Hippoi Athanatoi
- The Wars of Light and Shadow
- More Belated Book Talk
- What I Read in 2023
- All the Seas of the World
- The Wheel of Our Time
Guess who started this post a couple of months ago and didn’t finish until today? While, of course, reading even more that I want to review in yet another future post. ;)
My reading pace for 2024 looked good at the start, but then it slowed down markedly as I filled my schedule with way too many dog trainings and dog shows. Those re-reads I didn’t finish last year are still hanging around, though I certainly made room in my schedule for Mark Lawrence’s The Book that Broke the World, which will get its own post eventually. I also ended up picking up a Kindle reader when my Surface Go decided to die on me, so I’ve had a bit of an adjustment period. Its definitely much nicer to read on, though its not great for browsing for new books.
Some of the books I want to comment on I finished before the end of last year, but I might as well get properly caught up. I don’t remember the precise order, but lets start with The Tainted Cup, first in a new series by Robert Jackson Bennett.
Bennett…
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Idle ramblings about life, dog training, riding and much more.
The Wars of Light and ShadowIn 1993, Janny Wurts released The Curse of the Mistwraith, the first book of The Wars of Light and Shadow. This year, in May, the 11th and final volume – Song of the Mysteries – was published. One of the most ambitious fantasy epics begun in the 90’s had finally reached its conclusion. And that…
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Photos of us, our dogs and assorted adventures.
This is from the academic track, titled “Questioning Camelot”. Pictured are the moderator Edward James, Dr. Faye Ringel, and Dr. Kari Maund. Dr. Ringel’s topic, “When Knighthood was in Flour”, was an amusing look at the use of the Arthurian legendarium for social, political, and even commercial purpose in late 19th century America (the highlight was the girl’s youth league known as the Queens of Avalon, with all the girls taking names like Lady Florence Nightingale or Lady Victoria of England; the head of each group was known as Morgan le Fay). It was interesting.
Dr. Maund’s was quite cool, as it shot down many pre-conceptions regarding Celtic attitudes towards women, as well as other things, thanks to Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Mists of Avalon. We had to leave for another pair of panels before this was done, so didn’t get a chance to see the Q&A session.
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Logs of MUSH roleplay from various games.A Hunt Goes AwryPrince Marence is out hunting with his court when a messenger arrives with news of his envoy to the rebellious Lady Yronwood.
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Reviews of books and other media.All the Seas of the World
In All the Seas of the World, Kay returns once more to his most frequently revisited alternate history setting, where the stories often touch upon the tensions between the followers of the three major religions: the Asharites, the Jaddites and the Kindath. I have not consciously reflected on this…