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We each have our blessings and our curses. In the end it makes us equals.

Elizabeth Haydon, Rhapsody Child of Blood

I had to look in the front of my copy of Rhapsody, Child of Blood, by Elizabeth Haydon to determine when and where I first found her Symphony of Ages series. It turned out it was the used bookstore near my house near the university. According to the written $5 price tag in front of the first three books in the series, I became hooked by those first three books to a Namer, an Assassin, and a giant Sergeant-Major who forged a friendship based on a rescue and an abduction.

Rhapsody was a beautiful find. Back when many of my favourite books had male leads, Rhapsody appeared with a female protagonist who made mistakes and yet believed in herself and the rules she lived by. Rhapsody grew up in a rural environment. Naive to the world events, she left for the city once she had her heart and trust broken. In the city, she found life was not easier, yet she survived. Until the day came, Michael, a previous client and tormentor, sent his men to kidnap her. Cornered, she asked two thugs in the ally temporarily to adopt her and renamed the assassin, Brother, to Achmed the Snake. At that moment, she changed all of their destinies and ended up abducted. She used her abilities as a Namer to rename him, then Achmed kept her close as he ran from the demon who enslaved him until the renaming.

“As to who I am, and your fate, both of those are yet to be determined. You spoke my name and then changed it. Normally this would only be an annoyance, but those who are hunting us can make the dead speak, and surely will if they feel they can learn something.

Achmed the Snake, formerly Brother; Elizabeth Haydon, Rhapsody

Thus began the journey of the three companions, though Rhapsody was not a willing one. The three fled Serendair island within the roots of the ancient tree. Time passed at greater speed outside the roots, and by the time they reached the other side, they arrived in another time and place.

I fell in love with Rhapsody after she met her new travel companions. The tenacity of her character and her ability to see the good in life is inspiring. The series itself is full of fast action, regime changes, the building of empires, and love. Yet it is Rhapsody’s personal journey as she mourns her former life and moves towards a new one I found to empathize with.

I did not travel along the roots of time, but I have left behind family and friends as we have moved between countries. It is always hard to say goodbye and to mourn the bits of yourself you leave behind. Finding yourself and your place in a new town, state, country, continent is difficult. It is your travel companions you depend on most Luckily for me, my companions are family, however, it would amuse me to travel with Grunthor.

Elizabeth Haydon wrote the book in a style I would expect focusing on a singer. There are slow parts and fast parts held together by the rhythm of Rhapsody’s growth and emotions. At some points she is contemplative, and the movement is slow, at others she is fighting to survive and the pacing is fast.

An intriguing part of the character development for me is how two-dimensional Rhapsody appears to the male population. She is a focus of adoration or lust, not a complete individual. If it wasn’t for her growing relationships with Achmed and Grunthor, she wouldn’t be interesting. Those two make the story and bring out the qualities in Rhapsody that prove she is more than a thing to look at.

Achmed has wounds on his wounds, he has so much emotional and physical baggage. His temperament, on a good day communicative, his awareness of the world as a stark place where those fighting for power will use any means necessary to take and keep power. He was the reason I loved the series. Grunthor grows little but is a mentor character. With a big heart and an enormous collection of weapons, he is well aware of who he is and is content. The two of them caused a lot of damage along their travels, but never to gather power. They were survivors.

As they released this book in 1999, it does not have the fast action expected in epic fantasies today. Instead, it builds and ebbs. But if you enjoy changes of pace within a book, it is an enjoyable series. Rhapsody becomes more than a face, while Grunthor and Achmed find a cause worth fighting for. There are other characters who become important as the series continues, but for me, Achmed and Grunthor’s stories hold the most intrigue, with Rhapsody’s personal growth as a second. The world-building is unique and exquisite, the plot interesting, overall, I enjoyed reading the series to its end.

Happy Reading!

