious day.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 3.9*/5, based on 21 ratings and 5 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.55*/5, based on 60 ratings and 10 reviews.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Apotropaic (adj.) : supposedly having the power to avert evil influences or bad luck.

Others: Janiform (adj.); Outwith (conj.); Turves (n.)

 

Excerpts...

    The oral tradition amongst the Celts was deliberately fostered, as we learn from the classical commentators on the Celts.  This custom would seem to have arisen in order that the sacred learning and details of ritual practice should be kept away from the uninitiated.  Writing was used for business purposes in Gaul, and Caesar remarks that Greek letters were used for this purpose.  He also comments how, when some noble person was being cremated, people would throw letters onto the funeral pyre for him to give to dead relatives and friends in the Otherworld.  (pg. 87)

 

    The men of Ulster regularly held a great festival at Samain, Hallowe’en, 31 October, i.e. November Eve.  A huge feast was made by the king, Conchobor, in Emain Macha.  They kept the feast for three days before Samain, for three days after Samain, and on the day itself.  It was one of the most important calendar festivals of the whole year, and still survives in the folk memory down to the present time.  This period was devoted to sportive occupations: horse racing and other sports; drinking — which often caused quarrels — and the recitation by each man present of his victories over powerful opponents.  (pg. 152)

 

“They also invite strangers to their banquets, and only after the meal do they ask who they are and of what they stand in need.  (pg. 185)

    There is absolutely zero profanity in Druids, which is a rarity, even when reading non-fiction.  The book was a slow read for me, but that was mostly because I was fixated by the archaeological details and Gaelic lore.

 

        The inherent problem with any discussion of Druidism is that there just isn’t a lot of reference material to work with.  As the first excerpt mentions, Druid religious and historical records were done via oral tradition, and Greek, Roman, and Christian commentators have questionable reliability.  Julius Caesar is a particularly dubious source, although I was impressed with Anne Ross’s objectivity about his commentary.

 

    One review criticized the author’s writing style, feeling that it was written “to the layman”, but I thought the book's tone was just right, neither too technical nor too prosaic.  My only beef was with the maps: there were quite a few of them, and they would only be useful if one lived close to the geographical areas cited.  I don’t.

 

    Overall, I found Druids: Preachers of Immortality both enlightening and entertaining.  It kept me turning the pages although in fairness, Druidism and Archaeology are two subjects I am always very interested in.  Amazon only offers one other book by Anne Ross, Folklore of Wales, which means I'll have to hit the used-book stores to read more books by her.

 

    8 Stars.  One last thing.  On page 48, I ran into the verb “whelmed”.  I’m familiar with “overwhelmed” of course, and have occasionally seen “underwhelmed”, usually used in a tongue-in-cheek fashion.  But this is the first time I’ve encountered “whelmed” used in a serious context.  Awesome!

Sprout Mask Replica - Robert Rankin

    1997; 350 pages. Book 1 in the “Completely Barking Mad Trilogy” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres : Humorous Absurdism; British Humour; Weird Fantasy.  Overall Rating : 7½*/10.

 

    The butterfly effect is a famous component of Chaos Theory.  In a nutshell, it states that when a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, it in turn may be the cause of a tornado in Texas.

 

    The butterfly doesn’t realize this, of course, but it is intriguing to contemplate a small change in a system resulting in significant and unpredictable consequences down the line.

 

    But what if the inverse was also true?  A tornado forms in Texas, a butterfly in Brazil senses it, and instinctively flaps its wings to cancel out the disturbance.  Let's call him "the compensator”.

 

    Our protagonist here is such a compensator.  He has a pretty neat gift, eh?  Well, maybe not.

 

    Because what happens if/when the butterfly stops flapping its wings?

 

What’s To Like...

    Sprout Mask Replica is written mostly (but not completely) in the first-person POV.  The narrator’s name is not given, but he goes by many monikers, including “The Chosen One”, “The Compensator”, the “Mystical Butterfly of Chaos”, and “Dog Breath”.  Since one of his relatives is “Uncle Brian Rankin”, we may logically assume this is Robert Rankin writing his autobiography.

