We think of forgiveness as a thing. An incident. A choice. But forgiveness is a process. A long, exhausting process. A series of choices that we have to make over, and over, and over again. — Elizabeth Bear’s Ancestral Night
I can hear the wind driven sleet hitting on the windows, so I’ll limit my wandering to the inside of the Kinrowan Hall, but first I think I’ll sit down in the Kitchen, get some breakfast — a bacon cheddar bap, an apple and a big mug of Darjeeling tea will do — and watch what’s going on…
I see a book Reynard reviewed, Big Book of Bacon, is now sitting on Mrs. Ware’s corner desk. I think he got it from her so it’s come full circle. And I see several bottles of our Kinrowan Special Reserve Pear Cider is on her desk with a note from our Steward that they’re to be packaged up and sent to Riverrun Farm in appreciation for their providing honey for our ciser (half cider, half mead) bottling this year. Hmmm… I spot a copy of Sleeping Hedgehog that has a loving look at a recent book, Children’s Games in Street and Playground by Ioan Opie, the British folklorist. Been meaning to read our copy of that work.
Ahhhh I see they’re discussing how many American style buttermilk biscuits they’ll need with that beef stew for the eventide meal. And I see one of the Several Annies, Rebekah, is being asked by Mrs. Ware if she’d like to join her staff when she gets done with her Estate, errr, Library apprenticeship in two years. She’s the one who introduced us to wonderful Jewish baked treats.
Oh and I see that someone has been mushroom hunting, so the beef stew will have these tasty morsels in it. Barrowhill beef is always a treat no matter how it’s used.
Now let’s get started with this edition…
We’re looking at just Elizabeth Bear’s fiction this outing. Now we can’t possibly include all the reviews here that we’ve done, so I’m picking just some for here.
First up is her really not space operas, Ancestral Night and its not quite sequel Machine. Gary reviewed both. He says ‘Ancestral Night is the tale of Haimey Dz, a nominally lesbian engineer on a little salvage tug whose ship mind is named Singer and which is piloted by her friend Connla Kurucz. Both Haimey and Connla live nearly full time in zero gravity, so of course their bodies have been modified in many ways, including replacing their feet with “aft hands.” The three of them make their living in the vastness of interstellar space by going to the rips in spacetime caused by unsuccessful transfers out of white space back into Newtonian space, and salvaging the wrecks they find there … if there’s anything left or worth salvaging. ’
In the second one, he says, she ‘is playing a long game in Machine, the second installment in her White Space series with third, Folded Sky, out this June. The series is shaping up to be an exploration of those dark places – not to say dystopian spaces – that are always found around the edges of any apparent utopia. Via that path she’s casting her eye on some of the current ills facing humanity in the 21st century — and tossing out some thoughts about how we might resolve some of those issues before it’s too late.’
Cat has a look at two novellas in what he hopes will be an interesting series: ‘As I write this review just before Election Day, there have been but two novellas released in the fascinating Sub-Inspector Ferron series “In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns” and “A Blessing of Unicorns”. I’m not sure how I came upon the first novella but it was a superb story, both in terms of the setting and in the characters that Bear has created here, including a parrot-cat called Chairman Miaow.’
Kestrell looks at a novel of decided Shakespearean tones: ‘Elizabeth Hand’s new novel Illyria follows in a long tradition of science fiction and fantasy stories which reference the works of Shakespeare, particularly the romances, and Hand’s lyrical writing style is a wonderful fit for the dark romance she sets out to tell. The romance tells of the relationship between two cousins, Maddy and Rogan, but like that of the twins Viola and Sebastian in “Twelfth Night” to which the title Illyria alludes, the relationship between Maddy and Rogan proves to be a powerful touchstone for drawing together all the “big ideas” of love, ambition, and conformity to family and social expectations.’
Richard has zeppelins for us in New Amsterdam: ‘ There is no more surefire signifier of the alternate history novel than the zeppelin. One giant commercial dirigible hanging in the background is all you need to say “This world is not our world. This is a place where things are/were different.” And, often enough, a signifier is all the zeppelin remains. They’re cool, they’re different, and they’re background.’
