Who Can Afford to Improvise?: James Baldwin and Black Music, the Lyric and the Listeners
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More than a quarter-century after his death, James Baldwin remains an unparalleled figure in...
Strongly Correlated Electrons in Two Dimensions
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The properties of strongly correlated electrons confined in two dimensions are a forefront area of...
River Cottage Easy
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How often have you wished there was a magic formula to make cooking easier? Well, there is. Put just...
Modeling, Simulation, and Control of a Medium Scale Power System: 2017
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This book highlights the most important aspects of mathematical modeling, computer simulation, and...
Against Autonomy: Lyotard, Judgement and Action
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This title was first published in 2001: Against Autonomy reassesses Jean-Francois Lyotard's...
Leanne Crabtree (480 KP) rated Grime and Punishment (The Brothers Grime #1) in Books
Jan 12, 2021
I’m rather picky about my MM Romances. I don’t know why, but I am. Josh Lanyon really started me on genre when I got book 4 in his Adrian English series for free one Christmas through All Romance E-Books. As soon as I read it I went and bought book 5 to see how it was all going to work out and I loved it. The only problem with that is the fact that I’ve probably been spoilt for most other MM books now.
That’s not to say it was bad or anything it just didn’t really do it for me, though I’m not entirely sure why. I liked the fact it was based around something different i.e. crime scene clearance, and it was interesting to read about the depth they go to to clean them.
The romance between the two main characters was quite sweet and progressed over time, which I liked much better than some others which just go straight into the hot and heavy. The two were likable in their own ways and when they finally kissed I was cheering them on.
I also really liked Gabe and Dave, they were always just looking out for Jack and trying to help him do the right thing, even if it didn’t always seem like it.
If you’re a fan of MM Romance’s then I’m sure you’ll like this.
Hazel (1853 KP) rated The Witchwood Crown in Books
Jul 22, 2017
Approximately 30 years ago, the first novel in Tad Williams’ Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy was published. Fans all over the world adored this high fantasy story about a young kitchen boy, Simon, who goes on to become King of Ostern Ard. Now Williams’ has returned to the fictional lands with a follow-up trilogy, The Last King of Ostern Ard.
Three decades have been and gone since the ending of the previous series. The Witchwood Crown explores the changes that have occurred since the epic story finished, unfortunately, things are not looking good. Simon and his wife, Miriamele, have suffered a few personal tragedies, leaving them with two fatherless grandchildren. Young Lillia is an out spoken child who expostulates with everyone in order to get her way – she is a princess after all. Morgan, the heir, is rather obtuse in comparison; a lazy young man whose vexatious behaviour constantly causes the Royals to despair. However, this is only a tiny problem in their restless kingdom.
The Norn Queen, an antagonist of the original story, has been asleep for the past few decades. Mortals foolishly believed they were safe from the evil character, yet unexpectedly, she has awoken and is determined to destroy humanity. Too weak to carry out her own plans, she infiltrates the minds of the members of her immortal race, sending them off on perilous missions, for example, to extract blood from a live dragon.
As well as Simon’s city and the Norns, there are several more important characters and locations, each with their own on going storyline. A mix of assiduous and animus personas shake up the peace that had settled at the closing of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. It is almost impossible to fathom whom the good and bad are, especially when reading from so many different points of view.
If the 700 odd pages did not already give it away, the inclusion of maps and appendixes prove the book to contain an extremely lengthy tale. Flitting from one set of characters to another, it is hard to keep up with the hundreds of names and roles. It does not help that the majority are unpronounceable, full of additional apostrophes making them as unlike English names as possible – a usual trait of fantasy fiction.
Not only are the names difficult to pronounce, the words and vernacular some of the characters use are just as dumbfounding. Thankfully, definitions are provided at the back of the book, but to keep flipping between pages can get quite tedious after a while.
The sheer number of characters makes it difficult to unearth the main storyline. In fact, there does not appear to be a strong plot at all. Judging by the ending, it is as though The Witchwood Crown is only an introduction to the narrative that will begin in the following book.
Reading the primary series first will have its benefits, however, it is not mandatory. New readers, like myself, are able to pick up snippets of past events and piece together the lead up to the current scenario. Although a work of historical fantasy, it is possible to see elements of real life within the story. Dragons and fairies may not exist in our world, but similar beliefs and systems are relatable. For instance, the days of the week are obviously based on the English names: Sunday, Moonday, Tiasday, Udunsday, Drorsday, Frayday and Satrinsday.
The most striking connection between real and imagined is the religious beliefs of different clans and species. Many of the mortals have taken, up what is suggested to be, a new religion. There are so many similarities; it is undoubtedly based on Christianity. Likewise, other beliefs are comparable to pagan rites and ceremonies of the distant past.
The Witchwood Crown is not an easy book to read, neither is it all that exciting. On the other hand, it is interesting. It is equivalent to reading historical information with the added benefit of mythical creatures. This is not a quick read; therefore you need to be dedicated to sitting down and pacing through the story. It is definitely targeted at high fantasy fans – in fact, the original stories influenced George R. R. Martin (A Game of Thrones) – who are used to the length and complexity of the narrative
Computational Aspects of Modular Forms and Galois Representations: How One Can Compute in Polynomial Time the Value of Ramanujan's Tau at a Prime
Bas Edixhoven, Jean-Marc Couveignes, Robin De Jong and Franz Merkl
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Modular forms are tremendously important in various areas of mathematics, from number theory and...
Social Enterprise and Special Events
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During the past twenty years, the field of nonprofit management has grown significantly in terms of...
Investigating Human Error: Incidents, Accidents, and Complex Systems
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In this book the author applies contemporary error theory to the needs of investigators and of...