 

    The book is written in English, not American, so us Yankee readers will get weird spellings, such as plough and jewellery; as well as odd phrases, such as “bit of a kip”, “soldier of toast”, and the nifty word “niffy”, which is defined below.

 

    A number of Robert Rankin’s recurring characters are featured here, which you’d expect in his autobiography, including Fangio, Neville, Jim Pooley, John Omally, and the inscrutable “lady in a straw hat”.  And I think this is where Barry the Holy Guardian Sprout is introduced, who becomes a major recurring character.  A portion of his background is given in one of the excerpts below.

 

    In between (most) chapters, Robert Rankin includes some poetry, which I found to be quite entertaining.  I enjoyed sitting in on the “All Brentford Open Lying Contest”, chuckled at the mangled French, and was happy to see my favorite type of word puzzle, “acrostics”, get a brief mention.  The author’s music references are impressive, one of which, The Sonic Energy Authority, may set some sort of record for “most obscure” band ever.

 

    The ending is both witty and enigmatic, which is the norm for a Robert Rankin opus.  The Chosen One finishes his book and heads out for a swim.  A spaceship departs, but I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of it.  All historical paradoxes are repaired.

    Or are they?

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Niffy (adj.) : having an unpleasant smell (British slang)

Others: Sporran (n.); Micturating (v.).

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.3/5 based on 118 ratings and 30 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.70/5 based on 848 ratings and 21 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    In those days I had a lot of time for Fangio, although thinking back I can’t recall why.  Certainly the guy was fair, he never spoke well of anyone.  And when it came to clothes, he had the most impeccable bad taste I’ve ever encountered.  He suffered from delusions of adequacy and his conversation was enlivened by the occasional brilliant flash of silence.

    Once seen, never remembered, that was Fangio.  Many put this down to his shortness of stature, for as Noel Coward observed, “Never trust a man with short legs, brain’s too near their bottoms.”  (loc. 970)

 

    “I was supposed to be on the job.  Your Holy Guardian.”

    “He’ll forgive you, you’re one of his angels, after all.”

    “Well.”

    “Well what?”

    “Well, I never said anything about being an angel.”

    “You said you’re my Holy Guardian.  That’s an angel, isn’t it?”

    “Well, it can be.  For some people.  But there’s an awful lot of people on Earth.  More people than there are angels, in fact.  Look upon me as your little gift from God’s garden.”

    “What?”

    “I’m your Holy Guardian Sprout.”  (loc. 2483)

 

Kindle Details…

    Sprout Mask Replica currently costs $6.99 at Amazon.  Robert Rankin offers another 3 dozen or so “weird fantasy” e-books, generally in the price range of $2.99-$7.99, plus an autobiographical I, Robert, which costs $9.00.

 

“Run and waggle, chief, run and waggle.”  (loc. 3337)

    There’s very little profanity in Sprout Mask Replica; I counted just six “damns” in the first 50% of the novel.  Insertions of other cusswords are “cleaned up” via appropriately placed asterisks (example: sh*t).  A number of “adult situations” are alluded to, but there’s nothing lurid.

 

    Typos are rare: one gum/gym booboo and a couple of comma misuses.  The title reference occurs at 93% Kindle, although I’m still not sure what it signifies.

 

    Don’t even try to find a plotline for the first 20% of the book; there’s none there.  Fortunately, Robert Rankin still keeps you entertained with his wit, anecdotal asides, and wry British humour.  The plotline does show up later on.

 

    Veteran Robert Rankin readers will find Sprout Mask Replica satisfying, but if you’re never read any of his novels, don’t make this your introduction to him.  The Amazon blurb says this is the first book in the “Completely Barking Mad” trilogy; but I don’t think it’s necessary to read the books in order.  Robert Rankin is loose with the concept of “trilogy”—one of his contains only two books; another contains eight books.

