The Maiden's Court: January 2012

Monday, January 30, 2012

Giveaway of By the King's Design by Christine Trent

I have the wonderful opportunity to offer a giveaway of 1 copy of Christine Trent's new release, By the King's Design to one lucky reader INTERNATIONALLY!. Last day to enter the giveaway is February 11, 2012. Enter your information in the form below.

Here is an excerpt:

"Annabelle “Belle” Stirling inherited the family draper shop from her late father, only to have it sabotaged by her ne’er-do-well brother, Wesley. Belle travels to London to seek redress, and while there, the Prince Regent, future King George IV, commissions her to provide fabrics for his Royal Pavilion. As Belle’s renown spreads, she meets handsome cabinetmaker Putnam Boyce, but worries that marriage will mean sacrificing her now flourishing shop.

When Wesley plots to kidnap the newly crowned King, Belle finds herself entangled in a duplicitous world of shifting allegiances, where every choice could have unexpected consequences for her future, her safety, and her kingdom…"

To follow the rest of the HFVBT tour for By the King's Design visit the website.

Book Review: By the King’s Design by Christine Trent

By the King’s Design by Christine Trent

ARC, Paperback, 384 pages

Kensington Publishing Corp

January 31, 2012

★★★★☆

Genre: Historical Fiction, Regency

Source: Received from Author as part of Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tour

“Strong-willed Annabelle Stirling is more than capable of running the family draper shop after the untimely death of her parents. Under her father’s tutelage, she became a talented cloth merchant, while her brother Wesley, the true heir, was busy philandering about Yorkshire. Knowing she must change with the times to survive, Belle installs new machinery that finishes twice the fabric in half the time it takes by hand. But not everyone is so enthusiastic.

Soon, riled up by Belle’s competitors, the outmoded workers seek violent revenge. Her shop destroyed, Belle travels to London to seek redress from Parliament. While there, the Prince Regent, future King George IV, commissions her to provide fabrics for his Royal Pavilion. As Belle’s renown spreads, she meets handsome cabinetmaker Putnam Boyce, but worries that marriage will mean sacrificing her now flourishing shop. And after Wesley plots to kidnap the newly-crowned King—whose indiscretions are surfacing—she finds herself entangled in a duplicitous world of shifting allegiances.

Painting a vivid portrait of life in the British Regency, Christine Trent spins a harrowing tale of ambition, vengeance, love, and complex loyalties against the dynamic backdrop of the early Industrial Revolution.”

This third outing from Christine Trent again brings us into the life of a young craftswoman - this time a draper. Belle Stirling has to push back against the opinion that a woman should not be in charge of a business as well as the undercurrents that are swirling around in society. Belle has to become her own woman and manage her own shop while also becoming one of the drapers who is working on the Prince Regents new pavilion.

This was my first Regency read and up until this point I wasn’t even sure what that exactly meant. This was a great introduction for me as I felt that through Christine Trent’s pen I was able to get to know the Prince Regent (and ultimately King George IV). I found out that I didn’t really like him, although at the same time during the interactions he had with Belle he didn’t seem quite so boorish. The issues that the Prince should have been facing were well detailed as were all of his mistresses and passions.

It is impossible to talk about By the King’s Design without bringing comparisons to A Royal Likeness and The Queen’s Dollmaker. I loved the nods to both of these books that the author included within this novel. Claudette Laurent has a small role in this book and a few of the events from A Royal Likeness are mentioned. It was a nice treat to the readers of these books. I didn’t find Belle as compelling of a character as Claudette or Marguerite from her prior books. The two prior heroines were more street smart and their own women, while Belle seemed to rely on the men in her life too much for my liking. She seemed to be clueless to the things going on around her most of the time.

As for the other characters in this story – I really enjoyed Wesley, Belle’s brother. He inherently finds trouble everywhere he goes and gets mixed up in some interesting situations. Put, the cabinet maker, was quite the gentleman who I think every girl would be happy with. There is also a famous author who makes her acquaintance with Belle and that was a great surprise. I will let you figure out who for yourself.

