TThe Pagan Book of Living and Dying: Practical Rituals, Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations on Crossing Over by Starhawk with M. Macha NightMare and the Reclaiming Collective.  HarperSanFrancisco, 1997.  Trade paperback, 353 pages.  ISBN: 0-06-251516-0.  Five stars.

At the turning of the year, our thoughts naturally reach out to encompass other cyclical events such as death and rebirth.  Living Pagan in a nonPagan society presents many challenges, not the least of which is arranging for departure to the next life.  This book comprises a crucial resource for any Pagan who is facing death, whether their own or someone else’s.

Overview: Herein the authors cover all of the most important practical and spiritual aspects of death and dying, including the ways in which these touch the caregivers and survivors.  First comes a selection of front matter including an introduction and instruction on how to use the book.  Part One: Pagan Tradition explores such things as the sacred cycle, current practices, meditations, and myths of descent and return.  Part Two: The Pagan View of Death moves on to lessons from death, the land of the dead, and reincarnation.  Part Three: The Dying Process concerns itself with this awesome passage, and touches on everything from preparing for death and working with the dying to the moment of death and what we must do for the dead; it even covers funerals and memorials.  Part Four: Death Has Many Faces looks at the sensitive issues of children, violence, and free choice as they relate to death.  Part Five: Carrying On offers helpful suggestions about making room for grief and practical work.

Features: If you ever wished for an all-around handbook on how to deal with death and related topics, here it is.  The authors have thoughtfully included a wide range of resources such as a list of all the rituals, prayers, songs, chants, poems, and meditations in the book.  Other highlights are a description of Pagan prayer beads and their use, an example of ointment used to prepare a body for cremation, a timeline of grieving and remembrance, a list of ways the community can help, and a set of relevant questions about the dying person and the caregivers that should be answered before death.  The back matter includes instructions on how to make a mask, books on death and dying, samples of a Living Will Declaration and a Durable Power of Attorney, a fine glossary, and a comprehensive guide to the contributors.  Regrettably, there is no index, a significant flaw in a reference of this type.

Recommendations: A must for any coven library, The Pagan Book of Living and Dying offers enough material of relevance to individuals that it also makes a great addition to a private collection of Pagan books.  Every Priest(ess) needs a copy, and I highly recommend it for anyone working in health care too.  Although most useful to intermediate or advanced practitioners, novices should not hesitate to pick it up if they need to deal with death or dying.  The authors present all the content in a clear, calm manner sure to help in stressful times.

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The First Civilizations (History of Everyday Things) by Giovanni Caselli.  Peter Bedrick Books, 1983.  Softcover, 48 pages.  ISBN: 0-87226-562-5.  Four stars.

Here is a wonderful guide to early history for young children.  There is no age guide listed, but I’d guess it suitable for ages 5-8.  Full-color pages spill over with interesting pictures, all carefully identified, and narrative text provides considerable background information.  Everything flows in chronological sequence, from the earliest tool-makers through hunter-gatherers into the agricultural period.  Featured civilizations include Catal-Huyuk, Egypt, Minoan Crete, China, and the Etruscans.  Because of the timing, all are Pagan cultures, and the book gives very nice attention to people’s spiritual lives, even showing pictures of sacred objects and shrines.

The First Civilizations is an ideal history text for homeschoolers and for those who want to supplement public school.  Highly recommended.

This review originally appeared in LunaSol.

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Flesh and Silver by Stephen L. Burns.  Roc, 1999.  Paperback, 338 pages.  ISBN: 0-451-45752-8   Five stars.

Celtic legend brings us the enduring tale of the silver arm, a limb lost in battle and magically replaced with one of preternatural strength and beauty.  That story also happens to include a rather pugnacious competition between healers of varying talents over who is best.  Now Burns brings us a science fiction novel that incorporates many motifs from this classic legend, yet strung together in entirely new and different ways.

