Brother Hermitage's Christmas Gift - Howard of Warwick

    2017; 128 pages.  New Author? : No.  Genre : Historical Satire; Christmas; Novella; Medieval Fiction.  Overall Rating: 8½*/10.

 

    December 25, 1066 CE is nigh!  It will be a day of celebration!

 

    Not only because it’s Christmas, or, as they called it back then: Christes Mass Day.  It’s also the day that Duke William of Normandy will be crowned the King of England.  That's William, the victor at the Battle of Hastings over King Harold of the Saxons.  That's the “late” King Harold.

 

    The Archbishop of Canterbury has instructed all abbeys in England to send emissaries bearing gifts to William.  It is prudent to get on the good side of the new ruler.

 

    For reasons best left untold, Abbot Athan, the head of the abbey at De’Ath’s Dingle, has chosen Brother Hermitage to attend the coronation.  Along with his wiseacre sidekick, Wat the Weaver.

 

    Have fun, Hermitage and Wat.  Paint smiles on your faces as you try to forget that you’re both Saxons, not Normans.

 

What’s To Like...

    Brother Hermitage’s Christmas Gift is a novella-length Christmas tale set in 11^th-century England, in the critical days when the Anglo-Saxon rulership ends and the Normans take over.  It has the same setting as Howard of Warwick’s Chronicles of Brother Hermitage series uses, although here the a trio of the recurring characters play a part.

 

    Unlike the regular books in the series, there is no murders or other crimes for Brother Hermitage to investigate.  Instead, the theme of the story is the nature of gift-giving.  Hermitage and Wat have polar-opposite views about that, and weeklong trek from De’Ath’s Dingle to London gives them ample time to debate it.  They also have to figure out what an appropriate gift the new king should be, and then find one, since they forgot to hit up Abbot Athan for one.

 

    I enjoyed tagging along on their 7-day journey.  Each night lodging and meals must be found, and they are introduced to some fascinating characters.  They also have to beware crossing paths with brigands and marauding Norman soldiers.  And, as is true of all books in this series, Howard of Warwick’s witty dialogue and dry humor is a royal treat.

 

    The story is written in English, not American, so you get weird spellings such as focussed, recognise, practise, and meagre.  But it wasn't distracting, and I always like reading in a foreign language.

 

    The ending is good, with a bit of excitement capping off an otherwise philosophical tale.  The gift-giving storyline has a moral to it, but it’s not what I was expecting.

 

Ratings…
    Amazon:  4.3/5 based on 448 ratings and 46 reviews.

    Goodreads: 4.09/5 based on 190 ratings and 13 reviews.

 

Excerpts...

    When established constructions, particularly old Roman ones, fell into disrepair the local folk would gather the fallen stones for their own homes.  De’Ath’s Dingle didn’t fall into disrepair, it jumped.  Local folks knew far better than to use material cast off by that place.  As the saying in those parts went: "The stones of De’Ath’s Dingle; for when the worst isn’t quite bad enough.”  (loc. 148)

 

    “So you expect us to travel to London in seven days?”

    “Correct.”

    “In the middle of winter, across a land not yet conquered and probably swarming with armed groups taking advantage of the chaos?”

    “That’s it.”

    “Two Saxons into an army of Normans celebrating their victory?”

    “You do ask a lot of questions.”

    “We’ll be killed.”  (loc. 276)

 

Kindle Details…

    Brother Hermitage’s Christmas Gift sells for $1.49 at Amazon right now.  It is related to Howard of Warwick’s popular Chronicles of Brother Hermitage series, which is up to 32 (soon to be 33) e-books.   The prices for those tales range from $2.99 to $4.99.

 

“Amanuesis?”  “A man who what?”  (loc. 579)

    There is zero profanity in Brother Hermitage’s Christmas Gift which seems appropriate for a Christmas story.  This is the fourth book I’ve read featuring Brother Hermitage, and so far, all of they’ve all been light on the cusswords.  I like it when an author is skilled enough to not have to overuse expletives to tell the story.

 

    For a change, the typos were also scarce.  One missing period, and one clunky wording (“Because it what…”) were all I noted.  The opening word in each chapter (chapters are called “caputs” here; and is that kewl, or what!) has an extra space in it, but I’m sure this was a formatting issue beyond the author’s control, not a typo.

 

    I can’t think of anything else to grouse about.  Brother Hermitage’s Christmas Gift was a delight to read from beginning to end, and exactly what I look for in a Christes Mass story: short and sweet, and thoughtfully upbeat.