 

    7½ Stars.  One last thing, a nice tidbit of the abundant wit in the story.  “My brother’s favourite number was 300.  Because if you turn 300 on its side it looks a bit like a bum pooing.”  It's true! Once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

An Argumentation of Historians - Jodi Taylor

   2017; 467 pages.  Book 9 (out of 14) in the series “The Chronicles of St. Mary’s”.  New Author? : No.  Genres: Time Travel; Humorous Fantasy; Historical Fiction.  Overall Rating: 8½*/10.

 

    It’s sad that it took so long.

 

    The Institute of Historical Research at St. Mary’s and the chrono-hopping law enforcement agency known as the Time Police share a common foe: Clive Ronan.  But thus far, the two groups have done too much fighting between themselves to even think about going after Clive.

 

    Until now.  The head of St. Mary's History Department, “Max” Maxwell has come up with a plan.  It’s risky, and hinges on Ronan’s insatiable greed for historical treasures, but it just might work.  And St. Mary’s and the Time Police will both play key roles in it.  All they have to do is cooperate with each other.

 

    And hope that Clive Ronan takes the bait.

 

What’s To Like...

    An Argumentation of Historians is the ninth book in Jodi Taylor’s series showcasing the time-traveling adventures of St. Mary’s historians.  One of the many reasons I’m hooked on this series is that there are always a bunch of time-jumps in the stories, many involving historically fascinating events.

 

    This book is no exception; St. Mary’s personnel make six time-jumps, three of which are for historical witnessing and recording, including one centered on one of my history idols, Alexander the Great.  The other three are done for personal survival reasons including one extended visit to 1399 CE, where Max, along with the reader, learn how to live day-to-day in Medieval times.  It was an enlightening experience.

 

    The text is written in the first-person POV, Max’s.  It is also written in English, not American, which means we Yanks will encounter odd spellings, such as wilfully and pedlar, and odd words, such as knackered and swive.  I love learning foreign languages.  The “Author’s Note” at the book’s beginning is worth taking time to read, and as always, the Dramatis Thingummy is both useful and entertaining.

 

    It’s always a treat when Adrian and Mikey show up at St. Mary's in their 12-foot-high teapot.  The acronym FOD was new to me; it’s the term time-travelers use for the occupational peril "Foreign Object Drop".  The question of “do Medieval castle gate open inward or outward” is examined by St. Mary’s historians, and the reader learns why this is an important detail.  It was also educational to learn the specific duties of a courtesan.

 

    The ending is twisty (is there a traitor in our midst?), exciting (fighting on rooftops), tense (falling from rooftops), and revealing (how does Clive Ronan anticipate every move of St. Mary's).  In short, it is superb.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.7*/5, based on 6,260 ratings and 470 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.52*/5, based on 8,645 ratings and 671 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “You appear to be setting up a scenario in which you almost invite Clive Ronan to swoop in and shoot you.”

    “Yes, sir,”

    “You don’t think that’s a little — obvious?”

    I can’t help it.  I’m a showman, too.

    I brought up the second part of my plan.

    He read it through.  And read it through again.  And read it through for a final time.  I waited patiently because every reading was a step nearer acceptance.  Finally, he looked over his desk at me.

    “I might find it quite difficult to apply the word “unoriginal” to this part of your proposed plan.”

    “Thank you, sir.”

    “That wasn’t a compliment.”  (pg. 60)

 

    “I don’t want any visitors.”

    “Just as well,” she said cheerfully, laying out pyjamas and a dressing gown.  “You’re not allowed any.”

    I was unreasonably annoyed because that was supposed to be my decision.  “Who said so?”

    “Dr. Stone.  He’s waiting for you if you want to go out and argue with him.”

    I humphed.  I’ve argued with Dr. Stone before.  It’s like trying to fill a bath without a plug.  There’s an enormous amount of effort and when you finally pause to get your breath back, absolutely nothing has happened and you realise you’ve been wasting your time.  (pg. 360)

 

Kewlest New Word ...

Caparisoned (adj.) : decked out in rich, decorative coverings

Others: Swive (archaic).

 

You could have heard a slipper-wearing mouse dance the fandango on a feather cushion.  (pg. 129)

    The profanity is pretty sparse in An Argumentation of Historians, just 17 instances in the first 50% of the book, about half of which were the common scatological term.