The Bergmann Surgeons have unique powers of healing, almost magical, yet drawn from the mysterious abilities of the human body itself.  They can repair any damage down to a cellular level, with quite miraculous results.  But in order to do this, they must give up their hands and replace them with biometal prosthetics, for the ability springs from a honing of the “phantom limb” effect often experienced by amputees.  The side effects of their talent also make them horrifying to the patients whose lives they save, and their successes make their more traditional colleagues savagely jealous and hostile.  So their extraordinary ability costs them the very things they cherish most, and few can withstand the price they must pay…

Dr. Georgory Marchey is one of the few, the proud, the royally screwed.  In his pursuit of perfection, he has lost the love of his life, his connection to his patients, and the respect of his peers.  Now he staggers through his rounds in a drunken fog, bounced from place to place in a little ship of his own, sent wherever MedArm deems his talents most needed.  But he discovered that MedArm’s idea of “most needed” doesn’t jibe very well with his own; catastrophic events shake him out of his comfortably-numb rut and drive him to tear apart this system with his bare gleaming hands … and lack thereof.  Nothing will be the same when he’s through.

Flesh and Silver captures all the terrible longing for perfection and the agonizing over whether or not a given achievement is worth the sacrifice required.  It blends the hard science fiction of exotic medical advancements with the soft but not gentle brush of sociologic SF, slamming technology against culture until they both begin to shred under the stress.  The result is a piercing story of loss and gain, with a very satisfying note of triumph at the end.  Fans of James White’s “Sector General” series will love this one. Highly and widely recommended.

This review originally appeared in Spicy Green Iguana.

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Owlsight (Valdemar: Darian’s Tale, Book 2) is now available in paperback. The prequel is Owlflight (Valdemar: Darian’s Tale, Book 1), and the sequel is Owlknight (Valdemar: Darian’s Tale, Book 3).  They make a lot more sense if you read them in order.

Owlsight by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon.  DAW, 1998.  Hardback, 389 pages.  ISBN: 0-88677-802-6. Four stars.

Sequel to the recent Owlflight, this novel picks up the story four years later when Darian returns to k’Vala Vale.  At the same time, the village of Errold’s Grove takes center stage again, having recovered from the barbarian invasion and grown prosperous again.  Now Darian plans to establish a small Tayledras holding near Errold’s Grove, to facilitate trade between his adopted people and those of his homeland.  Back in the village, a young Healer called Keisha struggles to master her Gift with not-quite-adequate teaching and support.  Then, just to make life exciting, another group of barbarians appears to the north, moving towards Errold’s Grove and upsetting everyone — Valdemaren and Tayledras alike — who remembers the attack several years ago.  But this time the circumstances are rather different…

This book continues the story of those characters we came to know and love in the last volume, while adding enough new faces to keep things interesting.  In particular I enjoyed seeing the developments based on little touches from Owlflight — the way that the villagers treat Healer Keisha so much better than they did Wizard Justyn, the statue of Justyn that Darian demanded as a prerequisite for his return, and the evolution of relationships among the Tayledras as well.  I also applaud the neat twist in reasoning behind the new wave of barbarians, which picks up on several loose threads from the past and also sidesteps the more obvious traps of repetition; there are a few good surprises in here.  Likewise, the characterization of both individuals and cultures remains excellent and entertaining.

Owlsight holds the most appeal for Mercedes Lackey fans, and while it is a complete story in its own right, it will make more sense if you’ve read the prequel first.  Anyone with an interest in birds of prey will find these books of interest.  Recommended.

This review originally appeared in Eternity Online.

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Message from the Sparrows: Engaging Consciousness by Taylor Morris.  Heartsfire Books, 1997.  Trade paperback, 278 pages.  ISBN: 1-889797-02-2.  Four stars.

As an introduction to the Sufi belief system, Message from the Sparrows ranges from subtle to blunt, but always remains deeply insightful.  This is the story of a college class on Sufism which the author taught; he uses the students’ experiences to light the way for others to follow.

Overview: Sufism upholds personal experience over book-learning and insists that practitioners question everything so they can learn to live consciously.  I found many of the concepts fascinating and quite Pagan in tone, although Sufism is not technically a Pagan system.  Mystic in philosophy but rigorously practical in application, it challenges many widely-held beliefs and customs.  Message from the Sparrows makes a great accompaniment to other personal-engineering texts like Prometheus Rising and Angel Tech: A Modern Shaman’s Guide to Reality Selection.

