Crossroads and Other Tales of Valdemar, edited by Mercedes Lackey

I would have to say that this is my least favorite of the Valdemar short story anthologies. For one thing, I have a serious issue with the title--there is no story called "Crossroads" in the book! Then there's the fact that three of the stories had no reason to be set in the world of Valdemar at all They were interesting stories, but they didn't have to be in this anthology.

Other stories were really enjoyable, though. I think my favorite was the one set in Karse's distant past--right when the corruption was just beginning. And it was fun to revisit a beloved fantasy world. Actually, it's made me want to reread the books--I haven't touched some of them in years, despite owning most of them. In fact, I only read this one because I was on vacation. The Forest House was depressing me, and the only other books I'd brought were its sequels! Of the books my mom had brought, Crossroads was the most appealing.

The Forest House by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Since The Mists of Avalon holds a special place in my Top 5 Favorite Books Ever, I had little doubt but that I would enjoy the first of its prequels, and I was not disappointed. This is another feminist novel, set many years in Avalon's past--so far back, in fact, that there are yet no priestesses on Avalon, and the women instead live in a place called Vernemeton, or the Forest House, established by the Romans to isolate and protect the priestesses after their sanctuary at Mona was cruelly invaded (by the Romans themselves, of course). The main character, Eilan, dreams of being a priestess one day, then falls in love. I really admire the way MZB made the men's control of the women, especially their sexuality, not just an inconvenience or a metaphor but a central part of the plot. The priestesses of the Forest House are only permitted sexual contact with a man if that man is the chosen Year-King, symbolic sacrifice for his people. Eilan must struggle with her choices and few around her believe that she has made the right ones.

Unlike Mists, The Forest House has a male POV character. At the beginning he is rather heroic and quite likable. However, as the novel progresses, he is shown to be more and more flawed and toward the end he really becomes a big jerk. He is redeemed somewhat, and manages to remain sympathetic for a time, but it would be nice to see a more relatable male character. (I do think we get that in the next book.) Besides that and some repetitiveness, though, I have nothing to complain about in this book.

My favorite character is Caillean, the Assistant to the High Priestess who is later sent to establish a house of priestesses on Avalon. I see in her Raven, Morgaine, Niniane, and especially Viviane--it's easy to find the beginning of a long legacy of manipulative High Priestesses of Avalon. The Merlin also makes an appearance, though not in the guise you might expect, and I'm intrigued to see how the perception of that role changes.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who didn't like The Mists of Avalon, and probably not to anyone who hasn't read it--it's a decent stand-alone novel, I think, but gains more depth if you know its future. To anyone who loved Mists as much as I did, though, I definitely recommend The Forest House!

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco

I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting from this book. Whatever it was, I didn't get it--but I did get something wonderful. According to the introduction, it is a reconstruction (from notes) of a forged translation of a 14th-century manuscript by a Benedictine monk. Of course, it is actually a novel written by the talented Umberto Eco, and a mystery along the lines of Arthur Conan Doyle or Edgar Allan Poe--that is to say, the detective is a logician along the lines of Sherlock Holmes or C. Auguste Dupin. It is narrated by the supposed author of the manuscript, Adso of Melk, a German novice who is traveling with the detective, William of Baskerville, to learn from and assist him. It took me until about halfway through the book to accept that the novel was probably not fantasy--fantastical elements were certainly hinted at, but the style of such a logician does not lend itself to that genre!

William has been asked to an Italian abbey to help mediate a discussion between two opposing Catholic sects, but when he arrives, he has another task: solve a series of unlikely and possibly mystical murders. This task is made more complicated by the fact that the one place that seems to hold the most answers, the abbey's famous library, is the one place he is not permitted. Like any good detective, he gets his answers anyway. The main mystery plot is intertwined with monastic politics, political intrigues, and intriguing personal relationships. Sometimes the discourses on logic or heresy, which can get quite long, distract from the plot, but they are interesting and the only thing I have to complain about, with the exception of Adso's sometimes irritating lack of judgment, which can easily be excused by his youth. The novel is even, as far as I can tell, quite historically accurate. The monastery itself and most of the characters are fictional, but the politics and the heresies are real, which is quite impressive.