I first found S.M. Reine through her Seasons of the Moon Series. There were a lot of vampire and werewolf books available back then and I read them extensively. This was back, almost a decade when I first started reading electronic books. I preferred physical books, but as we were moving from Canada to Indonesia, our library required downsizing. I could not justify the purchase of a new book series, usually bought at a used book store and then at the local bookstore when the new releases came out. Instead, I was testing out the concept of electronic books. And I didn’t like it. Not one bit. I worked in an office and spent a minimum of four hours tied to a computer, what possible relaxation could come from continuing my screen time?

I was willing to give electronic books a chance though, because if I didn’t, I would have hardly any new books to choose from. We took out library of thousands of books and reduced it to approximately one hundred. We kept only our most cherished series. I kept Elizabeth Haydon, Kristen Britain, and Terry Brooks series, my partner kept his Terry Goodkind, Robert Jordan, and David Farland series. There were many wonderful authors we gifted to our friends. The rest, we took to the used book store and the free book shed. This was before there were free little libraries everywhere.

Throughout the process, I attempted to find replacements for my missing books, the fantasy worlds I travelled in whenever I chose. The Seasons of the Moon Series was one of those I tried out. I enjoyed it at the time, but it was not my favourite type of story. I wasn’t used to reading young adult and so did not quite get into the series. But then, years later, I found the decent series. There, I fell in love.

Elise Kavanagh was a broken violent girl, who grew up with twin falchion swords gripped in her hands. She killed her first demon at seven years old and lost track not long after. Elise, and her partner, James Faulkner, roamed the earth killing supernatural creatures until she turned away from all the killing and wanted to lead a normal life. However, the supernatural world was not done with her. Death’s Hand, book 1 in the Descent Series, was a wonderful draw into dark fantasy. Where the characters were no longer new adults learning about the magical world they lived in. Rather they were true adults with years of memories and scars they tried to hide from. Elise wanted to start over and forget her past.

I am — or used to be — a warrior against the forces of Hell

Death’s Hand, S.M. Reine

The depth of her emotional wounds and lack of societal norms makes Elise a wonderful character to follow. She was not brought up in one culture where she learned what was considered normal behaviour, therefore she has no preconceived notions of what normal is. Dating, getting invoices paid, all become newly awkward events when Elise is involved. Then when her former partner James asks for her help with a problem in the supernatural community, Elise is drawn into the darkness and her ability to be violent might be the only way Elise and their few people she knows will have a chance to survive.

The story is dark and Elise is pressed by James to determine if a five-year-old girl needed to be exorcised. It was the first step of Elise’s move back into her violent past and away from the solid, boring present, she was hoping for. Between the possessed girl and the missing bodies from the cemetery, there were unnatural events occurring and it was up to Elise and James to figure out how they were related. Before it was too late for the people they were starting to care about.

Death’s hand is an action-filled snarky entry into the Decent Series. It was easy to be drawn into Elise and Jame’s world of supernatural violence. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys sarcasm and magical violence. Once you finish reading the Descent Series, I would suggest the Ascent Series as well as it continues with Elise’s journey through the supernatural world. Fortunately for me, I became accustomed to reading ebooks and continued on through the Elise Kavanagh series. To anyone traveling for years at a time, ebooks are the best way not to give up a great reading habit. Happy Reading!

Welcome to Part 2 of The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Braum. I love how this tale is broken up into Santa’s Youth, Manhood, and Old-age rather than the calendar year. For Santa was brought by immortals and did not view the world as humankind, mortals, do. As I read the story I felt I witnesses Baum’s love for Hans Christen Anderson and the Brothers Grimm. For he evokes the land of the fairies, whether dark or fair, well. Part 2 completes the story of Claus’s youth.

The Forest of Burzee is mighty and grand and awesome to those who steal beneath its shade.

Ak, The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus, by L. Frank Baum

We have seen Santa’s origin, now the story moves onto what it is like to live with the immortals of the forest. If you missed Part 1, you can find it here.

Claus

Another day found Necile’s bower the most popular place in the Forest. The nymphs clustered around her and the child that lay asleep in her lap, with expressions of curiosity and delight. Nor were they wanting in praises for the great Ak’s kindness in allowing Necile to keep the babe and to care for it. Even the Queen came to peer into the innocent childish face and to hold a helpless, chubby fist in her own fair hand.