Features: The book contains numerous legends and teaching stories to illustrate its points, which alone are worth the cover price.  There is a nice list of works cited and another of recommended reading, but I could wish for an index to all those great little stories.  In general, I liked the conversational tone and the emphasis on concrete examples.  Only one thing bugged me — the author’s assumption that everybody was “asleep” and nobody had done any significant work towards “awakening” before encountering Sufism.  While this makes a certain amount of sense in addressing a small group of college students, it makes a lot less sense in a book aimed at the metaphysical market!  However, it does make the book more approachable by novices.

Recommendations: Despite that premise, Message from the Sparrows remains an excellent book, suitable for more advanced practitioners interested in challenging reality’s little assumptions.  It offers a splendid introduction to a system which often proves easier to demonstrate than to describe.  Finally, folk tale fans will love it for the teaching stories alone.

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Walking to Mercury by Starhawk. Bantam Books, 1997. Hardback, 489 pages. ISBN: 0-553-10233-8. Three stars.

A story of introspection should begin at a point within, and a story of people should begin with personal interaction; so this one does. The viewpoint character, Maya Greenwood, is a writer and the opening scene comes from her book From the Mountain. A young woman touches divinity directly, yet fears the burden that vision brings her. Likewise Maya finds herself struggling to follow her own vision up a rough and rugged track. A man once part of Maya’s past reappears in her present, and she must work through all the old issues. Her mother’s death leaves her shaken, so she packs up the old woman’s ashes and travels to Nepal in search of a suitable resting place for them. Through it all Maya strives to rediscover herself and her source of strength and inspiration.

Reading this book is like digging through a trunk in someone else’s attic. Starhawk brings us the story through a combination of plain narrative, letters, journal entries, and other tidbits strung together in approximate order. This provides a broader perspective than Maya’s alone, and I found the differences in style quite striking. The author certainly knows how to capture each character’s unique perspective and personal voice. It can produce some confusion too, but you can follow it if you read carefully, as you would listen to someone’s life story.

Walking to Mercury reads more like real life than fiction, which has both positive and negative effects. It is eminently believable and packed with gritty little details. It is also rather sordid in places. People make mistakes — small ones, large ones, stupid ones. Sometimes they manage to forgive each other and move on. Some of the plot twists actually managed to surprise me (not an easy task) and offer thoughtful options rather than the obvious, without quite breaking the contract with the reader. The worst problem stems directly from one of the greatest challenges in fiction, namely how to keep a story from wandering lost when the main character does just that. Between the piecemeal presentation and Maya’s chaotic if sometimes obsessive rambling, the story meanders quite a bit before reaching its conclusion.
From a Pagan perspective, it contains more hints and glimpses than heavy impact. While the main character experiences several powerful encounters with the divine, these stand out as little islands in a sea of insecurity. The author’s knowledge and beliefs provide a firm background so that the spiritual aspects make sense, and I thoroughly enjoyed the original portrayal of the Goddess in Her three phases, given here as the Seer, the Singer, and the Reaper. Yet I found somewhat less “going on” here than I expected. On my scale it falls in that broad borderland between “Pagan Fiction” and “Pagan Literature” because it touches on Maya’s relationship to both the spiritual realms and the modern “mainstream” society.

Not light reading by any stretch, Walking to Mercury does offer a contemplative look at middle-age shifts and surmounting the challenges of daily life. The Pagan themes are subtle but present, and you can have fun hunting for all of them. Give yourself time to savor this one slowly. It deserves your attention. Fans of Starhawk’s nonfiction will recognize many familiar elements, especially from Dreaming the Dark : Magic, Sex, and Politics and Truth or Dare: Encounters With Power, Authority and Mystery. I recommend it for Pagan audiences in general.

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The First Immortal by James L. Halperin.  Del Rey, 1998.  Hardback, 342 pages.  ISBN: 0-345-42092-6   Five stars.

The science of cryonics is relatively new, full of doubt and promise.  This book explores not only the core of the science but its many ramifications, and as such comprises one of the best pieces of science fiction I’ve ever read.  Reading it is like taking a trip through the future history of the universe next door.  I love it because I believe in infinite possibilities, and that’s really what this book is all about — tearing down all the old boundaries that limit human potential.