Unfortunately, I never figured out the import of the title. The last line of the book has the words "name" and "rose" in it, but as it's Latin (which is peppered throughout the monks' speech) I couldn't understand the rest. I naturally think of Shakespeare, but as he writes several centuries after The Name of the Rose is set and the only meaning I can think of is fairly weak, such a connection seems unlikely.

The Welsh Fairy book by W. Jenkyn Thomas

Exhibit A: My love of all things Welsh.

Exhibit B: My obsession with faeries, fairy tales, and folklore in general.

Exhibit C: The title of this book.

The defense rests.

More seriously, this is a fantastic collection. There's a wide variety of fairy tales in it--mostly featuring actual faeries--and I felt that it gave me a really good feeling for Welsh folklore in 1907 (when the book was first compiled). One can't really judge on the literary merit of folktales, but they're well-told, and most are entertaining and intriguing. A few had unexpected similarities to folktales of other cultures that I've encountered, and I would be interested to find out where these tropes originated (if it can be pinned down) and how they passed from one to the other.

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter

This short story collection is mainly retold fairy tales, which is a genre I adore, so I was naturally excited to read this book. Some of the author's takes on fairy tales were quite intriguing. I especially enjoyed the title story, Bluebeard with a quite a twist, and "The Courtship of Mr. Lyon," a sweet Beauty and the Beast. From there, though, it seemed to go straight downhill. The author's overwrought style, peppered with extremely obscure words, was enjoyable at first, but grating on the nerves after several stories. It never seemed to change, and a number of the stories, I felt, would benefit from a different style. Some of the stories had twist endings that made no sense, and some, particularly "The Lady of the House of Love," were just not interesting. (The last may have been more fun when it was first written, when the trope of the reluctant vampire wasn't quite so done.) I do recommend many of the stories if you enjoy the genre, but perhaps one at a time would be better.

The Ropemaker by Peter Dickinson

It's hard to articulate why, but this struck me as a very unusual fantasy book almost from the beginning. The story is about Tilja, the elder daughter on a farm where the country's magical defenses are kept up. But the magic is starting to fail, and someone has to venture into the evil Empire to find the man who can refresh them. The characters are tons of fun--Tilja's grandmother, Meena, and two people from the other magic place, Alnor and his grandson Tahl--and the magic is unusual. I wouldn't call the novel a work of genius, but it was a fun read. The one thing that really bothered me--almost throughout the book--was that the characters seemed to take too much for granted. I was very suspicious of certain characters, and it was all explained away too easily. However, I'm utterly fascinated by Tilja's strange ability and wish there were sequels to this. Actually, looking on Amazon, it looks like there is, but it's not about the same characters and frankly I'm confused--it sounds as though it's set in the future and the past. However, I have also discovered that this author also wrote a book I read many times as a kid, Eva, about a girl who gets her brain transplanted into the body of a chimp. It's actually really good. Also he's married to Robin McKinley!

Why I Let My Hair Grow Out by Maryrose Wood

I stopped reading this book (featuring an incredibly obnoxious sixteen-year-old narrator) after a talking horse named Samhain was referred to as "Sam."

The word "Samhain" is Gaelic, and it's pronounced "Sah-win." There is in fact no "m" sound in it at all.

...yeah.

That's an error I can forgive in ordinary people or new pagans, but not in authors, especially ones who have theoretically researched ancient Ireland fairly extensively in order to write the book. It sounded very promising; long hair, Ireland, faeries... and I really did want to find out the connection of the other world to this one. But after that, I couldn't read any more. Maybe if the narrator had been more interesting and relatable, I would have been able to stand it, but as it is, I couldn't.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman

Well, I was right about there not being another book like American Gods; still, this book was pretty delightful. I liked that it was about characters barely mentioned in the prequel--Anansi's sons. Fat Charlie is a memorable and sympathetic character, while Spider is the fascinating sort I'd never want to meet in real life. Rosie, Fat Charlie's fiancee, is also a great character, even if the way their relationship changes over the course of the book is fairly predictable from the beginning. The plot moves by increments that seem implausible from just a chapter away, but, by the time you reach them, are inevitable. Even the villains are fantastic, especially the wonderfully weaselly Grahame Coats. All in all, an excellent, satisfying book, told as only Gaiman can.

