Empty Shelf/Mad Reviewer #36 - Hideous Creatures by S. E. Lister

This really is a truly remarkable novel, which I truly hope begins snowballing in terms of how widely it is read.

Arthur Hallingham, the youngest son of an English earl, is on the run from his former life in England, though we do not find out for a long time as to why that is. He meets a mysterious man named Shelo, whom Arthur felt call to him from across the ocean. Together they set out to change the world, though Arthur is reliant on only breadcrumbs of information that Shelo chooses to share with him.

This is historical fiction with dark, fantastical twists. The writing coaxes you along, gently, offering you threads of information, neatly weaving them into a great, big tapestry you don't see clearly until the very end. The descriptions are elegant and lyrical, with almost throwaway phrases that don't seem to matter at first glance, but unawares they create vivid backdrop of the world the reader is drawn into.

When the story does reach its stunning, dramatic conclusion you wonder how you didn't figure it out before, because it makes so much sense, though it is painful and heart wrenching.

If you haven't read this amazing book, do. It's hard to believe that this is only a debut novel - it reads like the work of a much more experienced author. I can't wait for her next book, "The Immortals".

Empty Shelf/Mad Reviewer #34 and #35 - Academ's Fury and Cursor's Fury

Books 2 and 3 of the excellent "Furies of Calderon" series by Jim Butcher.

Academ's Fury is set two years after the end of Furies of Calderon. Tavi has been at the Academy in Alera Imperia, and page to the First Lord, Gaius, who is suffering from sleepless nights and personal torment, though no one really knows why. Tavi still has not come into his furies but has made some excellent friends at the Academy, including Max and Ehren.

Meanwhile, Alera is set to face a much greater threat than ever before. The Marat tell Bernard and Amara of the vord, deadly creatures that can reproduce at terrifying rates, and destroy whole communities at alarming speed, both from outward physical destruction and possessing humans. Bernard, Amara and co set out to find the nearest vord nest, most particularly to eliminate the queen, without whom the vord cannot continue. The problem is, nests can spread and numerous queens can emerge. The vord are a dire threat indeed.

I really enjoyed getting more into the politics of Alera that Tavi's being in the city enabled the reader to experience, as well as still having the perspective of what was going on outside the main city. Butcher has constructed a world plausible and authentic down to the last detail, the bitter words spoken by two ambitious enemies. Minus the added element of the furies, you could be reading dramatisation of actual history. The politics and the intrigue make this series as entertaining and gripping as the supernatural and fantasy elements.

Cursor's Fury is set another two years after Academ's Fury has closed. This time, Tavi is fully-qualified Cursor, though still fury-less, and sets out on his first project. This is to a legion made up of men from all over the empire, never intended to see battle and one which made of the High Lords use to their full espionage advantage. However, reports come in of a mass invasion of the Canim, and the legion is sent to defend the borders. When the Captain gets severely wounded, Tavi has to take his place.

Meanwhile, through Isana's perspective, we get to know more about Tavi and the mystery behind his fury-less nature. Through flashbacks, we learn of Isana's love affair with a man called Septimus, the late Princeps, and Fade, the branded slave who is not actually a slave but an extremely talented swordsman who has followed Isana and Tavi since the battle that killed Isana's lover.

In this book we get to see Tavi come into his own. He is very good at what he does, which is strategise, look after and inspire the men, and put to use all of his talents that have been emerging since Book 1. Though he still struggles with the shame - as he perceives it - of not having furies, he finally begins to accept it and be grateful for what he does have - which is extraordinary mental skills, strategy, and leadership.

Just when you're beginning to wonder where the vord got to though, never fear. The book ends with Tavi's fear as to why exactly the Canim decided to leave their homeland, and realises it could only be for one reason.

Another excellent edition to the brilliant series. I highly recommend.

Tribute

Not a day goes by where I don't think about my Dad, but recently it's been more frequent, more concentrated. Maybe because it's the holidays, so there's more head space from not concentrating on work, but more likely it's to do with the fact that I've had my first birthday with him not being around, coupled with big life changes coming up (my teacher training) and he's not around to gently and patiently talk me through things.

I was also reminded that some people who were not able to attend Dad's funeral would still like to be able to access the tribute that I wrote and read out (how I did that without dissolving into a puddle of tears is beyond me, but I'm so glad I got through it). So, I'm typing it up here. 

