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Morgan Sheppard (926 KP) created a post

Feb 19, 2024  
Slippers and Songs (Brodyr Alarch #1)

“Don’t worry, they can’t see us. Who are you? And why are you wearing my friend’s blanket like a cloak? The old man had silver-grey hair swept back off his face, his moustache and beard matching. His robes were of dark blue, brown, and gold, showing off the golden tones of his skin that looked youthful, belying the colour of his hair, with startling blue eyes that shone with intelligence as he watched Brenin carefully.

“Me? Friend?” Brenin gulped as he tried to still his racing heart and make sense of what was happening.

The old man chuckled softly. “Ah, I forget what it’s like to speak to us, especially when you’re not expecting it, eh? Let me introduce myself. I am Taliesin, also called Taliesin Ben Beirdd, known as a god of inspiration, magical transformation, poetic wisdom, and dancing.” He gestured with his arm to the Great Hall, where everyone had moved onto the next dance.

#Fantasy
#Romance
#WelshGods
#BrodyrAlarch
#BrothersGrimm
#FairytaleRetelling

https://books2read.com/SlippersandSongs
Art from https://oldworldgods.com/brythonics/taliesin-celtic-god
      
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Ross (3284 KP) rated The Siege of Abythos in Books

Nov 7, 2017  
The Siege of Abythos
The Siege of Abythos
Phil Tucker | 2017 | Science Fiction/Fantasy
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Poetry battle (2 more)
Poetry battle
Poetry battle
The third instalment in the Chronicles of the Black Gate series is the biggest yet, in terms of page count. The story follows the same PoV characters as previous books but their adventures are now covering so much more of the world and the storyline is becoming quite entangled.
Tharok's attempts to unite the orc-like kragh tribes and invade the human world continue, meanwhile Lady Iskra seeks to rescue her son and take revenge on the Ascendant's empire.
This book covers a lot more political debate and intrigue than the previous two, with prolonged discussion of who should be invaded, and what should be done thereafter. While this is very much a necessity in such an epic tale I felt it was somewhat laboured at times.
I very nearly gave up on this book at one point - where the portly magister Audsley (who has three demons lurking in his soul) was seeking to inveigle his way into the upper echelons of the empire, most of this storytelling centred around the colour of robes to wear, the type and colour of paper to use in sending letters and reciting poetry. Again this was very much laboured but bearable, until it looked like we were heading for what can only be described as a poetry battle, where Audsley (coached by one of his demons) was set to take on a senior government official's poetry representative in a battle of wits to see how would curry favour in the empire.


That's right: a poetry battle.
Think Philip Larkin in 8 Mile.
Will the real Slim Shakespeare please stand up.
Kanye Wordsworth.
NWA (Novelists with Assonance)


At this point I very nearly gave up. Thankfully, so did Audsley and the contest ended abruptly as he refused to let his demon take control of him. Phew. Disaster avoided. If this had been allowed to continue it would have made Tom Bombadil look like a critical plot point.


Other than Audsley's chapters (which in the previous book had been a highlight) the book does roll along at a reasonable pace and there is just about enough action to keep the interest, particularly in the last 100 or so pages.


All in all, a good read and a turning point for the series as a whole, but a lot of nonsense could have been removed, (Edgar Allan) Poe Shizzle.