Prince Valiant, DVD

Rated 5 Stars
Purchased from Amazon.


I noticed that several people I know were participating in an Authurian challange.  But I am a much bigger Prince Valiant fan than I am King Authur so I went looking on amazon to see what was available.

There was a  surprisingly affordable set of DVD (season 1) so I jumped right on it.  I loved it for several different reasons.

1.  It remains true to the original Prince Valliant that I knew and loved.  I never saw this TV series, I only remember him from the comic section of the newspaper and from comic books.  But thank goodness whoever produced this resisted the temptation to "improve" it beyond all recognition.

2)  The writing is dated, and that is exactly what I like about it.  Also the art work is as good, staying very true to what was published originally.  The animation is a little mediocre, due to the cost cutting the studios have done in the animation field but cutting down on the number of frames and producing slightly jerks results.  But still, for 5 DVD's at a total price of $7 I hardly think I have much of a complaint.

3)  The episones all have good plots andt are well written for a story line that has been around since 1937!

I was not a reader in the early days of the comic strip, but by the mid 1940's I certainly was.  This is what started me down the road of Historical/Fantasy/Romance.  And I have been happily traveling that road now for about 60 years.

39. Still Life

By Joy Fielding
Rated 4 Stars
From:  Library

A riveting tale of suspense about a young woman caught in a nightmare somewhere between life and death. Beautiful, happily married, and the owner of a successful interior design business, Casey Marshall couldn't be more content with her life, until a car slams into her at almost fifty miles an hour, breaking nearly every bone in her body and plunging her into a coma. Lying in her hospital bed, Casey realizes that although she is unable to see or communicate, she can hear everything. She quickly discovers that her friends aren't necessarily the people she thought them to be -- and that her accident might not have been an accident at all.

38. The Zimmermann Telegram

By Barbara Tuchmann
Rated 4 Stars
From:  Library

Well I think I now know all I ever need or want to know about how WWI started and how the U.S. came to be involved after dragging it's feet for 4 years.

The average person thinks that it was the sinking of the Lusitania that brought the United States into World War I. Not so! In this slim volume that reads like a whodunnit, Barbara Tuchman reveals the little known secret of The Zimmerman Telegram. Basically, Germany wanted to keep the U.S. and its industrial might out of the European conflict by convincing Mexico and Japan to attack the U.S. Germany even promised Mexico it would get back Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona! What the Germans didn't know is that as soon as war was declared, the first thing the British did was cut Germany's transatlantic cable. All telegrams or telephone calls to North America had to travel over Britain's cable. And the British intercepted every telegram out of Germany. Even though the Zimmerman telegram was sent in code, it was broken. But the shrewd British held onto it, not revealing its contents until it was absolutely necessary, and in such a way that they didn't have to reveal that they were intercepting German messages! Brilliant! When the New York Times published the telegram in 1917, it was but a short time until pacifist Woodrow Wilson got a declaration of war from Congress, and the U.S. began sending troops "over there." A great read!

36. The Guns of August

By  Barbara W. Tuchman
Rated 4.5 Stars
From:  Library

If you were a book, what book would you be? A friend passed along this link to a short quiz that answers that question.  http://bluepyramid.org/ia/bquiz.htm

It says that I would be The Guns of August.  How it came up with that answer from the questions it asked was a real mystery to me but since I had never read the book I decided to give it a try.  Kind of going in search of self so to speak. It turned out to be a very interesting book and I learned a lot about the events that led up to WWI that I had never known before.

 FROM FLYLEAF:  This book recounts the political events leading up to the first World War and the first horrible 30 days of that War. Beginning with the pompous, colorful funeral of England's Edward VII in May of 1910 - -which was to prove the end of the old European order - -the account reaches back into the growing competitive situation between England and Germany. It examines briefly but quite carefully the changes since Victoria's time - -the power intrigues, Germany's thirst for power, England's constant incircling of her. Thus, with the immortal assassination of Ferdinand at Sarajevo in 1914, the martial stage is set. What followed (and again it is reported with succinct, vivid accuracy) was the horrible carnage which is modern war. The author shows how Germany planned its Belgian campaign, how General Foch developed a whole new military "mystique" to meet it, how Turkey, Russia, and Japan became involved, and how men began to die on the Western Front between Germany and France by the tens of thousands. Through the pages too move the great figures - -Generals Molke, Joffre, Foch, and Hindenburg; Winston Churchill, Lord Kitchener, Admirals Jellico and von Tirpitz, and dozens more. Concluding with the great Battle of the Marne which saved Paris and turned the Germans back, the volume shows how European and then world history was forever changed by the terrible struggle.