 

    There was a smattering of typos, most of which were things I’d have thought Spellchecker would catch.  Examples include: top/stop, ever/every, and of/off.  I’ll excuse Spellchecker for missing the two spellings of one of the characters: Midgely/ Midgeley.

 

    But enough of the nitpicking.  An Argumentation of Historians maintains the usual high standards of a Jodi Taylor novel: fast-paced, action-packed, historically-detailed, and lots of time-traveling.  This was part of a ten-volume paperback bundle given to me as a Christmas present by a friend a few years back.  I’m 90% of the way through it and have never yet been disappointed.

 

    8½ Stars.  One last thing.  Here’s a poser for anyone who has time-traveling acquaintances.  What’s the best method of communicating with someone who lives in the future?  Answer in the comments.

Sunday The Rabbi Stayed Home - Harry Kemelman

    1966; 270 pages.  Book 3 (out of 12) in the “Rabbi Small Mystery” series.  New Author? : No.  Genre : Crime Mystery; Jewish Literature;  Amateur Sleuths.  Overall Rating : 6*/10.

 

    The members of the Barnard’s Crossing Temple are bickering again.

 

    The conservative faction, headed by Ben Gorfinkle, wants Rabbi David Small to publicly take a stand supporting book censorship and prayer in the schools; plus attacking the coddling of criminals and denouncing the Civil Rights protests.  And Gorfinkle is confident they have enough votes to make this temple policy.

 

    The progressive faction, headed by Meyer Paff, wants Rabbi Small to publicly take the opposite stand on all these issues.  They’re aware they don’t have enough votes for this, and therefore are prepared to break away and start their own temple, taking a lot of the present congregation, and hopefully Rabbi Small, with them.

 

    Although the Rabbi is sympathetic with the Meyer Paff’s group, he doesn’t want have the congregation split in two.  He’d prefer to do anything except be forced to choose one temple faction or the other.

 

    Like investigate a murder or two, perhaps?

 

What’s To Like...

    Sunday The Rabbi Stayed Home is a blend of three storylines.  One is an enlightening discussion of Jewish-vs.-Christian dogma; one is an insightful look at inter-congregational squabbling; one is Rabbi Small’s investigation into two local deaths that have suspicious circumstances.

 

    The temple squabbles receive the majority of the attention and I suspect it will be a recurring theme of this series, since Book 11 is titled The Day the Rabbi Resigned.  A new twist of it crops up here: Rabbi Small is becoming popular among the Jewish youths, and he’s now considering joining Hillel, the largest Jewish student organization worldwide, as a counselor.

 

    Harry Kemelman works a lot of Yiddish religious terms and phrases into the text, and I always like that.  Rabbi Small engages in a couple of discussions with a Roman Catholic priest at the local Newman Center (the Catholic equivalent of Hillel), which both Father Bennett and myself found thought-provoking.  Two of the topics were a.) the role of Faith and/or the lack of it, and b.) the importance of what we believe versus that which we do.

 

    The Rabbi’s investigations into the two deaths are suitably thorough despite the lack of clues.  Sunday The Rabbi Stayed Home was published in 1969, and I was not surprised to see marijuana (or “marihuana” as the author spells it) being a factor in the probes.  I winced at the repeated use of the word “Negro” here, then remembered it was the preferred term for blacks during that era.

 

    Things build to a so-so ending.  Rabbi Small figures out the “whodunit” by clever deductive reasoning.  Unfortunately, all the evidence is circumstantial, but help comes from an unexpected source.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.3/5 based on 1,008 ratings and 83 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.84/5 based on 2,108 ratings and 163 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “I made my money too late to change my habits.  My Laura is after me I should have my suits made to order.  ‘You’ve got it now; spend it.’  But I can’t.  I can’t get interested enough in clothes to bother.  When I play poker, I play penny ante, and I notice that I get as much fun out of winning ninety cents as I would if it were ninety dollars.  And Irving is just as sore at losing thirty-two cents.”