Without telling us a damn thing about the novel, Robert has high praise for high praise for one of her works: ‘Elizabeth Bear has started to scare me. All the Windwracked Stars packs a terrific wallop, and any artist who can achieve that level with any consistency is frightening indeed. There’s a degree of honesty that any artist has to achieve if they want us to pay attention beyond the moment: they can’t be afraid of the hard places. Bear’s there.’
Next is her Promethean Age novels. he begins his review this way: ‘Blood and Iron is the story of what turns out to be the latest battle in an ongoing and centuries-long war between the Courts of Faerie, whose power is of song and bindings and innate gifts, and the Magi of the Prometheus Club, whose magic is a thing of arcane knowledge and iron weapons, against which the Fae have little recourse. Both sides, of course, are fighting in self-defense.’
Of the second, Whiskey and Water, he notes: ‘The nice thing about reading the first volume to a really good new fantasy series is that when you reach the end, you know the story’s not over. The nice thing about getting your hands on the second volume is that now the waiting is over.’
We remember the winter afternoon that Elizabeth carefully tended a pot of turkey stock that many hours later would become one of the most tasty turkey veggie soups ever encountered by anyone ‘ere. Later that week, I got to interview about all things culinarily that interested here ranging from her ideas picnic basket and what make a great winter hearty meal to the perfect brownie. You can read that wonderful conversation here.
It’s not actually a graphic novel or comic, but The Polar Express is lavishly illustrated and Christopher just raved about the 20th anniversary edition. ‘A child on the cusp of losing their belief in Santa and the magic of Christmas is the protagonist of (and perfect target audience for) The Polar Express. This book brings that struggle into the light as it makes the case for believing and magic. Its potent magic lies in the utter simplicity and clarity of the story line combined with the phenomenal illustrations.’
Richard gave a mixed review to yet another entry in the Batman comics universe. ‘Ultimately, Gotham Underground is fun but slight, a too-complicated treatment of a cool idea that would have benefited from a streamlined approach. Batman and continuity completists will enjoy it, others might find themselves bewildered by the cast of thousands and innumerable interwoven subplots.
In new music, Gary has good words for the latest release from The Unthanks, their first ever winter holiday album. ‘On In Winter you’ll find old favorites, obscure traditional songs from rural villages, and some created by The Unthanks in traditional style. All of course featuring the unique vocal stylings of Rachel and Becky Unthank, and especially the divine harmonies of the sisters and their bandmates.’
Gary also liked All Species Parade, a new one from jazz and Americana violinist Jenny Scheinman. ‘It’s a musical homage to her native Humboldt County, California, to which she returned in 2012 after many years in New York. While making several albums in the meantime, she’s been contemplating just such a project, and it finally has reached fruition.’
From the archives, Craig appreciated a children’s album by actor Jessica Harper: ‘Hey, Picasso is a collection of 12 original songs inspired by classic paintings. Unlike most music written for children, Harper doesn’t patronize her audience. She has the enviable ability to write songs with catchy hooks that both children and adults can appreciate. Her simple (but not symplistic) lyrics are fun, memorable, and easy to sing along with …’
Judith, claiming some Scottish DNA of her own, reviewed what she introduced as ‘… three great and relaxing albums from the Land of Sheep In the Road.’ They are Coila’s Full On, Drinkers Drouth’s A Tribute (with Davy Steele), and Margaret Stewart and Allan MacDonald’s Colla Mo Rùn.
Lars was flummoxed by The Essential James Galway. ‘So we have a double CD with a brilliant flute player, probably one of the best in the world, playing with some of the world’s best orchestras, but delivering something that is totally pointless to anyone who truly loves music. I think I will go out and look for a CD of Galway playing complete concertos for flute and orchestra instead. Hope there are some available.’
Leona, an accomplished fantasy author who usually reviewed Food & Drink for us, was moved to review The Ditty Bops’ self-titled CD after seeing them live. ‘Listening to the CD after the show, I continued to be impressed, although I do think their live show is slightly better due to the intense energy Amanda Barrett and Abby DeWald put out during a performance. Without their presence, the songs are pleasant to listen to, occasionally attention-getting, but not nearly the same stand up and take notice music that I heard that day in Portsmouth.’
Sometime ago Elizabeth did a great favour for us and narrated a story of hers, ‘The Chains That You Refuse’. When doing some cleaning up of our media server, the Infinite Jukebox, I found it again, so here it is for you to enjoy! Please do not repost it a we exclusive rights to use of it.