37. Swiss Family Robinson

By Johann Wyse
Rated 5 Stars
From:  Downloaded from internet - free classic book site
Re-read from many, many years ago

I gave this book a 5 star rating for being a great example of a fantasy book, written 200 years ago that has hung in there all these years.  Yes I had some problems with it since the story and writing style was written for a different time and place than today.  But I think it would still be a great story to read to your kids as a fantasy bed time story. 

This book was originally written in 1812 and tells of the adventures of a European family set off for the new world of New Guinea. Shipwrecked by a raging storm and abandoned by the crew they struggle to make it through alive. Tossed into a reef near a deserted tropical island,  the family soon turns their island prison into a veritable paradise. Their multilevel tree house was built in record time and is complete with running water As a tale of hardship and pioneer spirit, the tale is pure fantasy, The island is impossibly populated by ostriches, zebras, lions, kangaroos.  The moral lessons that the Father in constantly preaching and the inventions he and the family created had me really struggling to keep my disbelief suspended. For example, the father knew every species they came across. I don't believe that anyone in 1800, no matter how well-read he was, would react to every species (both plant and animal) with a spurt of perfect knowledge of that species.  While I managed to deal with that by only slightly rolling my eyes the thing that really set my teeth on edge was that when the boys encountered a strange an interesting species of bird or animal they shot it so they could get a better look at it.  But hey, didn't Audubon do the same thing?

35. Then Comes Seduction

By Mary Balogh
Rated 5 Stars
Amazon

 The best thing about Mary Balogh is that you always get what you expect.  I have never had the urge to either not finish one of her books or throw one at the wall.  After my two previous disappoint reads this turned into a real comfort read.

Jasper Finley, Baron Montford, had never lost a wager until he met Katherine Huxtable. But when he bets his friends that he can successfully seduce Katherine, after their first meeting, he not only admits defeat but also patiently listens to Katherine as she verbally decimates his character, then sends him on his way. When the two meet again three years later in London, Jasper finds he is still intrigued with the beguiling Katherine, so he proposes another wager: he will make her fall in love with him. Katherine knows the smart thing to do is to send Jasper away once again, but somehow she finds the idea of romance with a dangerous rake irresistible.

DNF - Coventry

By Helen Humphries
Rated No Stars
From Library

I started and then gave up on  Coventry, by Helen Humphreys a novel of WWII.  It just didn't seem to be going anywhere.  I gave it 50 pages but if a book can't pull me in by then I am not willing to invest anymore time and effort into it.

EDITORIAL REVIEW:

Humphreys's lethargic latest depicts the intertwining lives of two British women during the world wars. Harriet and Maeve meet on the streets of Coventry, England, in 1914. Both are of troubled mind: Harriet's husband has just left for the battlegrounds of France, and Maeve can't shake a deep sense of loneliness. The women share laughs on a bus ride, but afterwards their lives continue on different paths. Harriet's husband, Owen, goes missing (and is presumed killed) in action, and Harriet spends the next two decades mourning his loss. Maeve becomes pregnant out of wedlock and works a string of odd jobs to raise her son, Jeremy. In the chaos of the German bombing of Coventry in 1940, Harriet befriends Jeremy, who, at 22, stirs intense memories of Owen. Together, they search the town for Jeremy's mother and forge an intense bond. Humphreys's characters are given to poetic tendencies that occasionally yield interesting insights on the nature of loss and change, though the cast tends toward the indistinct and the narrative feels too in service of the historical record.

DNF - The Long Way Home

Audrey Howard has been one of my favorite UK authors ever since I read The Mallow Years, All the Dear Faces and There is no Parting.  While browsing I saw she had a new book out called The Long Way Home, a novel of WWI.  So I ordered it from amazon.uk.  I hardly ever order from them because the exchange rate and shipping is usually so high.  Elizabeth Chadwick is my only must order from there.  But this book was such a mess that I would like to know who really wrote it and what have they done with Audrey Howard.  There is no way the same woman who wrote All the Dear Faces is the same one who wrote this over the top melodrama. (and for a melodrama to go over the top . . . well!)  I didn't hurl it at the wall but I thought about it.

34. The Swan Maiden

By Jules Watson
Rated 5++ Stars
From:  Jani

A lush, romantic retelling of one of the most enduring Irish legends, reigniting the tale of Deirdre-the Irish Helen of Troy-in a story that is at once magical, beautiful, and tragic.

She was born with a blessing and a curse: that she would grow into a woman of extraordinary beauty-and bring ruin to the kingdom of Ulster and its ruler, the wily Conor. Ignoring the pleadings of his druid to expel the infant, King Conor secrets the girl child with a poor couple of his province, where no man can covet her. There, under the tutelage of a shamaness, Deirdre comes of age in nature and magic.. And in the season of her awakening, the king is inexorably drawn to her impossible beauty.
But for Deirdre, her fate as a man's possession is worse than death. And soon the green-eyed girl, at home in waterfall and woods, finds herself at the side of three rebellious young warriors. Among them is the handsome Naisi.