 

    8½ Stars.  One last thing.  If you’re new to this series, you should know that Wat the Weaver is renowned for his “sophisticated” tapestries.  Quite a few of the characters here are well acquainted with his masterpieces.  Unfortunately, his craftwork probably is not appropriate as a public gift to a newly crowned monarch.

Trumpet of Triton & Mesmerized - Marlin Williams

    2019; 175 pages.  New Author? : No.  Full Title: “Ravenwood Stepson of Mystery in Trumpet of Triton.  Also featuring The Moon Man in Mesmerized.”   Genre : Psychic Suspense; Occult Horror; Pulp Science Fiction.  Overall Rating : 9*/10.

    Do you remember reading pulp fiction magazines when you were a child?  The five-and-dime stores used to sell them, and they featured some old-time heroes such as Doc Savage, Buck Rogers, Tarzan, Zorro, and The Shadow.

    Yeah, me neither.  Mostly because their heyday was way back in the 1920’s-30’s, and that’s a bit before my time.  I do remember spending my 25-cents-a-week allowance on Tarzan and Zorro comic books as a kid though, in the late 50’s, but by then the pulp magazines, and most of their heroes, had pretty much faded into oblivion.  Which is kinda sad, given how popular they once were.

    Fortunately, Marlin Williams is both a longtime fan of pulp fiction and a veteran author of bizarre tales.  He’s taken a pair of long-forgotten pulp heroes, Ravenwood Stepson of Mystery and the Moon Man, and given them new life in the two stories in this book.

    This means you can now journey back in time and discover what your father (or grandfather, or great-grandfather) used to read for entertainment when he was just a young ‘un.  And that's kind of magical.

What’s To Like...

    The characters Ravenwood Stepson of Mystery and the Moon Man are both creations of Frederick C. Davis (1902-1977), who doesn’t even rate a Wikipedia page, even though Moon Man does.  I like that their “super powers” aren’t very super.  Ravenwood gets some occasional psychic advice from his guru, “The Nameless One”, while the only “special” thing the Moon Man has going for him is a spiffy costume with a bulletproof helmet that conceals his identity.

    Trumpet of Triton/Mesmerized is a duology (shouldn’t we call it a "bilogy"?) with the heroes getting separate storylines set in different US locations (New York City and ‘The Great City’) in the 1930’s.  Despite both being Pulp Fiction, the subgenres are different.  The Trumpet of Triton has fantasy and mythological tones (and I’m very partial to anything with Mythology in it), while Mesmerized can be best described as a “Caped Crusader Robin Hood” tale, and I also enjoy those immensely.

    Each story is about 80-90 pages in length, so I’d call them novellas.  The action in both starts immediately, the pacing is brisk, and Marlin Williams gets the characters introduced to you in short order.  At their core, both tales have a mystery to solve, and there's lots of suspense and intrigue to keep our heroes on their toes.

    I liked the literary nod to the old TV show, Kolchak, in Trumpet of Triton.  I was intrigued by The Nameless One, and I fell for the red herring in the plotline, but so will most readers.  Mesmerized surprised me with its clever plot twist and introduced me to the way-kewl word “catawampus” (see below).  I also liked the interactions among the Moon Man and his teammates.

    Both tales are standalone stories.  There are no chapters in either, but they are short enough not to need them.  If you want to read more stories with Ravenwood Stepson of Mystery, there are at least two recent publications featuring him available for your Kindle.  If you’d like to read Frederick C. Wilson’s original tales about these two superheroes on your Kindle, ANAICT, you’re out of luck.

    Oh yeah, there's a neat epilogue in the Trumpet of Triton.  I'll leave it to you to figure out its significance. 

Kewlest New Word…

Catawampus (adv.) : askew; awry; positioned diagonally; obliquely; cater-cornered.

Others : Apotropaic (adj.); Sheers (n., plural)

Excerpts...

    “Oh, and one more thing,” she said softly.

    He watched as she reached down and unfastened the top button of her blouse.

    “This is the only way I can pay you for your services.”

    Now, Ravenwood was more than intrigued, he was mesmerized as she unfastened the second button.

    She dipped her hand into her shirt and dredged up an amulet suspended by a gold chain.  “Do you know what this is?”  (pg. 12)

    “The Moon Man may be a thief, but he’s not a killer.”