I love how Christine Trent includes some lesser known craft professions within her books – this time cabinetmaking and drapery. I found myself wishing for a few more details about the fabric shops and drapery while I felt comfortable with the amount of cabinetry information included.

Overall this was another enjoyable, quick, and compelling read from Christine Trent. I can’t wait to see what she brings to us next.

If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Christine Trent:

The Queen’s Dollmaker
[My Review]

A Royal Likeness
[My Review]

Lady of Ashes (Lady of Ashes #1)
[My Review]

Stolen Remains (Lady of Ashes #2)

A Virtuous Death (Lady of Ashes #3)

The Mourning Bells (Lady of Ashes #4)

Death at the Abbey (Lady of Ashes #5)

A Grave Celebration (Lady of Ashes #6)

Find Christine Trent: Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Podcast

Follow the Tour!

Historical Fiction Virtual Blog Tours website.

On Twitter with #BytheKing'sDesignVirtualTour.

Mailbox Monday #97

This week I received two books for review, both from their respective publishers.

From Simon & Schuster I received The Crown by Nancy Bilyeau and from Penguin Group I received The Golden Hour by Margaret Wurtele.

I am looking forward to reading both of these.

What did you receive this week?

Mailbox Monday is on a monthly blog tour and for the month of January it is being hosted by At Home With Books.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Weekend Cooking: Tatiana's Buttermilk Pancakes with Grated Apple

This week's Weekend Cooking comes from my newly acquired Tatiana's Table by Paullina Simons.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with this title this is a companion piece to The Bronze Horseman Trilogy. Food is a very important aspect of this book series and Paullina Simons has included many of the recipes of dishes mentioned in this unique cookbook. She also pairs excerpts from the books with the recipes so you know the context they came from.

I have never encountered a recipe book based on historical fiction novel so I was very excited to find this one.

This week we made Tatiana's Buttermilk Pancakes with Grated Apple.

Tatiana's Buttermilk Pancakes with Grated Apple
4 Servings

Ingredients:
1 egg yolk and 2 egg whites
2 Tbsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. butter, melted and cooled, plus some for greasing
2 cups buttermilk
2 cups flour
1 tsp. vanilla extract or fresh lemon juice
1 apple (Granny Smith or Cortland work best)
Maple syrup for serving

Directions:
1) In a bowl, beat the egg yolk with the sugar and the salt. Add butter and then alternate amounts of buttermilk and flour.
2) Grate one apple, mix with the buttermilk mixture. Add vanilla or lemon juice.
3) In a medium bowl, whip the egg whites until fluffy (like making meringue) and fold carefully into the batter.
4) Preheat griddle and grease with butter or cooking spray. Drop small amounts of batter onto the pan leaving 2 inches of space between each. Cook about 1 minute on the first side and 30 seconds on the other side.
5) Place pancakes in the oven at a low temperature (approx. 200 degrees) while cooking the rest of the pancakes to keep warm.

I have never in my life made pancakes from scratch, it is usually just add water to the complete mix and you are good to go, so this took a lot more time, but the outcome was very good. They were not as fluffy as regular pancakes, but were more moist. My boyfriend compares them to a thicker version of a crepe. I finely diced the apple (I used Cortland) rather than grated it because the last time I grated an apple in pancakes it was completely overwhelmed by the batter. I also elected to use the vanilla rather than the lemon juice. There was already a slightly bitterness from the buttermilk and I think the lemon might have made them too bitter. The recipe got thumbs up all around.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and and food or cooking related post can participate.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Game Review - 7 Wonders

My boyfriend and I love playing board games and one that we have loved recently is 7 Wonders - and it is history related too! Today Nick is going to share a guest review of the game with us today! Take it away...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Title: 7 Wonders
# of players: 2-7
Play time: 30 minutes
Age range: 10+

Board games have come a long way from Scrabble and Trouble. There are games based on so many different themes that someone with any kind of taste can find something they enjoy. I have recently started to enjoy ancient cultures and ancient history, and 7 Wonders fits perfectly!