    “Thirty-seven cents.”  (loc. 8505)

 

    “I told him that I’d had a meeting with a majority of the board prior to our little talk and that we had decided that if he refused to go along, at the next a motion would be offered—and passed—calling for his resignation.”

    “You fired him?”

    He pursed his lips and canted his head to one side.  “Just about.”

    “Nothing personal, of course.”

    “I flatter myself that I handled it pretty well,” said Gorfinkle with a smirk.  (loc. 9562)

 

Kindle Details…

    Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home is priced at $8.99 at Amazon at present.  The other books in the series are in the $0.99-$7.99 range, with most of them costing $6.99.  I read this as part of an e-book bundle containing the first four volumes of the series, and which costs $17.99 right now.

 

“By God, you nice respectable people can blunder into a situation and foul it up to make the angels weep.”  (loc. 9572)

    There’s only a smattering of profanity in Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home.  I counted just nine instances in the first half of the book, and those were all of the “milder” ilk.  The pejorative version of “Negro” (the "N-word") was used once, but with a negative connotation.  Typos were scarce and mostly involved missing commas and periods.

 

    The portrayal of pot dealers back in 1969 was a bit skewed.  Trust me, I was a teenager back then, and although drug dealing could be hazardous in those days, that was only true if the drug quantities were large.  A couple of joints does not constitute a large quantity.  Methinks Harry Kemelman took the movie Reefer Madness too seriously.

 

    The biggest issue I have with Sunday the Rabbi Stayed Home is the diminished role of the crime investigation.  The first murder doesn’t come until 58% Kindle, and Rabbi Small doesn’t start his investigation until 65% Kindle.  It’s almost like the crimes were just a slapdash add-on to the book's storyline.

 

    Overall, this was a so-so read for me, probably because I’m reading this series mostly for the crime mystery aspect, not the religious angles.  If you happen to be reading these Rabbi Small books for their spiritual messages, add a couple stars to my rating.

 

    6 Stars.  One last thing.  Kudos for the brief mention of (Moses) Maimonides.  That was one kewl dude, centuries before his time.  If you don’t know anything about him, look him up in Wikipedia.

A Storm Hits Valparaiso - David Gaughran

   2011; 322 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Genres : Historical Fiction; War; South America.  Overall Rating : 7½*/10.

 

    I don’t want to sound pedantic, but the phrase “American Revolution” is rather vague.

 

    For starters, it can refer to North, Central, and/or South America.  By the early 1800s, all those areas had experienced wars for Independence.

 

    The insurrections in South America were scattered throughout that continent.  Brazil was trying to gain independence from Portugal; everywhere else the European colonizer was Spain.  The most famous revolutionary leader down there was Simon Bolivar, and rightfully so.  Bolivia is named for him, and his “liberation area” includes territory from Venezuela down through Peru.

 

    In the lands south of there, Chile and Argentina, different leaders led the uprisings, most notably José de San Martin and an Irish dude named Bernardo O’Higgins.  You’ve probably never heard of either of them.

 

    A Storm Hits Valparaiso chronicles that part of the “American Revolution”, and will help you get acquainted with José de San Martin.

 

What’s To Like...

    There are six storylines to follow in A Storm Hits Valparaiso.  They focus on seven main characters, who are (along with their starting points):

    Catalina Flores (in Chile)

    Lord Captain Thomas Cochrane (in Scotland)

    Diego and Jorge Ramirez (in Argentina)

    Zé (in Brazil)

    José de San Martin (in Spain)

    Pacha (in Peru)

 

    Timewise, most of the story takes place in 1811-1822 CE, although the Epilogue extends that timeframe quite a bit, since it has a “whatever happened to . . .” format.  All of the main characters do a lot of moving around, which is not surprising since wars were underway throughout South America and Europe.

 

    The seven protagonists get more or less equal billing in the first half of the book, but gradually José de San Martin emerges as the primary one.  After checking in Wikipedia, I was pleasantly surprised how many real-life people and actual historical events get worked into the storyline.