    “Capone didn’t start out killing people either and look where his career took him.”  Gil took a drag off his cigar.  The tip fired red.  “Come to think of it, Capone’s a Girl Scout compared to the Moon Man!”  His words streamed out from his mouth encapsulated in puffs of smoke.

    “He steals from the rich and gives it to the poor.  What’s wrong with that?”

    "Ha!  You’re an officer of the law.  You should know that answer to that!”  (pg. 104)

“They are Atlanteans.” (…)   “Like from Georgia?”  (pg. 60)

    One of my hobbies over the years has been converting old vinyl LP’s into digital format.  I mainly select old and obscure artists and boxed sets; the kind often found at your local Goodwill store.  There’s really no reason to do this with, say, an old Beatles or Elvis album, since Amazon already has those available as digital downloads.  But I find it supremely rewarding to “resurrect” the music of someone not-so-famous that hasn’t been played in decades.

    That’s the way I feel about Marlin Williams reviving Ravenwood Stepson of Mystery and the Moon Man.  I’d never heard of either of these characters before, now I’m familiar with both of them.  And somewhere in the anthropomorphic reaches of our universe, two pulp heroes are smiling.

    I just don’t know whether to hope that Marlin Williams finds other long-forgotten pulp heroes to revitalize, or that he develops extended series for these two.  Maybe I should hope for both?!

    9 Stars.  Wikipedia has a fascinating article on Pulp Magazine which gives the history of this literary genre.  The link is here, but it also redirects from a Wiki search for “Pulp Science Fiction”, which is how I stumbled across it.

Strega Muirne - William Deen

2011; <100 pages.  New Author? : Yes.  Genre : Historical Fantasy; Horror.  Overall Rating : 6*/10.

    Italy.  760 AD (give or take a decade).  The Dark Ages are in full swing, and for Strega Muirne, a follower of "the old ways", it is a dangerous time.  Some in the Roman Catholic church have adopted a "Convert or Die" attitude, and she has been driven out of the city of Orvieto and into a cave.

    But worse things are about to happen, and via an unexpected source.

What's To Like...
    Strega Muirne is a novella, which means it would only be around 60-100 pages in length if it was in a printed book.  That shortness doesn't allow for much character depth/development.  The focus is on the core issue - how to stay true to your god(s) in the face of open persecution.  This is nicely done - the black-hats aren't all on one side or the other (ditto for the white-hats), and the story moves at a nice clip.

    The first half of the Strega Muirne is historical fiction.  Paganism certainly existed back then, (the wiki link to Stegheria is here) and the Christian church was aggressively stamping out all rival religions.  William Deen presents a plausible hypothesis - that 8th-Century stegheria is a holdover of the worshipping of the "classical" Roman gods and goddesses.

    The second half veers into the supernatural, presumably setting the tone for the rest of the series.  The ending is really nothing more than a teaser for the next novella, Stregone Alberich, which is as yet unpublished.

Excerpts...
    "I have dealt with your kind before.  Your beliefs are of the Devil and I will see them destroyed!"  In God's name he feared nothing and no one.  Except in this case.  The possibility a female conjurer was in league with the Devil frightened him.  For a moment, his faith faltered.  (3% Kindle)

    "They provided no herbs, no medicine?"  The ongoing discovery of the Christian ways and methods continued to confound Muirne.  She struggled to understand their approach, or lack thereof, when providing care to the sick.
    "No, Strega Muirne," the woman said.
    Nothing!  They offer nothing!  A few prayers then they trace a cross in the air and walk away.  (36% Kindle)

Kindle Details...
    I got this as a free download, which was a limited-time offer at Amazon.  It is now selling for $0.99.  I don't think it's available thru any of my local libraries.

"How could we let these pompous bastards gain authority over us?"  (15% Kindle)
    I enjoyed the first half of the book, because I wanted to see how Mr. Deen would handle what is historically "the losing side" of this religious struggle.  Three ways come to mind.

   First, there is the noble vanquished route as Morgan Llywelyn took in her "Druid" duology  (see here and here).  Second, you can delve into Alternate History, a la S.M. Stirling or Harry Turtledove.  And third, you can step into the horror genre, which of course is popular right now.

    The latter appears to be the path chosen, but I personally don't read much Horror.  Plus, I prefer novels to novellas.  There's a wonderful setting in Strega Muirne, as well as a challenging and fascinating conflict to explore.  Alas, I fear the inherent limitations of novellas (novellae?) will preclude the author from giving this the depth and complexity it deserves.

    6 Stars. although you might rate it higher it you like the Undead stomping through the plotline.