7 Wonders is a card game for two to seven players. No matter how many players you chose to play with, the game usually only lasts about 30 minutes. This makes it a great option for both small and large groups of people.

In 7 Wonders, each player takes on the role of a leader of an ancient civilization. As such, they strive to build up their cities, make bold advances in science and technology, bolster military might against their neighbors, and construct their magnificent wonder.

Just a few of the available civilizations that players can rule - Olympia, Babylon,
Halicarnassus and Ephesus

The first thing that you will notice about 7 Wonders is the beautiful artwork on the cards. Each card represents a structure and each structure is vibrantly detailed and colored. As more and more cards get played, the table that you are playing on starts to bloom with color. The game is just beautiful to look at, and although that doesn't say anything about the game play, it definitely goes a long way to making you want to play the game.

Speaking of game play, at the heart of 7 Wonders is a mechanic called "card drafting". Each player is dealt a hand of seven cards, and they each choose one to play. This card is laid in front of the player and the structure it depicts is considered to be built in their civilization. Each player then passes the remainder of the hand to the player on their left, and everyone chooses another card from their smaller hands.

An example of a hand in 7 Wonders

The fact that you can only choose one card from each hand means that you need to make some very tough decisions. Do you take that blood-red military card that will help you defend your city, or do you take that science card to become more technologically advanced? The cards that you don't choose will be passed to your neighbor, and you may not get another chance to play them.

This mechanic is quite enjoyable, and gives you the feeling that you really need to weigh the pro's and con's of each card. Each type of card (red military cards, green science cards, blue civilian structures, and purple guild cards) give their own type of benefit, and victory can be attained by using any combination of them.

As the game progresses, players put structures they have built in front of them,
growing their empires

In terms of theme, 7 Wonders is great in some aspects and O.K. in other aspects. As noted earlier, the artwork on all of the components is beautiful, and this makes playing cards really feel like building the structures that they are meant to represent. The player boards that represent the civilizations are especially detailed and are a joy to look at. The one thing that distracts from the theme of the game is the drafting mechanic itself. Selecting buildings and passing the remains of the hands along may be a great strategic element, but does not necessarily capture the essence of managing an ancient civilization.

All things considered, 7 Wonders is a very enjoyable experience. The rules are easily understood and the game plays quickly enough to be accessible to all, regardless of your gaming experience. The components are of excellent quality and the game feels very tight and balanced.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Movie Review: The Princess of Montpensier

The Princess of Montpensier

Paradis Films

139 mins.

May 16, 2010

Rated: PG-13

This is a beautiful French foreign film that was originally screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010. It is based on a short story by Madame de La Fayette published in 1662. It is believed that the events in the story are based on real events of people the author knew, but was changed to a different time period from that when it was written.

This is a romantic drama. The general plotline is that Marie, the Princess of Montpensier, is in love with the Duke de Guise, not her husband the Prince of Montpensier. There is also the Prince’s close friend, the Count of Chabannes who is in love with Marie as well. What will she do? Choose to learn to love her husband as everyone says she must or abandon him for the arms of the man she has loved since childhood? All of this is set within the reign of Catherine de’ Medici as the Queen Mother and encapsulates the Huguenot/Catholic drama and the St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre.

The scenery is absolutely gorgeous. None of it is computer generated and it was all filmed on location. One of the things that I loved was getting to see how difficult riding long distances was – whether on horseback or in a carriage – it didn’t look fun. The costumes were GORGEOUS! I loved the colors and the styles and especially her hats! Her green riding outfit toward the very end of the film was my favorite.