The Whispering Mountain by Joan Aiken

This was an interesting little fantasy novel. I enjoyed it, and somehow it had the feel of a classic, but I'm not quite sure what to make of it. It was set, I believe, in the early 19th century--the date was never made quite clear, and as one review described it, it is "unhistorical," so a sot of it doesn't make sense for 19th-century Wales anyway. I suppose I should say I quite liked the plot, the stolen harp and the strange groups of characters running about and meeting up in new configurations trying to find it, but the peripheral aspects seemed a bit off. It was quite silly, but didn't always seem to be aware of its own silliness. And then the ending, which I won't reveal but is decidedly not silly, rather threw me off. Oh, and the villain reminded me quite strongly of Voldemort. I wonder if J. K. Rowling's read this.

The Merry Wives of Windsor by William Shakespeare

Ah, Shakespeare. What could there possibly be to complain about? I have just one thing: it would be so much better on stage. This is a hilariously funny play, full of sex and deception, but text is not an ideal way to consume it. While some of the jokes wouldn't make sense were it not for the glosses, that sort of thing is easier to pass quickly by on stage, and it's such a physical play that it would be vastly improved by being able to see the characters. I'm glad I read it, but now I know that I should absolutely snatch any chance I get to see it performed.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

Having not seen the movie, I wasn't sure what to expect of this book--in fact, I thought that, like Spirited Away, it would start out in our world and move into a fantasy world. I was delighted to find that it was the other way around! (Okay, I won't give too much away--but it does take place partially in our world.) The main character, Sophie, is the eldest of three, and in this fairytale world, that means she's sure to amount to nothing. And in fact it seems to have disastrous consequences when the Witch of the Waste comes and puts a curse on her for no apparent reason. But Sophie sets out to seek her fortune, and finds one quite unexpected and fun.

This book was quite an enjoyable read. There were a few plot holes, or at least spots where the story didn't seem to quite follow its own logic, and parts of the story were rather predictable, but I enjoyed it all the same. The characters especially were fantastic. I particularly admire Diana Wynne Jones' ability to create a character--Howl--who is both extremely flamboyant and inarguably heterosexual!

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

It's hard to say much about any of Gaiman's work beyond "Gaiman is a genius." But I'll try! This novel is quite, quite delightful. The characters are real and complete, the premise--the old god of religion warring against the new gods of technology--is compelling, and the plot is both surprising and masterfully crafted. I don't think there could ever be another book lite this--and I say that knowing that there is a sequel. The only bad thing I have to say about this book is that the end left me feeling a bit adrift, and I suspect that was done on purpose.

Bone by Jeff Smith

I read a few pages of the beginning of this comic when they were in Disney Adventures magazine. I really liked it then, and had been hoping to find a copy of the book for some time. Well, now I have, and I have to say--wow! It's so much more than I expected it to be. Like with webcomics and other serially published stories, I have to wonder how much the author knew or planned from the beginning. Was this sweeping fantasy epic in the works when I read about three cousins run out of Boneville and met a talking leaf bug and a cow-racing grandmother, or did it evolve as Smith wrote? Either way, it is extremely successful at moving from humble beginnings to a world-changing tale. Sometimes, with such things as the "lost princess" theme, it does seem a bit stereotypical, but the characters and the storytelling make up for it.

Tam Lin by Pamela Dean

In the ballad of Tam Lin, the daring Janet is warned not to go to Carterhaugh (which she or her father owns) but does anyway. There she meets Tam Lin, who takes the promised pledge and leaves her with child. She learns that he is to be a sacrifice of the Faerie Queen, but she can and does rescue him.

Pamela Dean's retelling of this classic story is set in a small college in the Midwest in the early seventies. The role of the novel's main character is clear: her name, after all, is Janet Carter. The rest of the story, however, unfolds with intriguing slowness. She does meet a boy named Thomas Lane, but they are both dating other people, and her relationship with Nick Tooley seems so perfectly ordinary it's hard to question. Other things aren't so perfectly ordinary, such as the mysterious Fourth Ericson ghost, the strange behavior of many members of the Classics department, and the fact that Janet can't seem to think about them when she's on campus. The plot, moving through the four years of Janet's college attendance, moves so slowly that at times it seems not to be moving at all, but the characters and situations are so wonderful that it doesn't matter.

Finally, in the fall of Janet's senior year, everything falls into pace. I won't give away the ending, but I will say that everything I expected to happen does happen, in a perfectly wonderful and wholly unpredictable way. The verdict? An exquisite book that every lover of fantasy and English major should read ASAP. I'll certainly be rereading it when I get a chance.

