Changes: A Novel of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher

Harry Dresden is Chicago's supreme wizard. In point of fact, its only wizard, and he's also one of the strongest in terms of pure power, but a bit of a thug in how he uses it. His specialties are fire and force magic, and he also happens to be a Warden of the White Council of Wizards, as well as a member of the Grey Council, a subset of the White Council that face reality and actually manage to get things done, as opposed to the rest of the White Council, who will talk a situation to death without actually doing much of anything about it.

Harry has gone through a lot of changes since his earlier days- he's survived an encounter with a shadow of one of the Denarians, demons contained in the 30 pieces of silver that Judas gained as a result of betraying Jesus. Lasciel, whose presence in Harry's body gave him with power of literal Hellfire- amping up the power of his destructive spells. With her construct dying to save his life, Harry received the power of Soulfire from the Angel Uriel- whose power draws on his soul, increasing the power of his constructive spells such as illusions, but it can also amplify his fire spells as well. And he began training an apprentice, Molly Carpenter, the daughter of his friend Michael, who formerly held one of the swords constructed from the nails used to crucify Jesus.

In this book, Harry gets a call from his former girlfriend, Susan Rodriguez. They broke up when Susan was partially turned into a Red Court Vampire, and she left Harry to try and deal with the fallout from that. As long as she doesn't take anyone's lifeblood, she will remain a half-vampire, but if she does, she will immediately become a Red Court Vampire. The Red Court and the White Council were at war, although currently, there is a truce. Susan has been working with the Order of St. Giles, a group of Half-Vampires dedicated to destroying the Red Court. But Harry is shocked to discover that Susan tells him that the Red Court have stolen their daughter.

Needless to say, he's quite surprised to even hear he *has* a daughter, and he isn't able to get nearly anything that requires thinking done until Susan shows up. She does so with her longtime companion, Martin, who Harry locks out of his house to talk with Susan. There, she shares with him the truth: the last time they made love, (this was after she was already a half-vampire), she got pregnant, but she never told him. Thanks to her position in the Order of St. Giles, and her activities, she couldn't risk raising the child herself, so instead she gave it to some friends of her to raise.

Harry is quite cutting when he says, "Oh, if only there was another stable parent who could raise her... oh wait!" and Susan says that Harry's life is on the line as much as hers is, and that a life with him wouldn't be safe for their daughter, either. After all, how many of his friends have gotten either seriously hurt or dead because of the things that have been happening around him? He reluctantly concedes that, and learns that she named their daughter Maggie, or Margaret Angelica, after Harry's mother.

But she thinks there is a leak in the Order of St. Giles, because only their members knew about Maggie and where she was, and Red Vampires were behind the disappearance of Maggie. One, in specific, Duchess Arianna Ortega, the wife of the man that Harry fought at the start of the war between the White Council and the Red Vampires. Ortega had been about to cheat against the Code Duello when one of Harry's allies did the same, shot and killed him. In fact, it was Ebeneezer McCoy. And now his widow has a grudge against Harry, and has swiped his daughter.

But the Red Court has people everywhere, even in the office building where Harry's Office is located, and Harry, Susan and Martin go to burgle their offices and perhaps find out where they are holding Maggie. But Red Court Vampires are waiting for them, and while they do get a little information, they find out that the Red Court, who owns the building, has planted bombs all around Harry's office, and they blow up the building, thankfully, after Harry, Susan and Martin have escaped- only for Harry to reveal he already sent in this month's rent payment.

After this,Harry goes to see his friend Murph at the police station. She tells him that the FBi is going to want to talk to him, and he tells her about his daughter. She immediately promises to help him. She's got his back, no matter what, even if it costs her her job. He doesn't want her to promise that, but she does so anyway. The next day, Harry and his apprentice, Molly, head to the HQ of the White Council in Edinburgh, only to find out that they are hosting a special guest- none other than the Red Court Duchess Ariana Ortega!

One of the members of the White Council, a man named Christos, has been talking with the Red Court, and wants to turn their cease-fire into an actual peace. Of course, Harry wants to rip off Ortega's head and urinate down her spinal column- he wants his daughter, but the White Council can't afford to have Harry kill her when she's bringing a message of peace to their side. Warden Luccio asks Harry to calm down, and takes him to the Chaos room for a drink. She reveals that the Council doesn't believe in the message of peace. They think the Red Court is asking for Peace to regroup for a counter-attack and plan to hit them when they are down.