The war/fight scenes were very well done. You could feel the emotions of the characters – although I really think that the Prince could have been a lot more than whiny. I thought that Melanie Thierry (Marie), Gregoire Leprince-Ringuet (Montpensier) and Gaspard Ulliel (Guise) were wonderful. I didn’t really love Raphael Personnaz as the Duke de Anjou – the character seemed a little creepy to me. I loved listening to the French dialogue – although I had no idea what it meant unless I read the subtitles.

A beautiful film and full of drama and intrigue.

Check out this trailer:

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Spotlight on the Massachusetts Historical Society

Today I wanted to take the chance to highlight the Massachusetts Historical Society. I have been doing research on the First Ladies as part of a class for my Masters program and I have used their website a lot. They have so much wonderful information on their website and I hope to get to their actual facility someday.

The Massachusetts Historical Society is located in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been around since 1791 and holds many great works of national significance, including all of the Adams’ family papers. They are not only a research library where you can go to access their many documents but they host many historical events there as well. This past week they hosted an event that I so wish I could have attended, Fifty Years and Two Continents: The Diaries and Memoirs of Louisa Catherine Adams. You can check out their schedule of events here. They have Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra: A Life coming in to speak on May 3rd if you are in the area and can attend – make sure you reserve online! They have prominent historians and speakers attend their lecture series. They also host changing exhibitions.

May of their resources are available online – those are the sources I have been using the most. Among their online collections there are: The Adams Digital Collection (letters between John and Abigail Adams, John Adams diaries, and autobiography of John Adams), Diaries of John Quincy Adams (all 14,000 pages!), The Thomas Jefferson Digital Collection (hundreds of pages of documents), Coming of the American Revolution (primary sources and essays), Antislavery Images (documenting Massachusetts role in the slavery issue), African Americans and the End of Slavery in Massachusetts (manuscripts and printed works about the lives of African Americans in Massachusetts), Massachusetts Maps, Maps of the French and Indian War, Siege of Boston (manuscripts/firsthand accounts of the experience of the Siege of Boston at the start of the Revolution), Abraham Lincoln: Selections from the MHS Collections, Battle of Bunker Hill exhibit, Photographs of Native Americans, and much, much more. I encourage you to check out some of these online sources, and you may see some of them pop up again on this website because they are just so cool!

MHS also publishes books, the most recent being Thomas Jefferson’s Granddaughter in Queen Victoria’s England. One of the editors will be having a book talk and signing at MHS on February 2.

They also have an official blog: The Beehive, if you wanted to check it out and have a Twitter account @JQAdams_MHS where they post a line a day from John Quincy Adams’ diaries.

Monday, January 23, 2012

Mailbox Monday #96

This week was the most awesome mailbox for me!!!

I finally received Tatiana's Table by Paullina Simons! I'm sure that many of you are aware that this book can be very hard to find. I actually spent all day on a Saturday in December trying to find this book. I found it on UK Amazon for $60 (with shipping and US conversion) which I didn't want to pay because that was ridiculous. In the US it was being listed for around $212 which I certainly wasn't going to pay! Then I found Abbey's Bookshop located in Sydney, Australia. They had the book and with shipping and US conversion it was $36 - which I found to be completely reasonable! So if you are looking for this book, check them out and also for any hard to find needs. Great customer service and fast shipping! Also, my Weekend Cooking next Saturday will be from this book! Stay tuned.

I also received another book I was excited to get - Look to the East by Maureen Lang. This is the first book in a trilogy (of which I had books 2 and 3) about The Great War (WWI). It is also Christian Fiction, but have yet had the chance to determine how much Christian Fiction it is. I have heard good things about this series. Thank you Holly @ Bippity, Boppity, Book! This was my prize from winning the Chivalrous Deeds Challenge.

That's it for me, what about you?!

Mailbox Monday is on a monthly blog tour and for the month of January it is being hosted by At Home With Books.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Weekend Cooking: The Chicken Curry Event

I didn't do a Weekend Cooking post last week, so this dish we made almost 2 weeks ago now. We chose a chicken curry dish from the Provisions and Politics cookbook. Similar to a couple weeks ago when we made a French dish, we have never made a curry dish before either, so it was interesting. I have a few adjustments I would make to the recipe for a second go around!