Darkhenge by Catherine Fisher

Some fantasy authors seem to rely too much on their readers not knowing the myths that inspire their stories. This one seemed to have promise--the back matter made me think that the main character Rob's comatose younger sister Chloe had gone into Faerie, and I got even more excited when the novel opened with the term "The Cauldron-Born" and a quote from The Book of Taliesin. That was the high point, though. Taliesin shows up, but doesn't seem especially trustworthy. This impression makes me want even more to root for his antagonist, Clare, who is also the goddess Ceridwen. But she doesn't seem very trustworthy, either; in fact, the only person who does is the priest, Mac, Rob's godfather. He seems to know more than he should, and this is never explained--in fact, a lot is never explained, from how Rob (the POV character) suddenly knows Dr. Kavanagh's first name to, despite repeated hints that it is significant, the identity of the King of the Unworld. Returning to my original point, the author also seems to take strange liberties with the Taliesin legend and stories of the Underworld. So much, in fact, that I think I would have enjoyed it more were it stripped of its mythological references. I just don't understand the point of having them if you're barely going to use them. I also would have been more content if I only vaguely knew the myths and didn't expect anything based on them. So overall, not an awful book, but one I certainly wouldn't recommend.

The Elves of Cintra by Terry Brooks

As always, Terry Brooks delivers. He's my favorite fantasy author for many reasons: intriguing, varied, abundantly realized characters; interesting and creative plots; and above all, masterful suspense. I can sometimes predict what's going to happen, but only because I know his style well--and even then, I'm never sure, because Brooks is so skilled at managing expectations and bringing surprises (the best kind--ones you should have predicted). The Elves of Cintra is the second in the Genesis of Shannara set, and it's really exciting! He has three series--the Shannara series, the Word and Void series, and the Magic Kingdom of Landover series. I've known that the first two were connected, the fantasy world of Shannara being what emerges from the collapse of the modern world of the Word and Void. This set connects the two--the modern world in chaos and dying, demons out of hiding, fantasy creatures evolving... the King of the Silver River, a faerie as old as the world, even makes an appearance, guiding a character in this book as he does so many of the series' heroes. The Elves are here too, in hiding now, but that will change soon. The end of this book was completely unsatisfying--I can hardly wait for the next one!

The Mabinogion translated by Charlotte Guest

Considering how obsessed I am with Welsh language and culture, it certainly took me long enough to read this! Of course, I'm glad I did. It's a collection of medieval Welsh hero tales--many of them are quite a bit older than that, of course, but they're first found written down in the twelfth century. It's actually fairly obvious which only survive in more recent forms, between the Europeanization and the Christianization. The first four, I think, are the most interesting. They are the least Christian, feel the most Welsh, and certainly have the best female characters (plus, they're the only ones in which the term "mabinogi" actually appears). This translation also includes part of the tale of Taliesin, which was fun to read, but unfortunately in a very Christianized version--Ceridwen is represented as an evil hag and Taliesin is always talking about how he serves God and Jesus. I also had a slight issue with the translation of the whole thing--many of the names seem to be partially Anglicized, so that I can't really tell how they're properly spelled or pronounced.

The Spiderwick Chronicles by Holly Black and Tony DeTerlizzi

What a delightful little series! I'm a huge fan of Holly Black, and as usual she didn't disappoint, with a thrilling tale of true-to-life (and -legend) faeries and children. I was delighted that they took a classic story, unhappy kids moving into a strange new house, and--well, didn't exactly turn it on its head, but created an engaging and original tale. The protagonist, Jared Grace, is a well-drawn and very sympathetic little boy whose parents' divorce has led to anger issues as well as a move to a house owned by his Great-Aunt Lucinda, where hides a very special book. His twin brother Simon and their older sister Mallory are also unique and fun characters, and the interactions between the siblings are quite believable--they squabble a lot, but when it's important (and when they have to hide things from their mother) they stick together. The story is also populated by faeries of all types and sizes--a brownie, some goblins (and one hobgoblin, thank you very much), a griffin, a phooka, elves, and more. I was happily surprised by some of the story's twists and gleefully predicted others. I really look forward to the movie. Of course, it will be lacking Tony DeTerlizzi's delightful illustrations, but I'm sure it will be wonderful anyway.