What makes it work is the way Halperin filters all that through the perceptions of several very remarkable characters.  Fortunately, most of them are related, and the author thoughtfully supplies a guide to “The Benjamin Smith Family Tree” in the front of the book.  At center stage, Ben wends his way through historical events that shape the whole world and personal events that shape the lives of himself and his family.  His experiences inspire him to invest in cryonic suspension for himself and his loved ones, and it pays off — nanotechnology allows them all to be revived in the future.  Yet that future is in peril from the very ease of existence, and it falls to the ones who remember hardship to save humanity from its own indulgence…

This isn’t quite the world I’d want to want live in, a similar complaint to one I levied against Halperin’s first book, The Truth Machine — but it is quite plausible.  Once again, the author got right a lot of subtle, picky little details that make the story fun to read as well as exciting.  For instance, the true secret of immortality lies between these covers, and it has nothing to do with the technology.  This is what science fiction should be, and it’s an amazing blend of the softest sociological and hardest of technological content.  When Halperin cranks up his “what if?” engine, stand back … and get ready to enjoy the show.

The First Immortal is a must-read for anyone interested in cryonics or immortality.  It holds broad appeal for fans of science fiction in general.  Most highly recommended.

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Firebrands: The Heroines of Science Fiction and Fantasy by Ron Miller, text by Pamela Sargent.   Thunder’s Mouth Press, 1998.  Softcover, full-color glossy, 112 pages.   ISBN: 1-56025-164-6  Four stars.

This remarkable book covers the evolution of female characters in speculative fiction from the earliest days up through the 1990s. Here you will find knights, sorceresses, thieves, queens, pirates, starship captains, explorers, and ordinary women in extraordinary circumstances. Some are human, many are not. Some are plausible, others fanciful. Beautiful, ugly, charming, horrifying, harmless, powerful: these are the women of science fiction and fantasy. Come and meet them.

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Artwork and text combine flawlessly to present a history of the genres and motifs herein. Pictures appear in all sizes from thumbnails to full-page spreads. Each is accompanied by a blurb which gives the character’s name, the title(s) of fiction presenting her and its copyright date, the author of said fiction, and a brief description of the character. Analytical text discusses the importance of key works, the introduction of particular motifs, and the changing styles of portrayal over the history of speculative fiction. After a brief introduction, chapter one covers the beginnings to the 1930s, chapter two covers the 1940s to 1950s, chapter three covers the 1960s to 1970s, and chapter four covers the 1980s to 1990s. An “about the authors” section provides fascinating background material; the index, while printed in a teeny font, makes the book much more useful as a reference text.

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Overall, I’m impressed. The quality of artwork varies and for some characters I prefer depictions from other sources, but many are quite striking. It is of course impossible to include all deserving characters/authors in a work of this type, but Miller and Sargent have done a fine job of representing the relevant trends and their attention to detail is gratifying. The characters presented here include not just heroines (female love-object of the hero and/or reader) but also heras (women of great resourcefulness who have their own adventures) and I was delighted to see the steady progression from the former towards the latter over time. This book really shows how much speculative fiction has changed since its beginnings, from the passive Animula to the formidable Cordelia Naismith.

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If you enjoy panels on “Women in Speculative Fiction” such as I and many other folks present at conventions, then you will love Firebrands. It is suitable as a reference for such panels and also for articles or papers on the same topic. It also makes a terrific gift or coffee-table book. Feminists, writers, artists, and femmefans will all enjoy it. Highly recommended.

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Finnish Magic: A Nation of Wizards, A World of Spirits by Robert Nelson, Ph.D. Llewellyn Publications, 1999. Trade paperback, 171 pages. ISBN: 1-56718-489-8. Three stars.

This book comprises an introduction to the history, culture, mythology, religion, and magical tradition of ancient Finland. The chapters cover key topics such as the Kalevala, the world of spirits, trance work and ritual, the magic of nature, the magic of song, the sauna, sacred times, dancing, and the symbols of magic. Various quotations from Finnish lore appear throughout the book, which is further illustrated with maps, reproductions of Finnish art, and other interesting tidbits. Endnotes follow each chapter. At the back of the book is a brief appendix on the Finnish language, which is not bad but fails to mention that the native language doesn’t contain the “f” phoneme. The bibliography and index are pretty good. While this book doesn’t go into great depth, it’s a nice place to start exploring Finnish matters.

