In a recent op-ed, poet Tess Taylor argued that the Covid-19 pandemic has radically altered our understanding of time, that level we use to balance the distance between the triage of right now and the entrenched sweep of history (with all its wars and plagues). The “blue sky” out of which catastrophe falls is one that always seems bluer, more intense, and one that we might feel that we need new eyes to see and understand for what it really is. What leaps out is the acknowledgment that whenever plague (in Camus’ novel, a metaphor for fascism, tragically literal in our own moment) strikes, it always produces a feeling of sudden awareness that we aren’t ready to face the danger. What stands out to me about this passage is not its apt assessment that many human beings are in denial about the perils of existence. There have been as many plagues as wars in history yet, always plagues and wars take people equally by surprise.” In his 1948 novel “The Plague” – sales of which have ticked upward during the Covid-19 crisis - French author Albert Camus reflects on the nature of outbreak and its relation to the human capacity for surprise: “Everybody knows that pestilences have a way of recurring in the world yet somehow we find it hard to believe in ones that crash down on our heads from a blue sky.
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The ensuing disruptions prompted responses that gave shape to the modern world, and the unintended and unanticipated consequences of the Reformation continue to influence the very communities, religions, and beli From Germany to England, Luther's ideas inspired spontaneous but sustained uprisings and insurrections against civic and religious leaders alike, pitted Catholics against Protestants, and because the Reformation movement extended far beyond the man who inspired it, Protestants against Protestants. But very quickly his criticism of indulgences became a rejection of the papacy and the Catholic Church emphasizing the Bible as the sole authority for Christian faith, radicalizing a continent, fracturing the Holy Roman Empire, and dividing Western civilization in ways Luther-a deeply devout professor and spiritually-anxious Augustinian friar-could have never foreseen, nor would he have ever endorsed. When Martin Luther published his 95 Theses in October 1517, he had no intention of starting a revolution. Suspicious, and unheeding of Ser Bennis’s warning to leave it alone, they go to investigate. They discover a local stream had suddenly dried up while they were gone. Gnawing at the bones of faded glory, Ser Eustace draws Dunk and Egg into a potentially-fatal conflict with his neighbour Lady Rohanne Webber."ĭunk and Egg return to Standfast from a short journey to Dosk to get much needed supplies. Dunk has sworn his sword to Ser Eustace Osgrey of Standfast, an old, done knight who dwells on the dual-losses of his family and its ancient honors. The two are in the midst of a terrible summer drought in the Reach (which itself followed the Great Spring Sickness). "The story takes place in the aftermath of the Blackfyre Rebellion and opens a year and a half after the events of The Hedge Knight. The second book in the Dunk and Egg series by George R.R. Once I started really thinking about sleep for the first time, the questions came in waves. The author sets off an a quest to discover more about his own sleep conditions and finds that he has fallen into a strange rabbit hole that exists just on the other side the pillow, and which most of are never aware of. It starts with an admission that we know next to nothing about sleep - the activity that occupies 1/3 The reader is left to his/her own devices on what to make of all the stories. Most neuroscience books these days tend to be packed with anecdotes that are weird, but on which there is no scientific consensus. What do you do when you really don’t have much to tell on a subject, especially when you care a lot about it? You tell anecdotes and try to keep it interesting. Michael John Moorcock is an English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels. Hawkmoon must rip this amulet from the neck of the Mad God if he hopes to save the city of Kamarang and free his friends and his one true love from the Dark Empire's relentless wrath. This power now rests in the hands of the Mad God. Hawkmoon seeks out the peaceful city of Soryandum, which holds the power to transcend the confines of time and space. But in the city of Kamarang, Hawkmoon discovers the power inside him to overcome any control, and his vengeance against the Dark Empire is filled with a fury that knows no relent.Īfter withstanding the power of the Black Jewel and saving the city of Hamadan, Hawkmoon set off for Kamarang. He's been implanted with the Black Jewel, whose power can control his every decision. This omnibus collects the first two novels in Moorcock's acclaimed Hawkmoon series.