“What shall we call him, Necile?” she asked, smiling. “He must have a name, you know.”

“Let him be called Claus,” answered Necile, “for that means ‘a little one.'”

“Rather let him be called Neclaus,”** returned the Queen, “for that will mean ‘Necile’s little one.'”

The nymphs clapped their hands in delight, and Neclaus became the infant’s name, although Necile loved best to call him Claus, and in afterdays many of her sisters followed her example.

Necile gathered the softest moss in all the forest for Claus to lie upon, and she made his bed in her own bower. Of food the infant had no lack. The nymphs searched the forest for bell-udders, which grow upon the goa-tree and when opened are found to be filled with sweet milk. And the soft-eyed does willingly gave a share of their milk to support the little stranger, while Shiegra, the lioness, often crept stealthily into Necile’s bower and purred softly as she lay beside the babe and fed it.

So the little one flourished and grew big and sturdy day by day, while Necile taught him to speak and to walk and to play.

His thoughts and words were sweet and gentle, for the nymphs knew no evil and their hearts were pure and loving. He became the pet of the forest, for Ak’s decree had forbidden beast or reptile to molest him, and he walked fearlessly wherever his will guided him.

Presently the news reached the other immortals that the nymphs of Burzee had adopted a human infant, and that the act had been sanctioned by the great Ak. Therefore many of them came to visit the little stranger, looking upon him with much interest. First the Ryls, who are first cousins to the wood-nymphs, although so differently formed. For the Ryls are required to watch over the flowers and plants, as the nymphs watch over the forest trees. They search the wide world for the food required by the roots of the flowering plants, while the brilliant colors possessed by the full-blown flowers are due to the dyes placed in the soil by the Ryls, which are drawn through the little veins in the roots and the body of the plants, as they reach maturity. The Ryls are a busy people, for their flowers bloom and fade continually, but they are merry and light-hearted and are very popular with the other immortals.

Next came the Knooks, whose duty it is to watch over the beasts of the world, both gentle and wild. The Knooks have a hard time of it, since many of the beasts are ungovernable and rebel against restraint. But they know how to manage them, after all, and you will find that certain laws of the Knooks are obeyed by even the most ferocious animals. Their anxieties make the Knooks look old and worn and crooked, and their natures are a bit rough from associating with wild creatures continually; yet they are most useful to humanity and to the world in general, as their laws are the only laws the forest beasts recognize except those of the Master Woodsman.

Then there were the Fairies, the guardians of mankind, who were much interested in the adoption of Claus because their own laws forbade them to become familiar with their human charges. There are instances on record where the Fairies have shown themselves to human beings, and have even conversed with them; but they are supposed to guard the lives of mankind unseen and unknown, and if they favor some people more than others it is because these have won such distinction fairly, as the Fairies are very just and impartial. But the idea of adopting a child of men had never occurred to them because it was in every way opposed to their laws; so their curiosity was intense to behold the little stranger adopted by Necile and her sister nymphs.

Claus looked upon the immortals who thronged around him with fearless eyes and smiling lips. He rode laughingly upon the shoulders of the merry Ryls; he mischievously pulled the gray beards of the low-browed Knooks; he rested his curly head confidently upon the dainty bosom of the Fairy Queen herself. And the Ryls loved the sound of his laughter; the Knooks loved his courage; the Fairies loved his innocence.

The boy made friends of them all, and learned to know their laws intimately. No forest flower was trampled beneath his feet, lest the friendly Ryls should be grieved. He never interfered with the beasts of the forest, lest his friends the Knooks should become angry. The Fairies he loved dearly, but, knowing nothing of mankind, he could not understand that he was the only one of his race admitted to friendly intercourse with them.

Indeed, Claus came to consider that he alone, of all the forest people, had no like nor fellow. To him the forest was the world. He had no idea that millions of toiling, striving human creatures existed.

And he was happy and content.

** Some people have spelled this name Nicklaus and others Nicolas, which is the reason that Santa Claus is still known in some lands as St. Nicolas. But, of course, Neclaus is his right name, and Claus the nickname given him by his adopted mother, the fair nymph Necile.