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Finnish Magic is most useful to beginning and intermediate students seeking to learn more about Finland and its native traditions. It’s also a decent addition to a collection of books on different shamanic systems or oral traditions. Recommended.

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Invasion America 2: On the Run: The Lost Years by Christie Golden.  Roc, 1998.  Paperback, 266 pages.  ISBN: 0-451-45693-9.  Four stars.

One of the nicest things about books in comparison to movies is that special effects don’t cost extra — and in comparison to animated features, it isn’t necessary to draw a gazillion frames to tell two minutes’ worth of story.  Thus, much to my delight, some modern storytellers have begun to take advantage of this, and tell their tales in more than one format.  This makes it possible to get more of the backstory than would be practical within the scope of a movie or series or what-have-you.

On the Run tells one of the stories behind the story of Invasion America, the popular new series from DreamWorks Television Animation.  Long ago, the Tyrusian people planned a peaceful  first contact with Earth, but their plans went awry.  Prince Cale fled for his life and wound up on Earth, which engendered a very different first contact than planned.  He fell in love with a human woman, and together they fought in secret to save the Earth — and Cale — from his enemies.  Along the way, they also conceived a son, David Carter, who would grow up to be a great hero…

Christie Golden brings to this tale her characteristic knack for portraying tragic stories in striking detail and eloquence.  Who better to sketch out the haunting might-have-beens of human/Tyrusian history?  She also handles the developing romance with sensitivity to the emotional tensions caused by all the running and hiding, plus the inevitable differences in culture.  The activity on the Navaho reservation rings through with piercing clarity.  I’m pleased to see the author’s deft use of non-English words and phrases, too — that really highlights the culture disparities that give the story its strength.

This book will of course make more sense if you have already seen the series it ties into, but I found it pretty intelligible on its own.  Science fiction fans in general will like it; On the Run has extra appeal for fans of animation and military SF.  There are even some artful touches of sociological SF if you know what to look for.  Highly recommended.

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Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold. Baen Books, 1996.  Hardback, 462 pages. ISBN: 0-671-87743-7. Four stars.

Lois McMaster Bujold is back to her usual excellent best with this new Vorkosigan novel. After dying in Mirror Dance (Miles Vorkosigan Adventures), Miles Vorkosigan finds himself plagued by an assortment of physical and psychological problems as a result of his time as a frozen corpse and the subsequent (rather traumatic) revival. Grounded on Barrayar, faced with both temptation and tribulation, Miles struggles to remain true to the most important parts of himself … once he figures out what they are.

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At the same time, Gregor Vorbarra announces that he has met This Girl. Everyone is delighted by the news, except for Duv Galeni, who happens to be fond of that particular lady himself. Worse yet, Security Chief Simon Illyan starts to display certain disturbing hints of imperfection. Used to depending on Illyan’s legendary memory, Imperial Security winds up jumping at shadows. Enter Miles, Barrayar’s imperfect but impeccably-loyal paladin, to save the day.

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Lois McMaster Bujold knows how to twist the knife better than almost any other author I know. The bribe scene is the second-best temptation I’ve ever read — and that only because taking a bribe is obviously wrong, whereas my number-one favorite scene involved two equally-unpalatable but arguably-legitimate options. Bujold’s characters possess a certain dogged determination that keeps them going when less-stalwart heroes would just give up and die. Their humanity, in tragedy as well as triumph, shines through the breathless prose and gritty descriptions. I love the clever dialogue, witty repartee, and courtly intrigue that make both characters and setting come alive. A complete chronology of Vorkosigan’s universe and Bujold’s writings therein appears at the end of the novel. You don’t want to miss this one.

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Bitter Night: A Horngate Witches Book by Diana Pharaoh Francis. Pocket Books, 2009. Paperback, 387 pages. ISBN: 978-1-4165-9814-5. Three stars.

