Hexologists by Josiah Bancroft

 

     The main characters of this fabulous book are the extremely rare happily married couple with no children. There are plenty of Fantasy books that start out with a happy married couple, but that scenario normally does not last long.

There are two POV that narrate this tale Isolde and Warren. Or,  Iz and War, as they loving call each other, run a small business of Hexes for sale to get rid of curses. Isolde is added by small fabric bag left to her by her mysterious and absent father. Iz and War's world is turned upside-down when the King's secretary shows up at their door with the news that the King is suffering from a curse. 

     Bancroft uses a Jane Austin era world.  A very familiar setting, with a simple magic system that in on the wane. It is a setting that I am very familiar with, so the learning curve of understanding the magic system is very simple. At its heart, it is a mystery tale. That part of the story has the nice twist and turns you want in a mystery plot. 

This was a book I really, really looked forward to.  Bancroft's Books of Babel Series is one of my all-time favorites.  I am super happy that the originality and prose that made the Books of Babel so readable has returned in this first book of a new series.

Words of Kings and Prophets by Shauna Lawless

       Nice to be retired but sometimes, when at the tail end of my monthly budget, one can be forced into austerity measures in an attempt to make one's money last until the next infusion of funds. A good book can help these few days be more bearable. I can fall into a nice routine of sleep, read, eat, nap, read, swim, read, eat, read, sleep, over the course of 4 days and nights, and stay entertained and busy.  

      I am lucky because fabulous follow up to The Children of Gods and Fighting Men came in at the right moment.  The setting is Ireland in the year 1000 AD.  In a mixture of Historical Fiction laced with Fantasy elements, Shauna Lawless| continues the story of Gromflaith and Fodla, who are the main POVs who narrate the tale. Both hide their magical abilities, while trying to fit in a world where magic is fading and seen as a danger. While Fodla wants to heal people and Gromflaith only wants to rule people. 

     The book has a great pace to it, and the story flows in an easy manner. Most of the characters from The Children of Gods and Fighting Men return, so the learning curve for keeping the characters straight in your mind is easier. I did a short Wiki of Ancient Ireland 1000 AD to get a feel of the era. The Fantasy elements are straight out of Irish Mythologies, as the long arc plot is the Fomorians versus the Tuatha De Danann, both considered supernatural beings in the mythological writings.   

     Time flew by while I was reading this lovely book. Always a good sign how much I was engaged with the characters, the worldbuilding, and plot. Did not want to stop reading and was one of the first things each day i got back to.  One of the best books I have read in 2023.   

Crowded Room Apple +

 

  If Tom Holland does not win the Emmy for Best Actor in a Limited Series, I will be a bit mad for a good solid 3 or 4 weeks. I have liked just about everything Tom Holland has been in film wise, so a solid good job by himself and his agents in lining up a solid filmography,

    Good old Rotten Tomatoes has a 92-fan rating with a 34-critic rating for the Crowded Room.  For some reason the critics did not like this series, which kind of baffles me a bit. The lead actors, the supporting cast, and the writing are all first rate, completely different from what the critics write in their reviews. 

      Which dooms Tom's well-deserved Emmy. Unless there is a course correction from the critics. How long can a fan favorite series be dissed by a few bad reviews so out of step with the public? 

House of Odysseus by Claire North

     I jump right into this tale after finishing the first in the series, Ithaca. There is a new literary trend of taking old myths where the female characters were not fleshed out to reflect motives or agency, and rewrite the tales. The most popular of these is Cicre by Madeline Miller. I hope Claire North's book reaches that popularity level, as the books are quite enjoyable. 

   I have found neighbors to fall into three categories, The Nice, The Troubled and The Trouble. For Queen Penelope visiting neighbors falls into the latter categories. The Troubled, as represented in the characters Orestes and his sister Electra. The Trouble, as represented by the King of Sparta. Menelaus and his infamous wife Helen, who turn out to be a willing helper to Penelope. 

    The tale has multiple POVs, prominente among them is Aphrodite, the Goddess. We also hear Electra, Athena and Hera amongst other goddesses. Penelope also has a major POV, as it is her story. It all adds up to a delicious tale that more is happening on the Isle of Ithaca then just the weaving of a tapestry and holding off the notorious "Hundred Suitors,"

    Now, I have to admit I love Greek Mythologies since I took a 7th grade class in the subject.  Nearly a decade later, Penguin Classic reprinted new editions.  I was working at an independent bookstore at that time and was able to score copies of Robert Fagels translations of The Iliad, The Odysseus, and The Aeneid.  It was in one of the Forwards that I learned that the Homeric tales were oral traditions written down hundreds of years after in which the tale travelled about the then Greek World, with each area (City-States?) adding to the tale. It is now believed Homer was the GOAT of traveling orators, and thus earned the attribution as author. I am now in the mind that The Iliad and The Odyssey are the most famous Fan Fic ever. 

     I did the audiobook version of the House of Odysseus.  It was narrated by the very entertaining Catrin Walker-Booth, who in the oral tradition of Homer, nails it. 