~*~

As I'm truly my father's daughter, I'm going to be splitting up my talk into three parts, in order to effectively show why my Dad was amazing. 

Firstly, he was truly a man of God. My family have received to the tune of nearly two hundred cards, or thereabouts, and almost all of them, whether the sender was a Christian or not, referred to Dad's faith. Dad was a rock; strong and sturdy and able to withstand most any storm because he had built his life on the true rock - that is to say, firm faith in God. He did have times of momentary complaints, particularly these last few months, but who wouldn't have in his condition? Yet even in those times he held to be true that God knew what He was doing, and at the end of the day, that was all dad needed. As a family we were able to cope with Dad being ill that much better because if Dad was at peace within himself, we could be as well.

Secondly, his personality showed him to be humorous, matter of fact, and a man of simple taste. Buying his birthday and Christmas presents was always a bit of a headache. Forget trying to buy for the man who has everything - try buying for the man who genuinely doesn't want anything. He was happy with a second-hand paperback - though we usually defied his wishes and got him new editions - notebooks in which to write his sermons, and a bag of jelly babies. While reading back through phone messages from him, it was funny and touching to read things like: "the smells of Nan's cooking are wafting up the stairs,", "Granddad's roast lamb today, sweetie, are you jealous?", or, most often, "just had some of Nan's homemade rice pudding. Cracking." One or two days before he passed, when Nan had changed his sheets, he looked at Nan and said, "This isn't Lenor." While it was terrible to see him in the condition he was, those three words broke the tension as we could still see Dad in there. Indeed regularly through his illness he made jokes about it, saying "if you can't have a laugh, what can you do?"

Thirdly Dad was a huge family man and, together with our wonderful mum, did everything he could to make sure us kids had a great upbringing. He always said he would do everything he could to make sure we'd never miss out on opportunities that came our way. From driving me to orchestra and steel pans gigs, to taking my siblings to work, football, friends' houses, or whatever else, to helping us the best he could with school without being pushy. Indeed he was a great believer in education, striving to achieve his very best and helping my siblings and me in whatever career path we chose. 

I used to take my experiences with Dad for granted. It wasn't until I started working in a secondary school, encountering vulnerable and often fatherless children, that I realised how lucky Dave, Matt, Esther and I were with regards to how much Dad loved and supported us. He was extremely proud of his children and family. My siblings and I have a video message from Dad which we recorded about a week before he passed. It's short but nonetheless precious. We were able to see Dad through to the very end. He passed into the Lord's presence while surrounded by his family in the comfort of his own bed. 

At this point I want to make it very clear how grateful the family is to the NHS for everything over the past few years. From the oncologists, doctors and nurses who oversaw Dad's treatments, to the district nurses and those from the hospice who went above and beyond, to the incredible staff at the Edward Jenner unit. In your hands Dad benefited from not only your knowledge but your care and compassion, which was so precious and valuable to him and to us. 

Thank you to everyone in Dad's life; to his friends and colleagues at Lakers, to this wonderful church family, and everyone else who knew and loved Dad. Thank you for your support and prayers throughout this difficult time.

We are devastated to no longer have Dad with us but we are so grateful for the time we had. We thank God and give glory to Him for watching over Dad and giving him the strength to carry on. We take immense comfort in knowing that Dad is in the presence of not just his God and Saviour, but other illustrious figures he looked forward to meeting; Moses, Paul, Elijah, Charles and John Wesley, and goodness knows who else.

We thank God that though this goodbye is difficult it is temporary, and we have a hope that cannot be shaken. One day we will meet Dad again, and we'll be in God's presence to boot. What a precious and sweet thought that is. 

Empty Shelf/Mad Reviewer #33 Raging Star, Moira Young.

The epic conclusion to the Blood Red Road trilogy, and it was worth waiting the weeks I had to wait to read it. We left Saba and co fleeing from Ressurection, New Eden’s HQ-cum-prison. A lot of the gang are dead. They have no idea what to do now except resist in any way they can. The book opens with them daring to blow up a bridge, though it’s seriously bad timing and a lot of people die. Saba loses her nerve. The others begin to think they can’t trust her. Then, Saba has a revelation. They can’t fight DeMalo and his visions with violence. They have to use what he ignores as weakeness – love. In New Eden, families are torn apart. DeMalo is building his world on a weak foundation of broken bonds and fear. Saba decides to use this to bring him down.