The Master Woodsman

Years pass swiftly in Burzee, for the nymphs have no need to regard time in any way. Even centuries make no change in the dainty creatures; ever and ever they remain the same, immortal and unchanging.

Claus, however, being mortal, grew to manhood day by day. Necile was disturbed, presently, to find him too big to lie in her lap, and he had a desire for other food than milk. His stout legs carried him far into Burzee’s heart, where he gathered supplies of nuts and berries, as well as several sweet and wholesome roots, which suited his stomach better than the belludders. He sought Necile’s bower less frequently, till finally it became his custom to return thither only to sleep.

The nymph, who had come to love him dearly, was puzzled to comprehend the changed nature of her charge, and unconsciously altered her own mode of life to conform to his whims. She followed him readily through the forest paths, as did many of her sister nymphs, explaining as they walked all the mysteries of the gigantic wood and the habits and nature of the living things which dwelt beneath its shade.

The language of the beasts became clear to little Claus; but he never could understand their sulky and morose tempers. Only the squirrels, the mice and the rabbits seemed to possess cheerful and merry natures; yet would the boy laugh when the panther growled, and stroke the bear’s glossy coat while the creature snarled and bared its teeth menacingly. The growls and snarls were not for Claus, he well knew, so what did they matter?

He could sing the songs of the bees, recite the poetry of the wood-flowers and relate the history of every blinking owl in Burzee. He helped the Ryls to feed their plants and the Knooks to keep order among the animals. The little immortals regarded him as a privileged person, being especially protected by Queen Zurline and her nymphs and favored by the great Ak himself.

One day the Master Woodsman came back to the forest of Burzee. He had visited, in turn, all his forests throughout the world, and they were many and broad.

Not until he entered the glade where the Queen and her nymphs were assembled to greet him did Ak remember the child he had permitted Necile to adopt. Then he found, sitting familiarly in the circle of lovely immortals, a broad-shouldered, stalwart youth, who, when erect, stood fully as high as the shoulder of the Master himself.

Ak paused, silent and frowning, to bend his piercing gaze upon Claus. The clear eyes met his own steadfastly, and the Woodsman gave a sigh of relief as he marked their placid depths and read the youth’s brave and innocent heart. Nevertheless, as Ak sat beside the fair Queen, and the golden chalice, filled with rare nectar, passed from lip to lip, the Master Woodsman was strangely silent and reserved, and stroked his beard many times with a thoughtful motion.

With morning he called Claus aside, in kindly fashion, saying:

“Bid good by, for a time, to Necile and her sisters; for you shall accompany me on my journey through the world.”

The venture pleased Claus, who knew well the honor of being companion of the Master Woodsman of the world. But Necile wept for the first time in her life, and clung to the boy’s neck as if she could not bear to let him go. The nymph who had mothered this sturdy youth was still as dainty, as charming and beautiful as when she had dared to face Ak with the babe clasped to her breast; nor was her love less great. Ak beheld the two clinging together, seemingly as brother and sister to one another, and again he wore his thoughtful look.

Claus Discovers Humanity

Taking Claus to a small clearing in the forest, the Master said: “Place your hand upon my girdle and hold fast while we journey through the air; for now shall we encircle the world and look upon many of the haunts of those men from whom you are descended.”

These words caused Claus to marvel, for until now he had thought himself the only one of his kind upon the earth; yet in silence he grasped firmly the girdle of the great Ak, his astonishment forbidding speech.

Then the vast forest of Burzee seemed to fall away from their feet, and the youth found himself passing swiftly through the air at a great height.

Ere long there were spires beneath them, while buildings of many shapes and colors met their downward view. It was a city of men, and Ak, pausing to descend, led Claus to its inclosure. Said the Master:

“So long as you hold fast to my girdle you will remain unseen by all mankind, though seeing clearly yourself. To release your grasp will be to separate yourself forever from me and your home in Burzee.”