 

    The text is delightfully sprinkled with Spanish colloquialisms, such as chica, puerca, aguardiente, campesinos, and claro; as well as some, erm, “colorful” terms, such as maricon, culos, bastardo, and putas.  We’ll let you look up the translations of those.  There’s also a smattering of Portuguese (quilombos) and French (Vive le Roi!  Vivent les Bourbons!), plus one English spelling (as opposed to American): offences.

 

    The ending brings closure to each of the six storylines.  Some of the protagonists are reunited; some have left South America; some have been laid to rest six feet underground.  Overall, things have changed in South America: the revolutionaries have gained the upper hand.

 

Kewlest New Word ...

    Scrivener (n.) : a clerk or scribe.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 3.6*/5, based on 189 ratings and 106 reviews.

    Goodreads: 3.44*/5, based on 202 ratings and 49 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    “Let me make sure I’ve got this right.  Mr. Jackson has called a meeting with himself to see if he is going to increase the amount he is charging himself for such meetings."

    “If you want to put it like that, sir, but I assure you everything is above board.

    “We shall see.  Where is this meeting taking place?”

    “I’m afraid I’m not aware,” said the clerk.

    “Where is Mr. Jackson’s office?”

    “Which one?”

    “Either!”  (pg. 63)

 

    In the end, it didn’t matter; they didn’t care who he was or where he was from, as long as he signed up.  The recruiting officer gave Zé a short speech on the army and the war, which he only partly understood.  Spanish wasn’t that different from Portuguese, but everyone spoke so quickly, chopping words, running one sentence into the next.  Only one part was easy to understand.  The penalty for desertion was mentioned several times: muerte.  Death.  (pg. 117)

 

Kindle Details…

    It appears that A Storm Hits Valparaiso is no longer available in the e-book format I read it in.  The paperback version costs $25.59 at Amazon.  David Gaughran offers two other Historical-Fiction e-books at Amazon: Liberty Boy for $4.99, and Mercenary for free.

 

“A political priest is like a religious general; a castle with sails.”  (pg. 178)

    Profanity in A Storm Hits Valparaiso is a bilingual affair.  In addition to the Spanish words already mentioned, I counted eight cusswords in English in the first 50% of the book,.  There was one roll-in-the-hay later on.  That’s really pretty clean for a storyline chronicling the brutality of war in the 19^th century.

 

    A number of reviewers criticized the six different storylines in the book, finding it hard to remember who was doing what and where.  They have a point, but happily I keep notes while reading; so this was not a problem for me.

 

    I only caught a couple of typos, namely: back lads/back, lads, town?s/town’s, and reigned/reined.  Kudos to the editors, they did a fine job.  And although Valparaiso is one of many settings in the tale, it is not a major one, so I never did figure out why it rated being part of the title.

 

    But these are quibbles.  In World History classes in college, José de San Martin was for some reason my favorite South American revolutionary and I always wondered a.) why he didn’t get as much ink as Simon Bolivar, and b.) what ever happened to him.  Thanks to David Gaughran, I now have answers.

 

    Overall, I enjoyed A Storm Hits Valparaiso, primarily because it covers an important era in History that rarely gets any literary attention.  You might be a bit disappointed that, for most of the book’s fictional characters, the ending is not a “they lived happily ever after” scenario.  But that holds true for the historical characters here as well.  War is Hell.

 

    7½ Stars.  One last teaser.  At one point there is a “talking sword” in the storyline.  When’s the last time you read a Historical Fiction novel with one of those in it?

Small Favour - Jim Butcher

   2008; 437 pages.  Book 10 (out of 17) in the “Dresden Files” series.  New Author? : No.  Genres: Paranormal Thriller; Urban Fantasy; Action-Intrigue.  Overall Rating: 9*/10.

 

    It’s all rather bizarre.

 

    Someone has kidnapped Chicago crime boss “Gentleman Johnnie Marcone”.  They literally tore the entire front off the building he was in and whisked him away.  Chicago Police want the city’s resident wizard, Harry Dresden, to investigate.  But that’s not the strange part.

 

    Queen Mab, aka "The Winter Queen", aka "The Faerie Queen", drops in on Harry, and calls in a small favor that he owes her.  She too wants him to investigate Marcone's kidnapping.  That’s the strange part.