     

 

Ithaca by Claire North

 

     After the success of Madeline Miller's Circe and Song of Achillies it is nice to see there is a literary market for others to mine from the mythologies of the past.  Claire North, whose The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August I found to be a fantastic read and, after many years, I still think about that tale. 

     Ithaca's King Odysseus sailed off to fight in the Trojan War, then got lost coming home, at least as told by Homer.  While Penelope and son Telemachus get a bit of attention in the great poem The Odyssey, there is a lot of room to add even more to the story.  Which is fitting, as current scholarly consensus believes that the Homeric tales had many contributors who added to the stories. (The blind performer Homer was most likely the most famous orator and had his name attached to the works.)  So, Claire North has really just continued what might be the oldest Fan Fic in existence.

    Claire North has given Penelope more than just a tapestry to make and unmake. Penelope is a Queen of Ithaca and has the people of Ithaca to look after, besides the servant of her house which is currently being besieged by the "100 Suitors of Penelope."  With help from the goddesses Hera and Athena, Claire North fleshes out the character of Penelope by giving her a slew of problems to solve.  

    I loved the performance of the narrator Catrin Walker-Booth. My first experience with the narrator, but not my last as I have House of Odysseus all lined up as my next listen. 

Location, Location, Location.

      One of the first things I did when I decided to move to Thailand was where to live. One thing I have learned was no matter where you move, make sure there is a supermarket within walking distance to make life way easier. One of the joys of the modern world is I could check google maps and determine how long it would take to walk to public transportation and a supermarket from a condo I choose to move to, from my home in Long Beach California, half a world away. The modern world giveth and the modern world taketh. 

    This is my local mall here in Samut Prakan. "Imperial World" mall is showing its age, but it has its advantages. One, it has "Big C," one of the major supermarkets in Thailand. All the stuff you need to survive is in the "Big C."  For me, that includes mostly breakfast stuff. Eggs (The eggs are not refrigerated in the store, but I put them in the fridge at home, so weird right), bacon, tabasco and coffee. I only cook breakfast; lunch and dinner options are so cheap and healthier than anything I could cook.

     One of my lunch options is in the basement of Imperial World. All malls in Thailand are set up the same way, The bottom floor is the areas where to find the food court.  You load a card from the cashier, and wander about looking for a tasty dish. I have a go to, a 60 Bhat ($1.70) chicken and rice dish that fills me up, Besides the food court, there are a smattering of chain restaurants. My local Pizza Company is in the basement. One thing to know is that the size of a medium pizza is more like a small pizza back home in the USA. A large pizza here is a medium pizza there. Now that it is football season, pizza on Sunday Nights is back in play. 

    Since my neighborhood is working class, Imperial World Mall stores reflect this economic reality. inexpensive clothing, both in the mall and along both sides of the mall. If I pay more than $15 dollars for something, I feel ripped off. The downside is that very few shirts fit me in the mall. I need the XXL, because like pizza, shirt sizes are way off too. Pants are on the tight side too. But it is still inexpensive. It just does not help my self-image now I am wearing XXL and snug pants. 

Bourgeoisie Mall 

Working Class Mall 

Tainted Dominion Series By Krystle Matar.

   My first literary genre love was "Mystery."  It started with the Encyclopedia Brown series by Donald J Sobol when i was just a wee one .  Then the Hardy Boys and the fabulous Nancy Drew. My Mom was a big Agatha Christie fan and I got to read those, as those were in the family's bookcase.  Yes, I was in the 5th grade and reading Agatha. To this day, I love a good mystery, although lately it has been a smattering of Scandinavian authors. 

    Which gets me to this fabulous tale. It was part of SPFBO 7 (Self Published Fantasy Blog Off or Spiff-Bo) contest, came in second but in my own personal ratings I had it tied with Norylska Groans which also did not win. (I blame one blog site, who have too many " It can't be a good book if it contains this subject" rules. In the recent SPFBOs the blog site is no longer part of the judging blog teams, which is good because their scores were way off compared to the other bloggers.)

      This book is a murder mystery set in a world in which individuals with magical talent are called the "Tainted," which gives the reader an impression of how the Government treats these individuals. This is a slow reveal type book. Worldbuilding happens without the reader noticing it is happening, which I always appreciate.  It is a Charles Dickens like setting, one the reader should recognize if they are any type of Anglofile like me. 

Two POVs narrate the story.  If you like the combination of a Fantasy/ Mystery plot this book is for you. 

                                                     

Second book in the Tainted Dominion series. I discovered the first book in the series, [book:Legacy of the Brightwash|55962500], when it was part of SPFBO 7.  Way back in 2021, and I still remember just about everything about it.  That is what you want in a reading experience, to have a book resonate with you and you think about it long after you put it down.  As with a lot of second book in the series, this is the set up for the third 'big explosive' series finale.  Sometimes, the set up second book has pacing problems, thankfully this is not a problem here. In fact, the only problem with this book is it screwed up my sleeping goals. I stayed up way too late and woke up way too early because I wanted to get back to the tale.  Needless to say, I am psyched for the finale.