But as a consequence of that, they can't help Harry in the matter of his daughter. Harry is extremely disappointed about that, not to mention angry, and takes himself back home. At his house, Susan and Martin show the pictures they have found of items shipped from a secure holding facility in Nevada to... somewhere. Harry identifies the items as ritual gear, and they are listed as megacapacitors. In discussing it with Bob. Bob says the items are meant for a single use- human sacrifice.

Then, the FBI shows up at Harry's Home, and he has to get rid of most of the stuff in his lab and store it in the Nevernever. He hasn't explored the Nevernever around his apartment before, because some parts of it can be deadly, but now he has no choice. Throwing all the items that would be illegal or make him seem like a bomber into a sack, he drags it all into the Nevernever- to find himself into some kind of strange flower garden, part of which turns into a giant centipede to attack him. He manages to overccome it temporarily, and leaves the bag there, hidden, but is forced to return to his house when the centipede comes after him again. He pops right into the hands of the FBI, who take him in, and yet they cannot explain where he appeared from.

He's questioned by agent Tilly, who has an edge in determining who is speaking a lie or truth, and eventually is let go. But when he gets out of the building, he's shot at again, but spells on his duster stop the bullet. Molly pulls up to rescue him in her car, and says maybe they should go to her Dad for help. But as Michael was partially crippled the last time Harry worked with him, Harry isn't willing to do that. Back at his apartment, he has a surprise visitor- Lea, better known as Leanansidhe, his literal Faerie Godmother.

After some verbal sparring, Harry discovers that his mother gave her something for him, when he was old enough. Harry asks for it, and she asks if he is willing to pay the price. His mother had it, and she never slept well- who knows what Price it will demand of Harry. He wants it, though, and she hands over a star-shaped red crystal- full of his mother's knowledge of the ways of the Nevernever.

She also leaves behind Susan and Martin, spelled into sleep by her spells. When they wake, Harry offers to guide them through the Nevernever to Las Vegas, where they will find the company that shipped the ritual items. There, they discover yet more items going to the same place. More ritual gear, but this time for the practitioners to wear. They are attacked again, but win free quite easily, and this time have a general area to go on- Mexico. At home, Harry gets two letters, one from Anastasia Luccio and the other from another Warden he calls "Steed", reiterating that the White Council can't help him get his daughter back.

With the White Council firmly out of the picture, Harry tries calling on the Gray, but they also can't help him, although Ebeneezer McCoy would like to. But Harry hasn't been telling anyone that the girl he wants to rescue is his own daughter. He turns to summoning spirits, trying to find out where Maggie is, but has no real luck. He writes a letter to Ivy, the little girl wo is the archive, and she tells him (through her bodyguard) that she must remain neutral. But she does give him a clue- ask the last man he would go to for information.

Dresden buckles down, and calls "Gentleman" Johnny Marcone, who is willing to do him this favor, since Dresden's elimination of his enemies have helped him in the past. But through him, Harry is contacted by Donar Vadderung, CEO of Monoc Securities. Donor is Odin, and while, again, he can't help Harry in Mexico (because that is the seat of the Red Court's power and his power would be almost useless there), he does give him two piece of information. First is that if the Red Court are planning a working, they will be doing it at Chichen Itza, and second, the working they are preparing is a bloodline curse. Anyone in the bloodline of the sacrifice will die, which includes Harry and Susan, and anyone in their families. He also tells Harry that Harry has no chance against the Red Court in their place of power. No chance at all. He'd be like a fly versus a sledgehammer. To stand against them, Harry is going to need a serious power-up.

But even as Harry contemplates that, two more things are taken from him by the Red Court. First, the Blue Beetle, and second, his very home, which is burned down around him. And then he takes a bad hit that paralyzes him from the waist down. He might recover in 40 or 50 years, but that's time he doesn't have. So, with few choices remaining to him, he accepts Queen Mab's offer to make him the Winter Knight. But he adds a few conditions, first, that he rescue his daughter before taking up any missions for Mab, and that he have some help. This she grants him, and Harry, to get the Winter Knight's powers, kills the Old Winter Knight, who was a murderer and rapist, and who has been undergoing unending torture in the Winter Court. To help Harry, Mab will send his godmother, Leanansidhe, to help him. But first, to consecrate his new position, she has sex with him.

Harry now knows where he is going, and he gives out the two swords he's held on to for so long, Amoriacchus, the sword of Love, to Susan, who will be fighting for love of her daughter. Fidelacchius, the sword of faith, to Murph, who has faith in both God and Harry to come through it all right. Along with Martin, Harry's dog, Mouse, and Harry's brother Thomas Wraith, they will have to carve their way through the Red Court to rescue Harry's daughter. But a betrayal from within will jeopardize their mission. Can Harry rescue his daughter and save his friends without losing it all?