ĭorian Hawkmoon becomes a puppet co-opted by his arch nemesis. Antique cities, scientific sorcery, and crystalline machines serve as a backdrop to this high adventure. In an alternate far future, Hawkmoon is pulled unwillingly into a war against the armies of the Dark Empire. Among them, Dorian Hawkmoon is one of the most loved. Fantasy legend Michael Moorcock's heroes of the multiverse have been lauded as some of the most iconic characters of fantasy. The book is a time and a place that most of us never thought about. There were times I wanted to hug Nisrina and tell her that she hadn’t done anything to deserve the pain she thinks she deserves but then I realized she had to do what she did or she couldn’t be the woman she wanted to be. There were times I wanted to shake Jabran and shout at him to stop being such a fool but then I realized his only foolishness was in being a good man. No one is perfect and all pay self-imposed penance for the crimes they believe themselves to have committed. Her characters are human in their failings and in their accomplishments. She leaves the reader with no doubt that she knows the customs, the dress, the food, and the climate of the time and the place. Layla Fiske has painted a beautiful picture of a world I really never stopped to consider the Holy Land in the years before, during, and after World War I. She currently makes her home in the midwest, where she lives with her husband, their two teenage children and their cat. She now has more than two dozen novels across several series and single standing novels. Tia wrote One to Hold the debut novel of the One to Hold series in 2013 and has never looked back since. It was during their time at the magazine that she thought of reigniting her interest in writing love stories. She was a journalist, book editor, teacher and ultimately ended up the editor of a magazine. Just like many of her contemporaries, she dabbled in all manner of jobs before she became an author. Tia Louise is an award-winning and USA Today bestselling author of romantic suspense, sexy sweet military romance, single parent romance, and small-town romance novels. The Good Girl's Guide to Being a Demon (By:April Aasheim)Ĭrow's Caw at Nightmoon Creek (By:Calinda B) Limited: 474 signed numbered copies, housed in a custom slipcase Lettered: 26 signed leatherbound copies, housed in a custom traycase Readers will not want to miss this thrilling new dark novella from a master storyteller. In the tornado-wracked ghost town of Nocturne, Lawson must face down monstrous enemies, the rising sun, and his own nature. That key lies with his maker, and now Lawson hopes to find LaRouge at the heart of a Louisiana swamp with the aid of a haunted priest and an unexpected ally. In the decades since, he has roamed late nineteenth century America, doing what good he can as he travels by night, combating evils mundane and supernatural, and always seeking the key to regaining a mortal life. After being forcibly given the gift of undeath by the mysterious vampire queen LaRouge, Lawson chose to cling to what remained of his humanity and fought his way free of the Dark Society’s clutches. The terrors of the Dark Society, the gothic sensibilities of old New Orleans, and the tortured existence of the unforgettable vampire adventurer Trevor Lawson all combine into a heady brew that will thrill McCammon’s loyal readers and earn him new ones as well.įor Lawson, the horrors that stalked the Civil War battlefield at Shiloh were more than just those of war. I Travel by Night marks Robert McCammon’s triumphant return to the sort of flamboyant, go-for-broke horror fiction that has earned him an international reputation and a legion of devoted fans. Sabine's paternal grandfather was William Baring (died 1846), JP, DL, who in 1795 had assumed by royal licence the additional surname and arms of Gould, in accordance with the terms of his inheritance of the manor of Lew Trenchard from his mother Margaret Gould, daughter and eventual heiress in her issue of William Drake Gould (1719–1767) of Lew Trenchard. He was the eldest son and heir of Edward Baring-Gould (1804–1872), lord of the manor of Lew Trenchard, a Justice of the Peace and Deputy Lieutenant of Devon, formerly a lieutenant in the Madras Light Cavalry (resigned 1830), by his first wife, Sophia Charlotte Bond, daughter of Admiral Francis Godolphin Bond, Royal Navy. Sabine Baring-Gould was born in the parish of St Sidwell, Exeter, on 28 January 1834. Left: Canting arms of Baring: Azure, a fesse or in chief a bear's head proper muzzled and ringed of the second right: Arms of Gould: Per saltire azure and or a lion rampant counterchanged Lurk around bookworms long enough and you're bound to find some pompous pseudo intellectual enraptured by the rich, textured, yet subtle literary clues so artfully crafted into this piece: "You mean to tell me that Jorge De Burgos, the blind monk, is actually a nod to Jorge Luis Borges, the blind Argentinian writer? Whaaat?" So clever. In which its heavy-handedness is offensive. Do yourself a favor and quit after he has solved his first "mystery" (page 25?).ģ. You must often wait a chapter or two to get back to the mystery that drove you to read this thing in the first place. Just when you thought it was getting interesting, just when the plot is getting meatier and it grabs your attention, here comes a dissertation or a long drawn description of doors, churches, parchments, beasts, characters that are totally irrelevant to the plot, and backstories that do nothing to shed light on the events. Knowing most would not put up with this crap for 500 pages, he wisely chose to interrupt his many digressions on poverty, heretics, whether or not Jesus laughed, Aristotle, architecture, etc, with an amateurish mystery plot. Yes, I'm almost certain Eco wrote this thing for the sole purpose of informing us of how knowledgeable he is of the finer points of monastic orders, book trivia, and medieval philosophy. Eco's writing is so infectious, lively, and likeable that I thought it appropriate to pen my review in his style. |