“Stories and songs are the language of the heart.” – Merlin Review

Title: Merlin Author: Stephen R. Lawhead Genre: Historical fantasy Rating: 3.5/5 Last week, I wrote a rather raving review of Stephen Lawhead’sTaliesin, which was written in third person. The sequel, which follows the story of Merlin, the son of the main characters in Taliesin, was written in first and the change of voice shocked me, particularly as I picked …

“Whatever is done cannot be undone, but whatever is lost can sometimes be found” – Taliesin Review

Title: Taliesin Author: Stephen R. Lawhead Genre: Historical fantasy Rating: 4/5 Taliesin, the first book in prolific author Stephen Lawhead’s  Pendragon Cycle begins years before the more familiar time of Arthur. It also manages to combine two of my favourite things: Greek style mythology and Celtic mythology. How, you wonder? That you’ll have to find out for yourself but, …

“Everything is this, now.” – My Brilliant Friend Review

Title: My Brilliant Friend Author: Elena Ferrante (trans. by Ann Goldstein) Genre: Historical Fiction Rating: 4/5 "Children don’t know the meaning of yesterday, of the day before yesterday, or even of tomorrow, everything is this, now..." This book was lent to me on whim by a friend. She pressed it into my hands and insisted I read it. …

Camp NaNoWriMo – A Review

So, I took part in Camp NaNoWriMo this year, and boy is it a different beast to normal NaNoWriMo. If the November session is a huge street party of creativity, the Carnevale of writing, Camp NaNoWriMo truly is a camp. That one you went on when you were like thirteen, stuck in the woods or …

Scrivener – the Initial Verdict

I downloaded the free 30 day trial of Scrivener (for Windows) on Monday. I'd been weighing up whether or not to do this for weeks, if not months. Scrivener is marketed as an unapologetically Mac-focused word processor and I use not-Mac (PC? Computers are not my strong suite). When I first looked at Scrivener, a couple …

A Journey Through Time

Last Friday I opened WordPress to check and reply to the comments and found a surprise waiting for in the notifications bar - a trophy and a congratulatory message on two years of this blog. Two years is a long time and I have trouble believing it is that long because it feels to me …

A Legend Reborn: How Changing Voice Can Disorient

So a few weeks ago I wrote a rather raving review of Stephen Lawhead's Taliesin, which was written in third person. The sequel, following Merlin, the son of the main characters in Taliesin, was written in first and the change of voice shocked me, particularly as I picked it up straight after finishing the first …

A Legend Reborn: How Stephen Lawhead Reinvented Arthurian Legend

Taliesin, the first book in prolific author Stephen Lawhead's  Pendragon Cycle begins years before the more familiar time of Arthur. It also manages to combine two of my favourite things: Greek style mythology and Celtic mythology. How, you wonder? That you'll have to find out for yourself but odd as it sounds, Lawhead manages to …

Wednesday Returns

Before I get into all the WIPpety details, here is my updated blogging schedule. Mondays: My Summer Series, this year the focus is on book reviews. The idea is to do a book review on a new book every week. The books are ones that have been sitting on my shelf unread for far too …

“Instinct is everything.” – The Pagan Lord Review

Author: Bernard Cornwell Genre: Historical fiction Rating: 3/5 The Pagan Lord tells the tale of Uhtred, a renowned Saxon warrior, at a turning point of British history when the Danes and Saxons battle for control of the country itself while Christianity battles with the Old Norse Gods for supremacy in the hearts of men. I initially picked it …