Wow, what a book. Not only the story in this one is shocking, but the ending made me run to Jim Butcher's website to see if this book was truly the last in the series. It was so bitter and poignant and heartfelt, and the story just hammers not only Harry, but the reader as well. In eleven books, we've come to know him so well, and care for the things and the people that he cares for, that when they are taken away so suddenly and finally, it actually hurts to read it.

By the end of the book, Harry has lost just about everything he once had relied on. The Blue Beetle is crushed against Thomas's car, and along with it goes Harry's staff. He loses his office, his home, his lab, and even his blasting rod when it gets overloaded. By the end, even Harry's duster has taken so much damage that it is falling apart in his hands.

And then, the book ends on a real cliffhanger, where you look at it and go "Did I just read what I thought I read?!" I won't give it away (even though you can find it on plenty of other sites), but the pain of reading it was even greater than the rest of the book. Plenty of stuff is hinted at- some kind of romantic relationship between Murph and Harry, the abilities of Mouse, who can speak perfectly well if you understand Dog, and even the possibility of Murph becoming Fidelacchius' wielder.

This book blew me away, almost literally. The things that Harry does to save his daughter, well, we finally get to see what Harry is really made of and the kind of person he is inside. And to be honest, if you are going to harm one of his, he should very rightly terrify you. it's a somewhat disturbing, and yet very reassuring look at our favorite Wizard-detective. Highly recommended, but don't read this one first- it will take a fair amount of reading the rest of the series for this book to have its full impact.

Serpent in the Thorns by Jeri Westerson

Cripsin Guest is a disgraced ex-knight who lives in London, eking out an existence as "The Finder", an investigator for hire. He's no longer a knight because when he was young, he was involved in a conspiracy to defeat King Richard II and put his foster father, the Earl of Gaunt, on the throne in his place. Crispin loved his foster father, and believed he would be a much better ruler than the then ten year old Richard. But the man who led him into the conspiracy, Miles Aleyn, never faced charges for what he did. Crispin and the others were tortured, but refused to give up the name of Miles. The others were killed by the King's Men, and Crispin, whose foster father begged for his life, was allowed to live, but everything was taken away from him. Even his family, by the King's order. who could no longer help him in any way.

Crispin is awakened from a drunken sleep by a young blonde woman, who says there is a dead man in her room. Crispin asks her some questions, but it is obvious that the girl is somewhat damaged in the head, And when he asks her who killed the man, she says she must have done it- there was no one else there.

Crispin isn't likely to believe this , so he follows the girl back to her room at a nearby Inn, where she and her sister work, And indeed, there is a dead man in the room- a Frenchman, by the looks of him, and a courier as well. A barbed arrow is buried in his chest, but no bow is in evidence. But he isn't empty-handed. In his baggage is a box filled with gold, and a special treasure, a crown. A token in his belt pouch confirms that he is a courier for the French crown, and that the Crown, supposedly the crown of thorns that Jesus wore on the cross, is being sent as a gift from the French King to the English King.

Crispin also doesn't believe that the crown is real, but he is surprised when another woman comes into the room. She is Livith, and she is the sister of the other girl, whose name is Grayce. They are servants at the Inn, and neither one has any idea how the dead man got into the room or who killed him, Grayce repeats that she killed the man, but neither Crispin nor Liveth believe her. Crispin knows he can't go to the sheriff with his tale- the Sheriff would take Grayce at her word and kill her, no matter how improbable or impossible it would be for the girl to have killed him. Nor can they be found in the same room as the murdered man, for much the same reason- any questioning of them would lead to them being taken in for the killers.

So Liveth hires him to look into the murder and find out who the real killer is. Crispin's usual fee is sixpence a day, but she only has fourpence on her, so he takes only three as a downpayment. He takes her and her sister with him to the Inn where he lives to work until he can find the killer. Along the way, he meets his servant boy, Jack Tucker, who is on the run from several men whose pockets he picked. Crispin frowns on Jack picking pockets, but the boy says it's hard for him to resist when mean with rich pockets wander near him. Crispin helps Jack get away for now, but he's getting sick of such behavior.

