Angela VanWell

Author | Reader | Traveler | Tea and Coffee Drinker

fantasy

Inspiring Author of the Week: Marissa Meyer

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“She was a cyborg, and she would never go to a ball.”

Marissa Meyer, Cinder

I was hooked with that one line. I love fairytale retellings, but adding Cyborg parts and a Lunar colony? That was all new to me.

Rather than being the first child of her deceased father, he adopted Cinder under mysterious circumstances. Upon her father’s death, her stepmother uses her as labour, to provide income for the family. Unlike the original story where she maintains the house, this time Cinder(ella) is a mechanic, and a great one. It helps that she is part cyborg, so mechanical parts are natural to her nature.

The story takes place in New Beijing, far in the future, where technology is more developed but there remains social class separation and a newly developed class of part cyborgs. I don’t truly understand why people who receive cyborg parts as a medical condition reduces their status, but the story is told from Cinder’s point of view and she experiences the world as a cyborg.

The use of cyborgs in medical trials I found disturbing. More so, that no groups protesting were protesting the experimentation. Even if some of it was voluntary.

I travel in books; it is one reason I love picking up travel guides, historical books, and genre fiction. So I can travel through real and imaginary lands. I intended to travel to New Beijing through Cinder’s journey, but I found the setting details sparse. I would have loved more. Cinder’s job in the market could have been an incredibly detailed escape from her family, relationships develop in micro-communities. But we only saw her dissatisfaction in her life. This is possibly a challenge of book-length and story length. I am happy to read thick books with deep settings, so I look for that in books. Perhaps the series fills out with more details as it progresses.

Cinder is lonely and focused a lot of her internal thoughts on escaping her stepmother and finding her own life.

I liked the beginning of Cinder’s character. She is resourceful and cares about the beings important to her. When she sees a wrong against someone she cares about, she stands up and tries to make a difference. I appreciate her having agency and decide, even with the besotted prince asking her out, she focuses on her goals for a new life. Prince Kai, I wish, was more rounded. He has a lot of potential as a likable character, but I needed more to care about him. But I wasn’t a fan of Romeo in Romeo and Juliet either, I am not a big fan of the fall in love at first look and forget everything else important in their lives.

There are several developed characters all with their secrets, however, as this is a Cinderella retelling, we can match pretty well how they all fall into place. The twists were expected, but I enjoyed them regardless. Reading about a plague during our pandemic probably is why I had trouble immersing myself in the settings and the characters. All I have to do is look online or watch the news and I can see the finger-pointing and anger. The lengths people will go in their pain and fear. Her story was not too far off the mark.

I think it will be worth re-reading this in a couple of years when the pandemic has moved into memory, even as we live our new realities. There are always long-term effects when humanity undergoes duress. Hopefully, we will remember more of our lessons and humanity the next time around. Then I can read Cinder for the escapism instead of an alternated current event.

One last thing, the story does not end. I am not a fan of cliffhangers, so I will not continue reading the series. I purchase a book to read a full story. And it did not meet my needs for a satisfying ending. Regardless, the book series has great potential with more world-building. It is also unique from anything I have read before, and I appreciate that.

So, If you want to try a new take on Cinderella, this might be a good fit for you. You can go buy the series so you will not have to deal with the cliffhanger if they are not your thing.

Camp NANO 2021: Let the Outlining Begin!

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I was writing a twisted retelling of a fairytale shared by W. B. Yeats when I realized today is Friday, March 19th. The date itself is not significant to me personally, but the fact there is only a week smack between two weekends left before Camp nano is. There are two nano camps, one is in April and the next in July. It is a personal writing adventure where each writer chooses their own project, the length of it, and share the experience with friends. So if you are feeling the need to get some words down on paper, electronically, or on papyrus, by all means, join us! You can find the website here.

I haven’t finished rereading the three manuscripts in the series that come before this outline. And, last year being 2020, I spent most of the year between houses since the house we rented was in one country, our household goods somewhere on the ocean, and my family in a third country. It was a challenging year. My paper drafts were somewhere over the ocean, my electronic copies with me, and my ability to concentrate stuck somewhere between them all. We moved out of the Netherlands in December 2019 and to Texas, in the United States of America. My family, including our two cats, arrived within weeks of leaving the Netherlands, while everything else took a leisurely cruise across the ocean.

I was editing the first manuscript. It is amazing how much I forgot and my notes were not with me. I spelt one name four different ways and I really couldn’t remember which way was my original plan. With no home (we were in a temporary apartment in Houston) and no office, I was relying on my memory. And it was not helpful at all. So writing and editing at the beginning of the year was slow. We went to Canada for spring break when the border closed. Once again, I was separated from my books. I only had a few sets of clothes, but it was my books I missed.