One of the first laws of the Forest is obedience, and Claus had no thought of disobeying the Master’s wish. He clung fast to the girdle and remained invisible.

Thereafter with each moment passed in the city the youth’s wonder grew. He, who had supposed himself created differently from all others, now found the earth swarming with creatures of his own kind.

“Indeed,” said Ak, “the immortals are few; but the mortals are many.”

Claus looked earnestly upon his fellows. There were sad faces, gay and reckless faces, pleasant faces, anxious faces and kindly faces, all mingled in puzzling disorder. Some worked at tedious tasks; some strutted in impudent conceit; some were thoughtful and grave while others seemed happy and content. Men of many natures were there, as everywhere, and Claus found much to please him and much to make him sad.

But especially he noted the children—first curiously, then eagerly, then lovingly. Ragged little ones rolled in the dust of the streets, playing with scraps and pebbles. Other children, gaily dressed, were propped upon cushions and fed with sugar-plums. Yet the children of the rich were not happier than those playing with the dust and pebbles, it seemed to Claus.

“Childhood is the time of man’s greatest content,” said Ak, following the youth’s thoughts. “‘Tis during these years of innocent pleasure that the little ones are most free from care.”

“Tell me,” said Claus, “why do not all these babies fare alike?”

“Because they are born in both cottage and palace,” returned the Master. “The difference in the wealth of the parents determines the lot of the child. Some are carefully tended and clothed in silks and dainty linen; others are neglected and covered with rags.”

“Yet all seem equally fair and sweet,” said Claus, thoughtfully.

“While they are babes—yes;” agreed Ak. “Their joy is in being alive, and they do not stop to think. In after years the doom of mankind overtakes them, and they find they must struggle and worry, work and fret, to gain the wealth that is so dear to the hearts of men. Such things are unknown in the Forest where you were reared.” Claus was silent a moment. Then he asked:

“Why was I reared in the forest, among those who are not of my race?”

Then Ak, in gentle voice, told him the story of his babyhood: how he had been abandoned at the forest’s edge and left a prey to wild beasts, and how the loving nymph Necile had rescued him and brought him to manhood under the protection of the immortals.

“Yet I am not of them,” said Claus, musingly.

“You are not of them,” returned the Woodsman. “The nymph who cared for you as a mother seems now like a sister to you; by and by, when you grow old and gray, she will seem like a daughter. Yet another brief span and you will be but a memory, while she remains Necile.”

“Then why, if man must perish, is he born?” demanded the boy.

“Everything perishes except the world itself and its keepers,” answered Ak. “But while life lasts everything on earth has its use. The wise seek ways to be helpful to the world, for the helpful ones are sure to live again.”

Much of this Claus failed to understand fully, but a longing seized him to become helpful to his fellows, and he remained grave and thoughtful while they resumed their journey.

They visited many dwellings of men in many parts of the world, watching farmers toil in the fields, warriors dash into cruel fray, and merchants exchange their goods for bits of white and yellow metal. And everywhere the eyes of Claus sought out the children in love and pity, for the thought of his own helpless babyhood was strong within him and he yearned to give help to the innocent little ones of his race even as he had been succored by the kindly nymph.

Day by day the Master Woodsman and his pupil traversed the earth, Ak speaking but seldom to the youth who clung steadfastly to his girdle, but guiding him into all places where he might become familiar with the lives of human beings.

And at last they returned to the grand old Forest of Burzee, where the Master set Claus down within the circle of nymphs, among whom the pretty Necile anxiously awaited him.

The brow of the great Ak was now calm and peaceful; but the brow of Claus had become lined with deep thought. Necile sighed at the change in her foster-son, who until now had been ever joyous and smiling, and the thought came to her that never again would the life of the boy be the same as before this eventful journey with the Master.

Claus Leaves the Forest

When good Queen Zurline had touched the golden chalice with her fair lips and it had passed around the circle in honor of the travelers’ return, the Master Woodsman of the World, who had not yet spoken, turned his gaze frankly upon Claus and said:

“Well?”