This book is contemporary fantasy, with an urban fantasy flavor although much of the action happens in rural territory. More precisely, it belongs to the surge of novels about badass women who use weapons and magic to make their way through the world; I haven’t seen the subgenre given a name of its own, but it sure is distinctive. In this version of the world, there are powerful witches who protect their covens by creating magical warriors, the Shadowblades (drawing power from darkness) and the Sunspears (drawing power from light).

Max is a Shadowblade, bound to the Horngate coven run by a witch named Giselle. Despite the justified hostility between them, Max does her best to protect the people of Horngate. But now the world is changing – the old powers, the Guardians, are rousing to protest humanity’s mistreatment of the Earth. Their attention is frequently fatal. Horngate is being swept into a magical and spiritual conflict between terrible forces. Can Max still protect her people?

Bitter Night holds the most appeal for fans of urban fantasy. There is enough violence that fans of horror, thriller, or other edgy supernatural stuff may also want to take a look. Recommended.

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The Sun Falls from the Sky … and That’s a GOOD Thing

Eclipse Court by Shirley Meier

This novel interweaves with The Philosopher in Arms and asa kraiya by Karen Wehrstein, like harmony to melody. It tells the story of Minis Aan, the heir to the Arkan throne. Currently on the throne is Minis’ father, Kurkas Aan, who is both insane and dangerous. Minis is trapped in a privileged but poisonous life.

Then he meets Chevenga, the ruler of Yeola-e, held captive as a gladiator and nicknamed Karas Raikas. Minis begins to learn how decent people behave . . . and the more he learns, the more disturbing his home becomes and the more danger he is in.

Eclipse Court is a breathtaking drama of personal growth and politics, filled with vivid and compelling characters. I have loved the Fifth Millennium series for years, and I’m delighted by this new book. Most highly recommended.

Also, the author has a donation button on the site, as this is cyberfunded creativity. If you buy a paper book, only a few cents will go to the author; but when you make a donation to a cyberfunded project, ALL of that goes to the author! Please support what you love.

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Meditation & Protection: A Guide to Development of Individual Spirituality by Hermit.  AUM Publications, 1990.  Trade paperback, 204 pages.  ISBN: 0-9643827-0-9.  Four stars.

This book offers a wide range of techniques for those who seek to hone their metaphysical skills.  You can take the whole thing and practice it as a system, or you can pick and choose among the numerous exercises to find the ones that most appeal to you.  Much attention centers on meditation and concentration, skills which underlie the magical workings of many traditions.  There are discussions on such things as color, wands and their making, food and water, the Elements, the chakras, and the aura.  Deliberate breathing offers a way of controlling energy flow, and there are techniques listed for breath patterns associated with each of the Zodiac signs.  Stone magic also appears in several forms, accompanied by lists of the spiritual, physical, and emotional effects of various stones plus general comments on their properties.

Most useful to the intermediate practitioner who wants to brush up in these areas, Meditation & Protection also holds appeal for others interested in the exercises which form the heart of this book.  Not specific to any religion.

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Magickal, Mythical, Mystical Beasts: How to Invite Them Into Your Life by D.J. Conway.  Llewellyn Publications, 1996.  Trade paperback, 259 pages.  ISBN: 1-56718-176-7.  Four stars.

For reading on the lighter side, look here.  In this book Conway introduces and discusses a number of mythical creatures from cultures around the world.  Besides Celtic beasts, there are Chinese, Hindi, Babylonian, Greek, Egyptian, and many others.  Interestingly, Conway files them by type and then follows up with variants from other cultures.  Illustrations accompany many of the entries.  The section headings include Unicorns, Flying Horses, Centaurs, Satyrs and Fauns, Gigantic Birds (I and II), Mystical Bulls and Bull-Men, Magickal Serpents, Water-Folk, and others.  The book also features a short section on basic magic: candles, amulets/talismans, and rituals.  A fine bibliography and index accompany the text.

All in all, Magickal, Mythical, Mystical Beasts makes a nice addition to a collection of mythology texts.  If you enjoy studying mythical beasts you should at least take a look at it, and it also goes well with books on Celtic Faery lore.

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Nightsweats in Bigelow Hollow by M.J. Claire.  March Books, 2009.  Trade paperback, 144 pages.  ISBN: 978-1935367000.  Three stars.