I have to admit, I have NO IDEA how to relate this recipe to Sarah Polk or anything historical. I have stretched my mind every way to try to come up with some connection, but to no avail, we just wanted to make the chicken curry.

The Chicken Curry Event
6 servings

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unbleached flour
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3 Chicken breasts, boned and split
5 Tbsp. unsalted butter
1 Onion, minced
2 Green bell peppers, chopped
3 Garlic cloves, minced
3 Tbsp curry powder
1 (15 oz) can stewed tomatoes
1 (15 oz) can Cream of Coconut
Tabasco to taste
Worcestershire sauce to taste
1 cup raisins or currants

Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2) Mix the flour with salt and pepper in a shallow dish. Coat the chicken with the flour mixture. Brown the chicken lightly on both sides in 3 Tbsp of the butter. Remove chicken to a baking dish, reserving the pan drippings.
3) Heat the remaining 2 Tbsp butter with the pan drippings. Saute the onion, peppers and garlic until onion is tender. Stir in the curry powder. Cook for 1 minute stirring frequently. Stir in the undrained tomatoes and cream of coconut.
4) Bring mixture to a simmer, stirring frequently. Season with Tabasco and Worcestershire sauces. Stir in currants or raisins. Spoon the curry mixture over the chicken. Bake covered for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
5) Serve over hot cooked rice, cashews, banana chips, chopped apples, mango chutney, toasted coconut, chopped scallions, or other condiment of choice.

OK, first of all I want to share an important lesson learned from this cooking experience about Cream of Coconut. I had never worked with this ingredient before so I had no idea what to do with it and the can offered no directions. I bought the Goya brand, you can find it in the International Foods section of your grocery store. When you open the can it looks like there is a 1 inch thick layer of wax that looks un-edible and then a liquid portion making up most of the can. Apparently that waxy substance is the cream part. After spending time online, I think you are supposed to use this part as well - I just threw it out because I thought it was wax to protect the liquid inside. Those of you that have used this are probably laughing at me, but neither of us had any idea what to do with this ingredient.

Also, I would probably use only 1 bell pepper next time, unless you love green peppers. We used 1 1/2 and it felt like all I was eating was peppers, and I don't like them THAT much. We also substituted dried cranberries instead of raisins, as we already had them at home and they worked great. Overall, it was a great dish. We used the 3 Tbsp of curry it indicated and it was just a little spicy, but if you like more spice feel free to add more.

Weekend Cooking is hosted by Beth Fish Reads and and food or cooking related post can participate.

Friday, January 20, 2012

TV Show Review: The Royal Diaries Elizabeth I

The Royal Diaries: Elizabeth I – Red Rose of the House of Tudor

Scholastic Productions

30 Mins

November 4, 2000

HBO and Scholastic (an odd partnership if there ever was one) partnered up to create three ½ hour episodes based on the popular Royal Diaries series. This was the second episode in the series. This episode is based on the book Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House of Tudor.

If you have read the books, you know they are written as diaries – the episodes are set up the same way. Elizabeth is narrating the story and there are segments where she is shown writing in her diary. I thought this was one good way of tying the book to the episode. I did read the original book the episode is based on but it was so long ago I don’t know how closely they stayed to it. I do intend to reread the series at some point.

We get to see how Elizabeth deals with trying to live outside of the shadow of Anne Boleyn. We also get to see her opinion on the many wives of Henry VIII. She goes through the age old, “divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived” song, but it was so funny. The relationship between her and Princess Mary is super antagonistic. The episode certainly makes it out that Mary = bad and Elizabeth = good. And of course there is a young Robin Dudley following Elizabeth around like a lost puppy.

This would be a fun show for kids to watch. This episode features the youngest cast, the characters are right around 10 years old. The history is not at too high of a level for young adults to grasp and there are funny, kid focused events too – like searching for the ghost of Katherine Howard.