His heart charged with bitterness towards the aging king, and growing in love for the defiant girl, Naisi will lead Deirdre far from Ulster - and into a war of wits, sword, and spirit that will take a lifetime to wage.

Brimming with life and its lusts, here is a soaring tale of enchantment and eternal passions - and of a woman who became legend.

33. Eve : a novel of the first woman

By  Elissa Elliott
Rated 4 Stars
From Library

It is the world’s oldest tale: the story of Eve, her husband, Adam, and the tragedy that would overcome her sons…. In this luminous debut novel, Elissa Elliott puts a powerful twist on biblical narrative, boldly reimagining Eve’s journey. At once intimate and universal, timely and timeless, this unique work of fiction blends biblical tradition with recorded history and dazzling storytelling. And as it does, Eve comes to life in a way religion and myth have never allowed—in a novel that explores the very essence of love, motherhood, faith, and humanity. In their world they are alone…a family haunted by banishment, struggling for survival in a harsh new land. A woman who has borne and buried children, Eve sees danger shadowing those she loves, while her husband drifts further and further from the man he was in the Garden, blinded by his need to rebuild a life outside of Eden. One daughter, alluring, self-absorbed Naava, turns away from their beliefs. Another, crippled, ever-faithful Aya, harbors a fateful secret, while brothers Cain and Abel become adversaries, and Dara, the youngest, is chosen for a fate of her own. In one hot, violent summer, by the shores of the muddy Euphrates, strangers arrive on their land. New gods challenge their own. And for Eve, a time of reckoning is at hand. The woman who once tasted the forbidden fruit of paradise sees her family unraveling—as brother turns on brother, culminating in a confrontation that will have far-reaching consequences for them all. From a woman’s first awakening to a mother’s innermost hopes and fears, from moments of exquisite tenderness to a climax of shocking violence,Evetakes us on a breathtaking journey of the imagination. A novel that has it all—romantic love, lust, cruelty, heroism, envy, sacrifice, murder

32. The Boar Stone

By Jules Watson
Rated 5 Stars
From:  Interlibrary Loan

This was my favorite book in the series although I liked them all.  I especially liked the way she brought the story to such a smooth and satisfying conclusion.  I highly recommend this series.

PRODUCT INFORMATION:
Archeologist Watson concludes her popular Dalriada trilogy (after The Dawn Stag and The White Mare), with another richly imagined and action-packed saga. Watson's heroine, Minna, is a nursemaid for a Roman family living south of Hadrian's Wall that separates Roman Britannia from barbarian Alba (present-day Scotland). A half-caste with unnatural eyes and strange ways, Minna runs away after the death of her beloved grandmother. Traveling north where her brother serves with the legions, Minna is captured by slave traders and sold into slavery. Her new owner, Queen Maeve, the wife of King Cahir of Dalriada—one of the tribal kingdoms of Alba—assigns her to tutor royal children. King Cahir soon realizes that the new tutor is a 'sign of the prophecy' that it is his destiny to free Alba of Rome. King Cahir forges an alliance among the usually fractious northern tribes and marches south to confront the Romans. Standing in their way are the hated Roman legions, their despised Wall, Minna's split allegiance to her Roman roots and her captors, and treachery among Cahir's family and allies. Watson's work is as inventive, eloquent and exotic as ever; her fans will relish this rousing conclusion.

31. Mr. Darcy's Dream

By:  Elizabeth Aston
Rated 4 Stars
From:  Jani

I had a little trouble orienting my self with this story since I have been reading the Rebecca Ann Collins series.  Aston's books are more of a Regency Romance book while Collin's series border on a more serious look a the life and times of the Regency period.  But for what it was, it was a good, diverting read and I enjoyed it.


LIBRARY SUMMARY:  When Phoebe, a young niece of Pride and Prejudice's Mr. Darcy, is shattered by an unhappy romance, she retreats to Pemberley and is joined by kind-hearted Louisa Bingley, unmarried after three London seasons. Once the young ladies are situated in the house, several handsome strangers also arrive -- all hopeful of winning the girls' hearts. As preparations for the ball which Mr. and Mrs. Darcy are to give at Pemberley gain momentum, mischief and love triangles abound, making life as difficult as possible for anyone connected with the Darcy family. Populated with authentic characters firmly rooted in Jane Austen's mores and stylistic traditions,Mr. Darcy's Dream has an unforgettable combination of romance, societal scandals, friendship, family, and marriage.