Yet, she struggles. She struggles with her passion for DeMalo. She knows him to be evil but can’t resist his attraction and his grand vision for the world. It’s her love for Jack, her family, and the rest of the population – the population not lucky enough to be DeMalo’s ‘Chosen Ones’ – that keeps her in check. She’s determined to fight for freedom and a share of New Eden for everyone, whatever it takes.

I was worried that this book was going to suffer from end-of-trilogy syndrome, like Mockingjay and Allegiant. It’s not my favourite of the trilogy, but it doesn’t feel rushed and the conclusion is a satisfying one. As a YA series, it’s one of the best I’ve read. I highly recommend.

Empty Shelf/Mad Reviewer Challenge #32 The Fault In Our Stars, John Green.

I could talk for England about this book. I feel like I have done already. I’ve bought copies for people, lent my copy out to friends, and it is now currently working its way around some of the teenage girls at school. There is a bit in TFIOS about reading a book that fills you with evangelical zeal and you have to get everybody to read it before the world can be put right. That’s how I feel about it.

The basic plotline does not do justice to the epicness of the story. Girl meets boy. Girl has cancer. Boy in remission from cancer. They fall in love. Go. You know it’s going to end badly. You wonder what you’re doing to yourself. But it’s worth it.

Hazel and Augustus are my favourite ever literary characters. The first time I read this book I was in Pret A Manger in Canterbury, having just borrowed it from Canterbury city centre library, and I had to leave the café because I was laughing so much. Yes, the cancer hangs over Hazel and Augustus’ heads as an ever-present threat, but they really get how to be young and alive while still remaining genuine and real. Their courage lets up. They have bad days and they’re not afraid to show it. They are just ordinary kids living with a horrible disease. They don’t let it define them.

I cannot recommend this book enough. Oh, and with regards to the film? In my opinion it’s the best book-to-film adaptation I’ve ever seen. The bits they cut out don’t make the film lose out in quality or detract from the story. Read it, watch it. It probably will break your heart, but it’s worthy for that to be okay.

Empty Shelf/Mad Reviewer Challenge #31 Sabriel, Garth Nix

Yet another great find, lent to me by the friend who has really good taste in books. Sabriel is the daughter of a necromancer called the Abhorsen, but what is different about this necromancer is that he does not raise the dead. He keeps them beyond the gates of death and stops them from reappearing in the natural world.

Sabriel, whilst at boarding school in Ancelstierre, realises that her father is missing. She knows it can only be something particularly disastrous that has happened to him so she leaves school to cross into the Old Kingdom to try and find him. With the help of a strange, snarky cat called Mogget, and Touchstone, who was trapped as the figurehead of a ship for a few hundred years, they find out what happened to her father. 

This is a great, easy read. I must confess I was put off at first when I discovered that the context of this book was necromancy, having never gone in for anything that dark in terms of themes before, but my misgivings soon gave way to being swept up in the story. I really enjoy the characters, particularly Mogget – his sarcasm and condescension are very entertaining – and it’s a really good, well-paced plot. A really good tale for lovers of fantasy. 

About the Strike

It's 07:32 and I'm sitting in a classroom at my place of work. About ten minutes ago I approached the front gate, in front of which were standing a few teachers. Behind them were placards resting against the bars. I got handed a piece of paper which explained why they were striking.

Reading the piece of paper saddened me. As someone who is married to a teacher and, in my job, supports teachers in a variety of lessons, I can see the strain they are under, and even that word is an understatement.

I am getting really sick of people who say that teaching must be such an easy job - you only have to be in school between 9-3:30, and you have all the holidays on top of that. What right have teachers to complain?

They have a right because the average teacher is now working 60 hours per week, yet their paid hours are perhaps fewer than two thirds of that. As a teacher, you never switch off. There is always more lesson planning to be done, more books to mark, more emails to be answered, more data to track, more more more. And that's besides the teaching - getting a class of nearly thirty students to be engaged and quiet for nearly an hour? I'd like to see the critics try to do that, especially when a lot of students are switched off before they even enter the classroom because they don't like the subject. I'd like to see the critics experience the holidays of a teacher, because they're never just holidays. They are desperate respite times during which teachers try to catch up on every part of their job that is not the actual teaching. I spoke to a teacher who spent six hours of his bank holiday marking non-stop.

Good luck to all the teachers - and every other public sector worker - who are striking today. Let's hope Gove will finally listen, even if that hope is a small one.