In June, I had been without my library for 6 months. It was painful. I have many ebooks, but all of my nonfiction and personal journals are all handwritten. I’d reach for a book, usually found on the shelf beside me, and there was nothing there. It was like losing my best friends. I couldn’t replace my personal journals but some of my resource books I would buy second hand guilt free. With the pandemic shut down occurring, I only had one trip to a Half Price Books and one trip to Barnes & Noble.

I must write my outlines down on paper. I have tried writing them electronically, and I was less creative. I can’t wait to bring that creativity back this week.

Finding books filled with folklore from different countries was much harder than I expected. Local ghost stories, no problem. Modern fairytales, you bet, original folklore and fairytales, sadly missing. I rebuilt parts of my collection with new editions and local flavour. I editing my first manuscript and had a friend read through the draft and offer feedback. It sat again. Mostly because I flew back to my new host country to finish unpacking the house and my wonderful journals and books. I then scooped them into my husband’s car and drove them up to Canada. Now I, my old journals and books, and new books were reunited. I had no more excuses and continued to edit. All was well until my daughter’s computer died and I gave her mine during the day for school. It was great for reading, terrible for editing.

Who in the world am I? Ah, that’s the great puzzle!

Lewis Carroll, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Life happens. There is never the right time for anything. Expect now. Now I must reread all the manuscripts, as once again I am in a different country than my outlines. So this time, I will read through, try only to take notes to create a new outline, not edit. I will carry my new outlines no matter where I go. I will be like Sheldon on the Big Band Theory carrying around his emergency kit, except mine will be filled with my prized pens and notebooks. Never shall we be separated again. I will see how it goes!

This means I must choose wisely my inspiring author of the week next week as I will spend most of my time reading my own books. It will interest to see who I choose.

Can you read new books when you are working on a project? Or do you reread books you know will get you in the right mood and frame of mind?

I found this quote when I was reading W.B. Yeats last week and it has stuck with me. Happy Reading!

It is only the spirits who are too bad for heaven, and too good for hell, who are thus plagued. They are compelled to obey some one they have wronged.

Lady Wilde, Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry

Folklore and Fairytales, W. B. Yeats and his exploration of the light and dark in Irish Fairy Tales

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Would you cross, let alone build, on a fairy ring? Do you plead with the elemental powers to take your love away? Have you heard the faery cry, inviting you to come away from the world filled with sorrow? William Butler Yeats explored the oral history of Ireland and added to it. He was an Irish poet, was born into an artistic family, surrounded by artists and poets. His early works focused on Irish mythology and folklore as he was one of the artists responsible for the Irish Literary Revival and creation of the Dublin Abbey Theatre.

It is those ancient tales and his accounts of collecting Irish myth and folklore that I appreciate the most. It is not surprising as I love myths and the twists and turns they undergo when used in modern poetry, novels, TV series, and movies. The collection, Fairy and Folktales of the Irish Peasantry, is filled with real-world accounts of encounters with the faery realm.

He listened to the stories of his home countrymen and wrote them faithfully. The collection of stories was a connection to the Irish identity, a unifying piece of his country. He seemed to interpret the faery realm and the realm of the dead. And later, when he moved his focus to mysticism, he sought to find more answers.

Come away, O human child!

To the waters and the wild

With a faery, hand in hand,

For the world’s more full of weeping than you can understand.

W. B. Yeats, The Stolen Child

Yeats wrote Fiary and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry in a dreamlike quality. Similar to a ghost story in events shared by individuals who experienced a faery interaction. Many of the events shared were dark and troubling, perhaps a reflection of the times. Children stolen away, changelings left in their place; of the hardships of life and outwitting the faery folk; or a man ending his vices after interacting with faery folk. Stories where Mermen keep souls in cages under the sea, and priests are heroic. A mixture of tales based in late nineteenth century beliefs.

If you would like to read the collection, it is available at Project Gutenberg: Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry by W.. B. Yeats I suggest you read Soul Cages by T. Crofton Croker. It is too long of a short story to share here, but a unique tale of a merman keeping the souls of drowned sailors.

“when I see a good storm coming on, to set a couple of dozen of these, and then, when the sailors are drowned and the souls get out of them under the water, the poor things are almost perished to death, not being used to the cold; so they make into my pots for shelter, and then I have them snug, and fetch them home, and keep them here dry and warm; and is it not well for them, poor souls, to get into such good quarters?”

T. Crofton Croker, The Soul Cages

Excerpt From: “Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry.” Apple Books.

If you are interested in learning more about Yeats’ interest in Irish Folklore and readings of several of his works, The National Library of Ireland is hosting a talk next Friday: National Library of Ireland Talk

I look forward to their view of Yeats’ works and the pieces they will be sharing.