As this is only a half hour episode, a very limited story is shown – primarily the events right before the death of Henry and the attempt to have Katherine Parr done in. There is a voiceover at the end that tells what happened to Mary, Elizabeth, Edward and Katherine Parr. I thought the acting was good, the scenery was well done and would certainly pass for a child – hard core history enthusiasts might find many faults but as an introductory tool I think it was well done.

You can watch the entire episode on Youtube, which I have linked below for your viewing pleasure.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Virtual Field Trip: American Museum of Natural History

I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you all a resource that might be interesting if you are a teacher or have school aged children or have enjoyed the books by Brian Selznick.

Scholastic has created a website that is a virtual field trip the to American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Your tour guide for the trip his Brian Selznick. There is a pertinent connection between the two, in case you thought this was just a random association. Selznick has written two young adult books, The Invention of Hugo Cabret and his newest release Wonderstruck. His novel Wonderstruck is set in the museum and prominently features the exhibits that he shows you in the virtual tour. The exhibits featured are: the Wolf Diorama, the Ahnighito Meteorite, and the Giant Anopheles Mosquito.

For teachers, there are wonderful resources, teaching aids, and classroom activities to teach these books. Scholastic describes these books as great ways to bring social studies, science and art to life. For those who live far from the museum and may not have the chance to get there, this is an introductory tour. It's interesting to watch whether you are a student or an adult.

Below is the complete tour of the museum.

Hope you enjoy the tour and have possibly found two new books for yourself or your children.

More about Brian Selznick's books:

The Invention of Hugo Cabret
Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric, bookish girl and a bitter old man who runs a toy booth in the station, Hugo's undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message from Hugo's dead father form the backbone of this intricate, tender, and spellbinding mystery.

Wonderstruck
Ben and Rose secretly wish their lives were different. Ben longs for the father he has never known. Rose dreams of a mysterious actress whose life she chronicles in a scrapbook. When Ben discovers a puzzling clue in his mother's room and Rose reads an enticing headline in the newspaper, both children set out alone on desperate quests to find what they are missing.

Set fifty years apart, these two independent stories--Ben's told in words, Rose's in pictures--weave back and forth with mesmerizing symmetry. How they unfold and ultimately intertwine will surprise you, challenge you, and leave you breathless with wonder. Rich, complex, affecting, and beautiful--with over 460 pages of original artwork--Wonderstruck is a stunning achievement from a uniquely gifted artist and visionary.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Audiobook Review: Mr. President Vol 1

Mr. President Vol 1

Unabridged, 10 hr.

Radio Archives

November 2011

★★★★★

Genre: Radio Show, History, Drama

Source: Received from Radio Archives as part of Solid Gold Reviewer Program at Audiobook Jukebox

"Mr. President" , a dramatic series that premiered over ABC Radio on June 26, 1947 and was heard until September 23, 1953, established its novel premise pretty much from the first broadcast: it dramatized weekly events in the lives of the various men who at one time held the highest office in the land, the Presidency of the United States of America. Created by Robert G. Jennings, "Mr. President's" 'hook' was that during each episode, the name of the President was withheld until a brief epilogue at the program's end. It became a challenge, then, for listeners to identify the subject of that week's drama...though students and scholars of American history probably had an advantage over the average listener by sifting through the clues frequently inserted in the scripts.

While this is an audiobook, it’s not at the same time. It isn’t an audio version of any book you will find in print. It is an audio production of a radio series that aired from 1947-1953. The 20 episodes on this production were aired from 1949 to 1950. I have always enjoyed listening to old time radio shows and this one was just wonderful as well.

One of the things that I loved about this production was the concept. Each episode is 30 minutes and presents an event in one of our President’s lives. Some of these events are very well known and some are a little more obscure, but all happened while they were President. It was very challenging and fun to not know who the President was throughout the episode and to try and guess by clues given – the name of his wife or children, other politicians, events that were taking place, etc. Some were easy, I knew John Adams within the first 5 words of the episode, but never could figure out Chester A. Arthur. Of the 20 presented, I didn’t eventually guess 5. It is sort of like a scavenger hunt.