 

    Why would the paranormal community care one bit about the whereabouts of a Chicago gangster?  I don’t know, but any mortal, even if he’s a wizard, who sticks his nose into this, will probably get it chopped off.

 

    Good luck, Harry!  You're gonna need it.

 

What’s To Like...

    The title does not contain a typo; the paperback I read was published in England, hence “Favour”.  The text was in “American” though, so I guess Orbit Books prints its books both ways.

 

    Small Favour is an Action-Intrigue story, and there is an abundance supply of both in the storyline.  Harry’s investigation seems to trigger all sorts of attempts on his life, which in turn keeps him wondering whether ulterior motives are in play, and if so, what those are.

 

    A slew of new creatures and characters are introduced here, including Hobs (servants of the Winter Faeries) and Gruffs (as in “three Billy Goats Gruff” and servants of the Summer Faeries).  Those creatures have evil intentions, but are puny in power compared to the Denarians, aka “The Fallen”, who are now demonic in nature but still retain their magical powers.

 

   An impressive cast of recurring characters including Thomas (Harry’s half-brother and a vampire), Michael (Harry’s friend-in-arms and Knight of the Cross), Molly (Michael’s daughter and apprentice wizard being trained by Harry), Ivy (also known as The Archive), and Karrin Murphy (a Chicago Policewoman who looks after the city’s interest in these magical shenanigans).  They all have significant parts in the storyline and do their best to keep Harry alive.

 

    Things build to a nail-biting, twisty, and desperate—for both the Good forces and the Evil ones—ending.  The Good Guys prevail (c’mon, you knew they would) but it comes at considerable cost in terms of bloodshed and trauma.  The last of 46 chapters is 30 pages long, and serves as both an Epilogue for this book and a teaser for the next one, Turn Coat.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon: 4.7*/5, based on 8,659 ratings and 691 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.43*/5, based on 112,931 ratings and 3,295 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    Anybody with an ounce of sense knows that fighting someone with a significant advantage in size, weight, and reach is difficult.  If your opponent has you by fifty pounds, winning a fight against him is dubious proposition, at best.

    If your opponent has you by eight thousand and fifty pounds, you’ve left the realm of combat and enrolled yourself in Roadkill 101.  Or possibly a Tom and Jerry cartoon.  (pg. 207)

 

    Thomas frowned.  “You aren’t just running your mouth, here, are you?  You’re serious?”

    “It’s a worst-case scenario,” I said.  “But Nicodemus could do it, so we’ve got to proceed under the presumption that his intentions are in that category.  The Denarians want to disrupt civilization, and with the Archive under their control, they could do it.  Maybe they’d use biological or chemicals weapons instead.  Maybe they’d crash the world economy.  Maybe they’d turn every program on television into one of those reality shows.”

    “That’s mostly done already, Harry.”  (pg. 342)

 

“Punctuality is for people with nothing better to do.”  (pg. 345)

    Small Favour doesn’t skimp on the profanity.  I noticed 20 instances in the first 10% of the book, of which three-quarters reference the Underworld.  But only one of those twenty was an f-bomb.  I’d call this par for the course for a Dresden Files book

 

    It’s difficult to find anything else to whine about.  Nevernever, the Faerie world, and Bob the Skull, which are two of my favorite tropes in this series, play almost no part in the storyline.  That’s all I can complain about.  The lofty Goodreads rating of 4.43 is fully justified.

 

    Small Favour is both a standalone novel and part of a (completed) 17-book series.  I’ve now read the first ten books in the series and Jim Butcher hasn’t lost his knack for spinning out captivating tales of Harry Dresden keeping Chicago safe from falling victim to various Dark Forces.  Heck, Chicagoans aren’t even aware that any paranormal creatures exist.

 

    9 Stars.  One last thing.  I was impressed by the way Jim Butcher portrays the mob boss.  Most writers would just cast him as a ruthless, totally-evil thug; but here we discover that Marcone has a noble side as well, even if he rarely gets to show it.  I love it when the characters in a story are “gray”.