Happy Reading!

Heaven and Fairyland—to these has Biddy Hart given all she dreams of magnificence, and to them her soul goes out—to the one in love and hope, to the other in love and fear—day after day and season after season; saints and angels, fairies and witches, haunted thorn-trees and holy wells, are to her what books, and plays, and pictures are to you and me.

W. B. Yeats, Irish Fairy Tales

Inspiring Author of the Week: Terry Brooks

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There were several series that I move with, and Terry Brooks wrote two of them. The Shannara Series and the Magic Kingdom of Landover Series. Although I love the Shannara Series, it was Terry Brooks Magic Kingdom of Landover series I read first. I was searching through my highschool library, this book was published in 1986 so you get an idea how long ago this could have been😊, when I came upon the book cover where a dog was reading a book and a man knelt on one knee before him. Instantly intrigued, I read the back cover, and the rest is history.

Magic Kingdom For Sale Sold

I first read this as a teenager, but when I reread it as an adult, I connected with the story even more. Ben Holiday, a widowed man, receives Rosen, his wife’s favourite store’s, Christmas Wishbook. They filled the Wishbook with an eccentric collection of oddball gifts to fulfill the wishes and dreams for those who could afford it. Gifts included everything from a private dinner in a movie star’s house to the purchase of a Magic Kingdom. A place to escape into dreams and “be born again.”

The Witch of the North seemed to think for a time, with her head bowed and her eyes upon the ground. Then she looked up and said, “I do not know where Kansas is, for I have never heard that country mentioned before. But tell me, is it a civilized country?”

“Oh, yes,” replied Dorothy.

“Then that accounts for it. In the civilized countries I believe there are no witches left, nor wizards, nor sorceresses, nor magicians. But, you see, the Land of Oz has never been civilized, for we are cut off from all the rest of the world. There we still have witches and wizards amongst us.”

L. Frank Baum, The Wizard of Oz

The above quote is at the front of the book. It foreshadows the adventure Ben Holiday will have in Landover.

With his disposition delayed and his preliminary injunction impossible as the judge bears stays and pleas was on a 30-day vacation, and Ben feeling lost in life, he meets with Meeks and agrees to start with a ten-day examination as the King of Landover. In the contract, if he does not change his mind and return within the first ten days, then he must stay in Landover until the first year is complete.

Escape into your dreams…

Maybe.

And maybe he would be escaping into his nightmares.

Terry Brooks, Kingdom For Sale Sold

Ben headed out to the Blue Ridge Mountains, wearing the Medallion, which was his key to enter Landover and prove he was the rightful heir. Entering a tunnel cut through the center of a wall of oaks, was attacked by the demon Lord, Iron Mark, and saved by the Knight on his medallion. Not the greatest start. Then Ben finds his guide, Questor Thews, a half-baked wizard lacking control over his magic and that he is the ruler of a dying land.

With the Barons unwilling to recognize him as king, the peasants left hopeless, and a dragon terrorizing the countryside, Ben Holiday’s magical adventure turns out to be a stew of politics, evil plots, and a duel to the death. It is a good thing Ben is stubborn.

Eyes tell more about a man than anything he says. Eyes reflect a mans’ soul. They reflect a man’s heart. Sometimes they even tell the truths a man wants to keep hidden.

Terry Brooks, Kingdom For Sale Sold

The rest of his vessels consist of a man turned into a dog, and a couple of flying monkeys.

I can’t buy a house in downtown Vancouver for one million, so I am not sure what Ben expected paying one million for a kingdom. You get what you paid for. He paid for a Kingdom suffering the Tarnish, with no one paying taxes, and plenty of enemies. And I paid for a light, humourous fantasy adventure in a Wizard of Oz like land and enjoyed every minute. Rereading it was a pleasure. It reminded me of my early preference for light humour and action in a fantasy realm. I love darkness and action, but there are times I need something light to escape into, and Magic Kingdom For Sale Sold provides the perfect escape.

If you are looking for a place to escape to, I suggest this series:)

Happy reading!

Inspiring Author of the Week: David Farland

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This series was a thrift store find. A series of books well broke in and enjoyed by their last owners; the spines broke in several places, which made sense as the books are massive. The reason for the 600+ pages was the impressive world building and the unique use of magic. It reminded me of a roleplaying game, where my knight had the strength of ten men and the wit of four. The difference being, the strength and wit wasn’t gained through experience, but through removing them from another being and endowing them to their receiver. Leaving people sacrificing their attributes, weak and slow-witted. It is a dark premise, one that provides a dark look at what people will do to become Runelords.