The boy understood, and rose slowly to his feet beside Necile. Once only his eyes passed around the familiar circle of nymphs, every one of whom he remembered as a loving comrade; but tears came unbidden to dim his sight, so he gazed thereafter steadfastly at the Master.

“I have been ignorant,” said he, simply, “until the great Ak in his kindness taught me who and what I am. You, who live so sweetly in your forest bowers, ever fair and youthful and innocent, are no fit comrades for a son of humanity. For I have looked upon man, finding him doomed to live for a brief space upon earth, to toil for the things he needs, to fade into old age, and then to pass away as the leaves in autumn. Yet every man has his mission, which is to leave the world better, in some way, than he found it. I am of the race of men, and man’s lot is my lot. For your tender care of the poor, forsaken babe you adopted, as well as for your loving comradeship during my boyhood, my heart will ever overflow with gratitude. My foster-mother,” here he stopped and kissed Necile’s white forehead, “I shall love and cherish while life lasts. But I must leave you, to take my part in the endless struggle to which humanity is doomed, and to live my life in my own way.”

“What will you do?” asked the Queen, gravely.

“I must devote myself to the care of the children of mankind, and try to make them happy,” he answered. “Since your own tender care of a babe brought to me happiness and strength, it is just and right that I devote my life to the pleasure of other babes. Thus will the memory of the loving nymph Necile be planted within the hearts of thousands of my race for many years to come, and her kindly act be recounted in song and in story while the world shall last. Have I spoken well, O Master?”

“You have spoken well,” returned Ak, and rising to his feet he continued: “Yet one thing must not be forgotten. Having been adopted as the child of the Forest, and the playfellow of the nymphs, you have gained a distinction which forever separates you from your kind. Therefore, when you go forth into the world of men you shall retain the protection of the Forest, and the powers you now enjoy will remain with you to assist you in your labors. In any need you may call upon the Nymphs, the Ryls, the Knooks and the Fairies, and they will serve you gladly. I, the Master Woodsman of the World, have said it, and my Word is the Law!”

Claus looked upon Ak with grateful eyes.

“This will make me mighty among men,” he replied. “Protected by these kind friends I may be able to make thousands of little children happy. I will try very hard to do my duty, and I know the Forest people will give me their sympathy and help.”

“We will!” said the Fairy Queen, earnestly.

“We will!” cried the merry Ryls, laughing.

“We will!” shouted the crooked Knooks, scowling.

“We will!” exclaimed the sweet nymphs, proudly. But Necile said nothing. She only folded Claus in her arms and kissed him tenderly.

“The world is big,” continued the boy, turning again to his loyal friends, “but men are everywhere. I shall begin my work near my friends, so that if I meet with misfortune I can come to the Forest for counsel or help.”

With that he gave them all a loving look and turned away. There was no need to say good by, by for him the sweet, wild life of the Forest was over. He went forth bravely to meet his doom—the doom of the race of man—the necessity to worry and work.

But Ak, who knew the boy’s heart, was merciful and guided his steps.

Coming through Burzee to its eastern edge Claus reached the Laughing Valley of Hohaho. On each side were rolling green hills, and a brook wandered midway between them to wind afar off beyond the valley. At his back was the grim Forest; at the far end of the valley a broad plain. The eyes of the young man, which had until now reflected his grave thoughts, became brighter as he stood silent, looking out upon the Laughing Valley. Then on a sudden his eyes twinkled, as stars do on a still night, and grew merry and wide.

For at his feet the cowslips and daisies smiled on him in friendly regard; the breeze whistled gaily as it passed by and fluttered the locks on his forehead; the brook laughed joyously as it leaped over the pebbles and swept around the green curves of its banks; the bees sang sweet songs as they flew from dandelion to daffodil; the beetles chirruped happily in the long grass, and the sunbeams glinted pleasantly over all the scene.

“Here,” cried Claus, stretching out his arms as if to embrace the Valley, “will I make my home!”

That was many, many years ago. It has been his home ever since. It is his home now.

Thus ends Part 2, Claus’s Youth. Tomorrow, Part 3, involves the beginning of his adulthood. Happy Reading!

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