When Jack is away and the men chasing him are gone, he sits back to look through the evidence, even placing the crown of thorns on his head. To his surprise, the thorns are still sharp, and prick his forehead. Putting it back and hiding the box it came in, he goes for a walk, and a strange feeling overcomes him. Giddy and filled with a strange feeling of exultation, he meets the daughter of his friend the Innkeeper. She has designs on him, but he is not interested at all. Normally, he is at least polite to her, but when she doubts aloud that he was ever really a knight, he grows angry and tells her he could kill her for that, and he would, but for the fact that her father is his friend. Horrified and afraid, she runs, and shortly thereafter, he picks another fight with a man who bumped him, threatening to kill him. The man, at first belligerent, backs off, and shortly thereafter the strange spell ends.

He's quite frankly horrified by what he has done and said, and Jack, who found him in the meantime, is puzzled by his behavior. Unfortunately, Crispin has no explanations himself. Could it be that the crown is really Jesus's crown of thorns? Then, he's shot in the arm by an arrow, and the person who shot him manages to get away. Back in his rooms, he finds Jack shaken. Jack had put on the crown, got the feeling he could do anything, took it off and jumped out the window. But even though they are on the second story of the Inn, he was unhurt.

This brings up the possibility that the crown is real, but Crispin can't accept that, and goes to see his friend, the Abbot of a monastery. While pussyfooting around the issue of who has the crown, Crispin asks him about it, and the abbot tells him that the crown doesn't just make you feel invincible- you are invincible when you wear it, and for a short time afterwards- but only for someone pure of heart. Crispin feels he is anything but, but knows it to be the truth. And he's sad with what that says about him.

But whoever shot him and the French courier isn't stopping, and Crispin has a strong suggestion as to who it is- Miles Avery, his former erstwhile comrade and traitor- even the King isn't immune to being a target, but is saved when a servant takes the arrow for him, pushing the King out of the way. Each of the arrows are those of a nobleman, fletched with Hawk feathers- but who do they belong to? Miles Avery lets slip a piece of important information- that he wasn't behind the plot to put the Earl of Gaunt on the throne- someone hired him to start it. However, he won't tell Crispin who that was.

But as Crispin starts getting closer to the truth, he comes under attack again, and when he attempts to save the King's life at dinner, he is found with the bow that fired the arrow in his hands. Now under threat of imprisonment and death, can he evade the authorities long enough to elude his pursuers and find the real killer?

I was kind of surprised to see a novel labelled "Medieval Noir", because I wasn't sure how well the two ideas would go together. But, much to my surprise, they actually went together pretty well. Having the main character wake up from a drunk by a damsel in distress really rang true to the whole "noir" trope, and noir actually goes very well with a gritty medieval setting.

Of course, to be true noir, the story has to be pretty close to realistic for the medieval times. This is somewhere where courtly love is merely adultery, where the knights in shining armor are all bloody-minded murderers who, if they found an actual princess to rescue, would deflower her as soon as possible so she could only marry them, and they could become King and have power and lots of money- and Crispin, the only knight who actually tried to live up to noble ideals and his own sense of honor is looked down on and scorned.

Even his clients aren't what they seem, and he gets taken for a sap more often than not, and at the end, he's offered money and his Knighthood back, and he scorns both because of that honor and pure heart. And the only man who even comes close to him in being honorable and doing what he is asked to do is a criminal. In short, every noir trope is perfectly nailed, if in not quite the same way as classic 30's and 40's noir. And of course, the hero consumes lots and lots of booze- another noir staple.

I quite enjoyed this mystery, which shares a lot of noir tropes, but has a rather interesting hero at its center. By turns compelling and repelling, Crispin bulls his way through to the end of the mystery, and manages to come back out alive at the other end with his honor and purity of purpose intact. I'd like to read more. Recommended.

Barnaby Grimes: Phantom of Blood Alley by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

Barnaby Grimes is a Tick-Tock Lad, a messenger who runs messages or delivers packages through the whole city for a fee. The name comes because the faster the message is delivered, the more he gets paid. "Tick-tock, Time is money". Barnaby is a High-stacker, meaning he travels over the rooftops instead of using the street, a vastly more efficient means of transport.

Today he is at the behest of a friend of his friend, Ralph Booth-Prendergast, who has asked Barnaby to look in on his old governess, Clarissa Oliphant. She has a problem, and asked for the help of Ralph, and he suggested Barnaby. Miss Oliphant lives in a very upscale section of town, and her problem concerns her brother, Laurence. Laurence was interested in Photography, but an accident with chemicals scarred him, and changed his personality, Now, every day, he leaves the house for hours, but he will not tell her where he goes or what he does there. Miss Oliphant wants Barnaby to follow her brother and learn what he is doing.