We bought several books in the series at once, the perk of shopping second hand, and found David Farland’s magic system refreshing. This was the first series I read where branding was related to magic. Where the strength of a nation lay within its halls; the people who now required full-time care as they gave their best attributes to the Runelords, known as endowments. As a reader, the idea was barbaric. And believable.

Prince Gaborn Val Orden, recognized the truth, even though he too is a Runelord, and plans to change the practice once he is in power. But while he is on his way to meet his father’s longtime friend’s daughter, to woo her into becoming his wife, Raj Ahtan, ruler of Indhopal, attacks. Raj Ahtan’s goal is to become the legend figure known as the “Sum of all Men”. A man with so many endowments that he has become immortal. This sets up an eastern culture against a western culture fantasy, showing the eastern kingdoms with the more barbaric goal. I, however, found all the kingdoms barbaric in their abuse of humans and animals to augment themselves, even if the victims sacrifices themselves. 

There are layers upon layers of world building, with each chapter bringing new, interesting details to the story. David Farland also included layers of history with alliances of old holding true if forgotten by many. A connection to the earth, not controlled by the realm of men.

This is a conflict of clashing cultural use of the ruins, fighting over land and the ethical use of the forcibles, metal. Which is already a contentious issue between all kingdoms, there is even more at stake. Gaborn makes a vow to serve the Earth and brings to light a two-thousand year old prophesy, of an Earth King, a mythic figure with “earth site” who can judge the worthy and Choose them. Creating a connection and the ability to to send a message to their Chosen.

Chapter 1 sets the stage with a fight to the death over secret knowledge the kingdom did not know it held.

As Raj Ahtan, the Wolf Lord of Indhopal, presses to make himself the sum of all men, Gaborn and his allies struggle to retain their freedom. It is a deadly battle, and David Farland spares no one in this tale. Pain, loss, and sacrifice are felt by all the characters, and the readers feel it along with them.

The reason I had such visceral feelings about the book is the story is immersive. The barbaric abuse of the people repulsed me and the history of how the cultures justified it to themselves. The lust for power and how it corrupted the individuals provided a stark example of the effects to society, even the imaginary ones. A disturbing example is when the Gaborn’s father, King Mendellas Draken Orden, would rather die than to be a dedicate for Raj Ahtan. They never considered the hypocrisy as they did the same to their own people.

If you enjoy stories with dark premise, searching the darker sides of culture, this series might be a great fit for you.

Happy Reading

Inspiring Author of the Week: Gail Carriger

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Historical paranormal romance is not the subgenre I usually read. But when Gail Carriger added in steampunk, I had to try it out. Soulless is the first book in the Parasol Protectorate Series where the soulless spinster Alexia ends a party by killing an attacking vampire. Already with a scientific and inquisitive mind, Alexia jumps at the chance to solve the mystery of her attack.

They shelved Alexia when she was still a teenager. Her mother looked in disappointment at her tanned-skin, inherited from her Italian father, and her sharp tongue, that was all her own, and determined she was not marriage material. Thus, shelved. Alexia did not miss the idea of marrying a man based on position and power, but she knew she needed something more than parties and walks in the park in her life. Then a vampire attempted to bite her, but she killed him instead.

Now, in historical London portrayed in the Parasol Protectorate, werewolves, ghosts, vampires, the supernatural community are known and accepted as a part of society. They follow the same rules and can be important members of society. What isn’t acceptable is to attack any being without proper introductions and agreements. It is all civilized. But underneath the niceties of society werewolves and vampires are disappearing. New vampires are attacking and dying, with no knowledge of the societal rules and no one knows where they came from.

In charge of all issues supernatural is Lord Maccon, an abrasive, arrogant werewolf, who must split his focus between solving the mystery and his attraction to the frustratingly sharp Miss Alexia Tarabotti. The worse part is the full moon has almost arrived so his control is slipping.

Written with wicked humour and high society manners, the story is a quick read. The couple loves to argue and dislike each other so their romance is not smooth or well mannered. Alexia finds Lord Maccon perplexing, his lack of civility and overt interest in her, after all, she was a spinster with a sharp tongue. But Lord Maccon is Scottish and prefers a woman with a point of view who he cannot push around, and his instincts want him to make Alexia his, no matter the social niceties of London.

So Alexia, who abhorred violence, was forced to grab the miscreant by his nostrils, a delicate and therefore painful area, and shove him away.

Soulless, by Gail Carriger

At first, I found the jumping between character’s point-of-views jarring. It took me a few chapters before I became accustomed to the writing style. The story itself drew me in and kept me reading. I love Alexia and her scholastic take on all challenges she faces. No other character I have read breaks down her thoughts on kissing while she is being kissed. It was hilarious.

It was entertaining to read and I will read more in the series as I enjoy Alexia’s singular humour and scientific inquiry into life. Happy Reading!