Kelly is a college student, working her way towards veterinary school.  Her parents have divorced, making her family situation difficult.  Her father offers to pay her tuition, but wants her to side with him against her mother.  And then Kelly’s life really gets complicated.

A talking cat, Fagan, leads her into a magical cave.  Fagan turns out to be an Animelf – a sort of fey shapeshifter.  He reveals that Kelly is actually the daughter of their Queen.  Now he wants Kelly’s help.  The Animelfs expect her to free her mother’s true love (who is not Kelly’s father) and restore the Queen to her rightful place.

Nightsweats in Bigelow Hollow holds the most appeal for fantasy fans.  People who enjoy shapeshifters or animal stories may also want to take a look.  Recommended.

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A Field Guide to Irish Fairies by Bob Curran, illustrated by Andrew Whitson.  Chronicle Books, 1998.  U.S. $12.95 hardback, 71 pages.   ISBN: 0-8118-2276-1.  Four stars.

Looking for something a little more whimsical than the Audubon guides?  Try this.  Kids will love the cute pictures, and the whole family can learn something about Irish folklore.  An introduction explains about the basic nature of fairies and their relations with humankind.  Then come individual chapters for nine of the most common fairies: the Grogoch, the Grey Man, the Sheerie, Changelings, the Pooka, Merrows, the Banshee, the Leprechaun, and the Dullahan.  Each entry gives the fairy’s alternative names, region of origin, known powers, habits, and other useful information.  Finally a separate section covers lesser-known fairies: the Butter Spirit, Skeaghshee, Far Darrig, and Watershee.

A Field Guide to Irish Fairies is a fine introduction to the fascinating world of the Fair Folk.  I found it reasonably accurate, allowing for the usual variations inherent in any folklore, and the illustrations are just lovely.  Highly recommended.

This review was originally submitted to LunaSol.

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Today I’m pleased to present a guest reviewer, Z.S.Adani, and her review of the novel The Priestess and the Slave.  I also encourage you to visit Jenny Blackford’s site and Hadley Rille Books.

The Priestess and the Slave by Jenny Blackford, published by Hadley Rille Books.

Set in fifth century BC, Greece, Jenny Blackford’s The Priestess and the Slave is a historical novella. It is told in alternating chapters describing the life of Thrasulla, one of Apollo’s Pythias at Delphi, and of Harmonia, a slave living in Athens sixty years later during the devastating plague.

Thrasulla is dismayed when the Spartan King Kleomenes succeeds in bribing Perialla, the senior Priestess at Delphi. For a Pythia avarice is disgrace, and Thrasulla the wise and strong, often reflects upon her past in an effort to save her fallen sister. While Thrasulla loses respect for Perialla, her faith in Apollo remains steadfast. Despite their stations as the Delphi Oracles, the Priestesses are all too human; they gossip like other people, they scheme, and some of them even triumph as they journey through life.

In Athens during the plague, we meet Harmonia, a young slave, who is regarded as a family member and whose love is reciprocated by those she cares for. The reader is immediately plunged into a scene in which Harmonia nurses young Aristogeiton. As the plague claims its victims from this one family, Harmonia’s kindness is revealed through superb characterization. She is an ordinary young woman, yet her capacity to cope with grief and tragedy makes her extraordinary. I found Harmonia’s tale moving and her plight easy to identify with.

While the two women’s lives are very different, their stories resonate and echo in their display of courage and wisdom. The nuances of political play, the power of prophesy, tragedy, and the daily lives of people are intricately woven together into a fascinating, historical piece. Readers that don’t care for textbook history would find this novella informative in a vivid fictional setting, and those that like history would cherish it for its accurate details. Highly recommended.

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Suzette Haden Elgin has an author website covering her various books and other writings, plus a LiveJournal blog discussing linguistics, science fiction, poetry, eldering, and other interesting issues.  Both sites are absolutely worth your time and attention; go read them.

The Grandmother Principles by Suzette Haden Elgin.  Abbeville Press Publishers, 1998.  U.S. $18.95 hardback, 220 pages.  ISBN: 0-7892-0431-2. Five stars.