Just like a radio show it is a full production. You have a different actor for each character within the show and all kinds of sound effects. It certainly kept your attention.

One of the added interesting pieces was that the commercials were still included in the production and I found that I loved them! There are just two very short commercials within each episode and they are nothing like the commercials today. There were segments for giving blood to the Red Cross, sending C.A.R.E. packages to the troops and refugees of the war, being welcoming to neighbors of all races/religions, etc. I think they were better than many commercials today.

There was one thing that I didn’t like about the collection. One of the episodes, the first episode, is included twice. I think this was included this way because they were showcasing the entire season of the show, but it wasn’t interesting to me to listen to an episode again. The allure of “who is the President” was gone and I found I just skipped past it.

Overall this was a wonderful production and I hope that they release more of these collections.

Here is a preview of the audio.

You can purchase the Mr. President Vol 1 collection as a CD set or digital download at the Radio Archives website. I don't think it is available on other sites.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Book Review: Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead

Hood by Stephen R. Lawhead
Book 1 in The King Raven trilogy

Paperback, 512 pages

Thomas Nelson

April 8, 2008

★★★½☆☆

Genre: Historical/Fantasy Fiction

Source: Personal Collection

“For centuries, the legend of Robin Hood and his band of thieves has captivated the imagination. Now the familiar tale takes on new life, fresh meaning, and an unexpected setting.

Hunted like an animal by Norman invaders, Bran ap Brychan, heir to the throne Elfael, has abandoned his father's kingdom and fled to the greenwood. There, in the primeval forest of the Welsh borders, danger surrounds him—for this woodland is a living, breathing entity with mysterious powers and secrets, and Bran must find a way to make it his own if he is to survive.

Like the forest itself, Hood is deep, dark, and at times savagely brutal—yet full of enchantment and hope. Internationally-acclaimed author Stephen R. Lawhead has created a lyrical rendering of a time-honored story that will lead you down strange pathways into another time and place.”

I cannot get enough of various tales of Robin Hood and his faithful gang. Every author puts their own spin on the story and Lawhead is no different. Lawhead takes the gang from the forests of Sherwood to Wales in the end of the 11th century and puts us in the middle of the tensions between the Welsh and the Franks.

As much as I have always loved Hood tales sent during the reign of Richard II this setting felt more organic and I grew to love it. In taking advantage of this unique setting, the names of our heroes and villains have changed. While you have to think a little more to figure out who is who their attributes and actions will make the connections for you. All of Lawhead’s characters are well developed and he adds his own personality traits to those of our favorite characters.

One thing that was added into this book that I was extremely grateful for was a pronunciation guide for the Welsh words. I found myself referring to this reference time and time again. He also provides a great historical/author note explaining why he made the choice of setting that he did. His reasoning made a lot of sense to me and has led me to think maybe the story of Robin Hood evolved from a much earlier culture.

This story was not without its problems though, despite the interesting setting. The beginning and the end of the story moved quickly and I found myself engrossed in the story and the pages flying by. However, the middle was much more of a quagmire for me. There is very little action in this section compared to both the beginning and end – this is due to a lot of character growth and development in Bran. While this development was extremely important to the decisions Bran makes in the last 150 pages, I found myself having to put the book down after only a few pages because it was so boring. Once you get through this section the story take back off again.

I really enjoyed the time period the story was set in as well as the history that goes along with it. I have not had too much exposure to this time period. The characters were great and overall a good story with the feel of traditional Robin Hood tales. I am looking forward to reading more by this author and finishing the trilogy.

If you would like to preview the story before reading it, why not try out this excerpt of the book?

Reviews of this book by other bloggers:

Buy the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | RJ Julia

Also by Stephen R. Lawhead

Scarlet (King Raven #2)