Literary Brooding

Percy Jackson - The Lightning Thief Rick Riordan (audio book) A two part review as this is an audio book and part of the experience is the narrator. Percy Jackson is a normal 11 year old who keeps getting expelled from schools but this time things are a little different. For Percy has been expelled for clashing with a mythological monster that unfortunately only he can see.   While Percy thinks he is alone, he soon discovers he is not. His friend Grover is not all that he seems and his mother knows more than she telling. It all culminates for Percy when a family get away turns into a disaster. Percy’s mother takes charge of the situation and she rushes Percy and Grover to a place where they will be safe, Camp Half Blood. At Camp Half Blood, Percy Jackson learns who he is a demi god. From here the adventure keeps rolling along at cracking pace. Riordan has created a world that works; it is easy to believe that gods of Ancient Greece are still in cohabitation with mod...

Dan Brown - Inferno (Langon Book 4) - audio book Brown is not going to be winning any literary prizes and to be honest I am not sure he cares given the amount of cash he rakes in each time he releases a book. So what happens is Langdon wakes up in a hospital with a convenient dose of amnesia and a pretty mysterious assistant, the Doctor Sienna Brooks to help him in his endeavours. From here Brown sets a cracking pace as the race against time has commenced. This is your standard pulp fiction thriller mystery that amazingly takes over about a 48 hour period. I think it is more like 24 hours but I did find it difficult at times to determine what the time period was. You pick up this book you are engaged as the pace is furious and when the book is finished you put it aside and think no more. I listened to the audio book and the quality was excellent. The characterisations are well crafted by the reader and he did a great job. However when a book is read aloud some of the flaws become ...

Great Australian Mysteries by John Pinkney This is a collection of mysteries that has been pulled together by John Pinkney. Some of the crime stories have been part of the Australian psyche for some time, especially that of the disappearance of the Beaumont Children and Juanita Nielson. Then there is stories about bunyips, missing ships, strange lights and every other strange going on is collated and presented. There are some interesting bits and pieces of information and it is an enjoyable read.

"She had one of those dark mezzo-soprano voices, the colour of mahogany" It is these seemingly simple statements that capture the essence of a person that continually bring me back to the writing of Madeleine St. John. She is becoming one of my favourite authors and I so glad that I came across her works. Enough of the gushing. Simon and Flora Beaufort are happily married with three children, that is the surface view but St. John slowly scrapes away the layers of the marriage and exposes the frai ...more A Pure Clear Light by Madeleine St John "She had one of those dark mezzo-soprano voices, the colour of mahogany" It is these seemingly simple statements that capture the essence of a person that continually bring me back to the writing of Madeleine St. John. She is becoming one of my favourite authors and I so glad that I came across her works. Enough of the gushing. Simon and Flora Beaufort are happily married with three children, that is the surface view bu...

The Conjurers – Marilyn Harris The tiny English village of the Domehaven lies close to Stonehenge and there is a primal evil that lurks in the stones. A group of outsiders who are led by young American Tom Brude, who holds a special power over them as they try to harness the supernatural. It is Easter Mulraven, a maternal, middle-aged woman who cares for this group of youngsters. She finds herself caught between protecting the young people in her care and trying to keep the prejudice of the townspeople at bay. That is what I think happens because I really did find this book to be confusing. Easter just seems to be there as a link to the community and a place for the young people to live. She spends most of her time in denial about the actions of the youngsters and lamenting the death of her father. Tom talks to Madame Blavatsky and exerts mind control over the group and Easter. The other characters have no real purpose but to be a contrast with young people versus old people,...

Two Lives of Charlemagne  Einhard & Notker the Stammerer  This is an interesting read as you have two writers presenting their version of the life of Charlemagne. They could be called biographies but that does not seem to really characterise what that they write. The first is written by Einhard who was present in Charlemagne's reign and the second some years later by a monk named Notker the Stammerer. Charlemagne also known as Charles the Great or Charles I, was the King of the Franks from 768, the King of Italy from 774, and from 800 the first emperor in western Europe since the collapse of the Western Roman Empire three centuries earlier. The expanded Frankish state he founded is called the Carolingian Empire. Charlemagne was the oldest son of Pepin the Short and Bertrada of Laon and was initially co-ruler with his brother Carloman I. Carloman's sudden death in 771 under unexplained circumstances left Charlemagne as the undisputed ruler of the Frankish Kingdom. Charle...

Bitter Greens - Kate Forsyth This is the first time I have read a novel by Kate Forsyth and I was drawn to the book as it was re-imagination of the Rapunzel fairy tale. I love fairy tales and I love how authors are revisiting these wonderful tales. What Kate Forsyth has achieved in this novel is quite remarkable as she has blended history, fantasy, magic, religion and romance into an enthralling tale about three women.   From the first page you are drawn into this wonderful world that lifts off the page. The central character is Charlotte Rose de la Force who having been banished to a convent after a series of scandalous love affairs during the reign of the Sun King Louis XIV.   As Charlotte attempts to come to terms with her banishment she recounts her lovers, the trials and tribulations of court life and her own desires to be a free woman who can write and earn a living. Margherita’s tale is entwined with that of Selena as they make their living in Vienna during...