All too often, people pay attention to parenting but ignore the crucial issue of grandparenting.  This book helps fill in the gaps for those who may not have had a good role model for being a grandmother, or who would like to add to what they already know.  Suzette Haden Elgin is an accomplished linguist, writer, and grandmother of ten children.  She not only knows what to do, she knows how to present the material in ways that you can understand and use easily.  Being a linguist, she also offers us a word to describe a grandmother’s grown-up offspring, the parents of her grandchildren: they are chadults.  That’s just one of many nifty tidbits you’ll find between these covers.

This book begins with three basic premises: 1) Grandmothers are people of immense importance and authority.  2) Becoming a grandmother is an occasion for celebration.  3) Being a grandmother is both challenging and rewarding.  The 21 Grandmother Principles appear on the back cover and include such gems as “A grandmother is a safe haven,” “It will be finished when it’s finished,” and “Grandmothers plan for the long haul.”  The chapters cover thinking like a grandmother, gracefully getting people to do what you want, emotional work, resources (money, time, energy), emergency procedures, dealing with health and sickness, mythmaking and story telling, recording and passing on your family history, and much more.  A conclusion sums up the main points, and a special “Teaching the Grannycrafts” section explains how to be a good teacher.  At the very end you’ll find a fabulous annotated “References and Suggested Reading” list, a handy index, and several pages for notes.

Having enjoyed the attention of a very competent grandmother during my childhood, I can confirm that these principles do indeed work.  In reading the book, I found that it explained a number of things that had never quite made sense before, and it also gave me a lot of good ideas both for writing and for personal interaction.  So yes, some of the content is of great use to non-grandmothers; just bear in mind that certain techniques work better or only for grandmothers.  In Pagan terms, this book is a wonderful celebration of the Crone years and Crone power, though matters of religion are generally left out.  Indeed, Pagan families often suffer great stress due to non-Pagan relatives; this is a book you can give to your Christian (or Jewish, or Muslim, or whatever) relatives without freaking them out, and it will provide some much-needed social lubricant.

The Grandmother Principles is a must for new grandmothers or grandmothers-to-be.  It is a perfect accompaniment when you break the happy news to your parents that they are about to become grandparents.  It also makes a fine gift at a Croning ceremony, even for a Crone who doesn’t have grandchildren yet.  Suitable for all traditions and accessible to everyone.  Most highly recommended.

This review was originally submitted to LunaSol.

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The second book in this series is A Calculus of Angels (The Age of Unreason, Book 2), which I have reviewed here; and the third one is Empire of Unreason (The Age of Unreason, Book 3). The author also has a website.

Newton’s Cannon (The Age of Unreason, Book 1) by J. Gregory Keyes.  Del Rey, 1998. Trade paperback, 355 pages.  ISBN: 0-345-40605-2   Four stars.

Back in college I signed up for an astronomy class that turned out to be more like a “history of science” class … and one of my all-time favorites.  This book reminds me of that class, because it begins in 1681 and features Sir Isaac Newton as a main character.  Other colorful characters include young Ben Franklin and the sparkling female scientist Adrienne de Mornay de Montchevreuil.  The field of play ranges from America to England to France.

Plot tension comes from a war between England and France.  However, everything in the plot really revolves around Newton’s discovery of Philosopher’s Mercury, a wondrous substance that does almost-magical things to Earth, Air, Fire, and Water.  This is the one “what if?” upon which all the rest stands, and the author does a splendid job of extrapolating all manner of weird science that might evolve from the mythical Mercury.  Prime examples include the fervefactum (a weapon that boils the blood of enemy soldiers), the aetherschreiber (a communication device), and of course Newton’s mysterious yet brilliant weapon.  Although some might argue that the addition of a provably-imaginary substance makes this science fantasy, the tone really feels more like science fiction because of all the careful details and the way the characters go through equations and proofs and such.

Newton’s Cannon provides a rollicking good read with a fine mix of drama and humor.  Rarely does an author come up with a premise so original and handle it so well on the first round.  Of especial interest to scientific historians, this book holds generous appeal for fans of science fiction; fantasy fans may also want to check it out.  Highly recommended.  Watch for the next book, A Calculus of Angels, to continue the tale.

This review was originally submitted to Spicy Green Iguana.

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