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Friday, December 27, 2013

Last Friday of 'Tis More Blessed


It's the last Friday of 'Tis More Blessed. There's a lot of winter left to come. January and February are looming in the near future. Don't you want to curl up with a good read while chill winds whip and rattle your windows? Come celebrate the season with free books and giveaways. And spread the word please, #tismoreblessed.

Visit the sites below to see what's on offer and don't forget to enter my raffle at the tail of this post. You could win a paperback copy of the latest Plasma Frequency Magazine edition or Tales of Woe and Wonder. Winners to be announced January 1.


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Ghost Stories for Christmas Eve

M. R. James circa 1900.
Christmas Eve is past for this year. Most of you are in the thick of boxing day or maybe preparing for New Year's Eve celebrations. One of the Victorian Christmas Eve traditions that appears to have died out is the telling of ghost stories. Family and friends used to gather round the fire on Christmas Eve to delight and give fright with tales of specters and terrors. Other than watching some version of A Christmas Carol, I doubt most Americans make any connection between Christmas Eve and ghost stories, unless you're a fan of M. R. James.

Montague Rhodes James (1862-1936), was an English author and medieval scholar. He served as provost of King's College, Cambridge from 1905 to 1918 and is best remembered for his ghost stories, many of which draw on his antiquarian interests. His ghost stories appeared in the collections: Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1904), More Ghost Stories of an Antiquary (1911), A Thin Ghost and Others (1919), and A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories (1925). James claimed that he wrote many of these tales as Christmas Eve entertainments.

Thanks to the BBC and Youtube, you too can experience a bit of an old Christmas tradition. Settle in to a cosy chair with something hot and comforting to drink. Build a fire if you have a fireplace and listen to some masterful tales of the strange and mysterious. Just do a search on Youtube for "M. R. James".

Here are a few links to get you started:

"A Warning to the Curious".

"Number 13".

"The Ash Tree".

Monday, December 16, 2013

CSFF Blog Tour: Merlin's Shadow

Merlin's ShadowThis month's selection is Merlin's Shadow, book two in the Merlin Spiral series by Robert Treskillard. I reviewed the first book in the series, Merlin's Blade, a few months ago. You can find my comments here.

Merlin's Shadow picks up the action where Merlin's Blade ended. Merlin has killed the stone by driving Uther's sword into it. Merlin's father is dead. Ganieda--Merlin's half-sister--watches her dear mother die and vows to take revenge on Merlin, whom she blames for everything. Uther's daughters are in hiding and Uther's infant son Arthur is under the protection of Merlin and Colvarth who are on the run from Vortigern, who murdered Uther and covets the high kingship. The narrative switches back and forth between Merlin, Ganieda, and the druid Morganthu as it develops the characters and sets up the conflict between Merlin and Ganieda.

Merlin faces one hard decision and test after another. Not a lot of good things happen to Merlin and company in this book. They endure Vortigern's chase, a season of back-breaking slavery to the Picts, and a harrowing journey across an icy sea. Time and again, Merlin's efforts are thwarted, although a few small victories along the way keep the party alive. Merlin struggles with depression and a deep sense of failure, but his suffering is not in vain. He learns to depend on others as he comes to understand lessons in humility, love, and sacrifice.

Ganieda's path takes her in the opposite direction toward a darker destiny. At the foot of the stone, she discovers an orb and a fang, both of which possess dark, magical powers. The orb allows her to see other places and to briefly travel there. She weilds the fang like a weapon to give power to her curses. Both Ganieda and Morganthu are able to use the orb and fang. They delight in Merlin's suffering, which they witness through the orb. They interfere with Merlin and their efforts add to his suffering but always fall short of killing him. Ganieda and Morganthu fight over the orb and fang. Ganieda also has visions in which she meets with the Voice, Belornos perhaps, who uses her hatred for Merlin and love for her mother to manipulate Ganieda into its servant. Ganieda learns too late that while the Voice never lies, it omits some of the truth, allowing Ganieda to believe in falsehoods.

With its themes of humility and sacrifice, Merlin's Shadow is a deeply Christian work. Treskillard sets up an interesting contrast between the sangraal--the Holy Grail--and Ganieda's tools--the orb and fang. Merlin finds that he cannot make the sangraal do magic for him but he is unable to dispose of it when he loses faith in it. The bowl keeps coming back to him. Ganieda and Morganthu find it easy to manipulate the orb and fang to bring destruction but Ganieda is powerless to do what she most wants, bring her mother back. The orb and fang are easily lost, and one must work hard to reacquire them once lost. The sangraal can restore and heal, but as Merlin discovers, the power rests not in the object but in faith in the power behind it.

If you enjoy a complicated story pitting forces of good and evil against one another in an heroic struggle, check out Treskillard's variation on the Merlin-Arthur story.

To learn more about Robert Treskillard and his work, visit his website at www.KingArthur.org.uk or his blog at www.epictales.org/blog/robertblog.php.

In conjunction with the CSFF Blog Tour, I received a free copy of Merlin's Shadow from the publisher.

Check out what other CSFF Bloggers are saying at the links below:
Red Bissell
Thomas Clayton Booher
Beckie Burnham
Pauline Creeden
April Erwin
Victor Gentile
Ryan Heart
Timothy Hicks
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Jennette Mbewe
Amber McCallister
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nissa
Jalynn Patterson
Writer Rani
Nathan Reimer
Chawna Schroeder
Jacque Stengl
Jojo Sutis
Robert Treskillard
Steve Trower
Shane Werlinger
Phyllis Wheeler
Deborah Wilson

Friday, December 6, 2013

'Tis More Blessed Launch


It's the first Friday of 'Tis More Blessed. I know you want to curl up with a good read while chill winds whip and rattle your windows, so come celebrate the season with free books and giveaways.

Visit the sites below to see what's on offer and don't forget to enter my raffle at the tail of this post. You could win a paperback copy of the latest Plasma Frequency Magazine edition or Tales of Woe and Wonder. Winners to be announced January 1.

a Rafflecopter giveaway