Barnaby darts out to the rooftops and follows Laurence Oliphant, and notices that something truly is wrong with the young man. Not only does he bundle up so that the merest sliver of his face is visible, but on the way to his destination, he trips an old man into the street, right into the path of an oncoming coach. Barnaby would like to stop and help, but he's committed to following Laurence Oliphant.

Eventually, Laurence comes to a place known as Blood Alley, a place where tanneries and chemical factories once thrived. The output from them ran down the stones of the alley, red as blood, from which the place got its name.. There, Barnaby sees the young man duck into a building, and he descends to street level to see if he can figure out what Laurence is doing in there. But instead, a strange horribly scarred face sees him through the window when a dog penned up in the back yard nearly kills him.

He manages to get away, and before he goes back to Madame Oliphant, he sees a cat in trouble in a precarious perch and stops to help it, losing, at his cost, most of his vest. The woman who owns the cat wants to reward him, and offers to sew him a new vest in thanks for saving her cat. While he's there, he also meets a friend of his, Will Farmer, who has invented a new contraption for getting around, which he calls a "Wheelboard", made from the top of a piano and four spoked wheels with thick iron axles (essentially, a skateboard).

Barnaby admires the new invention, and finds out that Will is interested in the seamstress's daughter. On the way back to Miss Oliphant's, he stops in to see his friend Professor Pinkerton-Barnes, and helps him with a toothache before accepting a cup of tea and talking about photography. He learns that an old colleague of Professor Barnes, Dean Henry Dodson, was the one who did a great deal to bring the profession to life and acceptance. The problem has never been taking the picture, but instead, in making it last. Most photographers have to deal with the fact that their art tends to be amazingly transitory.

Barnaby spends so long talking with the professor, that he doesn't get back to Miss Oliphant's until after dark. She is very happy to see him again, and listens with concern about her brother and where he has been and what he may be doing. As they talk, Laurence returns, and she pays Barnaby and sends him out. The Housemaid, Tilly, who has let Barnaby in, says that they are going to have one of their rows and it frightens her when they argue.

Barnaby listens and overhears Laurence complain that his sister won't give him money from her retirement bonus from her last employer. Miss Oliphant was a duelling governess, who both protected her young charges and taught them to duel. In addition to a store of gold sovereigns, she has a wonderful duelling sword, a Dalmatian. Laurence steals the sword and leaves the house, and soon after, so does Barnaby.

The next morning, he comes back, and Miss Oliphant says her brother hasn't returned, and wants Barnaby to lead her to where he has been spending his time. When he does, they find the neighborhood and the police gathered around the same door. A man, presumed to be Laurence, has been killed, being dunked into a tank of caustic and then a Dalmatian duelling sword stuck in his chest.

Miss Oliphant presents herself and identifies herself, and the detective on the case has questions to ask both her and Barnaby. But when he hears about the tension between herself and her brother, and the fact that it is *her* duelling sword in his chest, he thinks she killed him and arrests her for the crime. Barnaby, however, is convinced she didn't kill her brother and promises to look into it and find out who really killed him. He also inherits a dog, the mistreated hound who nearly killed him in the back yard. Barnaby manages to calm it and bring out its former manners, then takes it home with him.

Barnaby goes to Miss Oliphant's house to tell Tilly what happened, and she is terrified. Someone broke into the house, and there was a great deal of crashing, and now her mistresses savings are gone, her strongbox broken into and emptied. Barnaby takes Tilly to the home of a relative and goes to interview Miss Oliphant in prison, where she gives him the names of four men who might have wanted to kill or harm him.

A greater mystery, though, is brewing, for the same men who had some connection to Laurence Oliphant and might have had cause to harm him are dying. Barnaby manages to interview them before their deaths, and finds out that Laurence Oliphant had discovered a new method of photogravure, called an oliphantype, after his name, of course. When he did, he told his patron, the painter Sir Crispin Blears, that his invention would replace painting. This infuriated Blears, who was himself a painter, and he cut Laurence Oliphant off from funding. Laurence was enraged, and told Blears that he would be sorry.

Not only is Blears dead, pushed into the path of an oncoming Lorry, but the servant who witnessed the accident said that the man who did it disappeared once his cloak fell off, but his story was dismissed as being too fantastic. Barnaby continues on, investigating the man who Laurence Oliphant got the chemicals from for his Oliphantypes, but shortly afterwards, the man's chemist shop is blown up, and he dies of his injuries, but not before the man says he saw matches being lit and the sound of someone's breathing, but there was no one there!

Nor is ordinary life without its own problems. When going wheelboarding with Will Farmer, Barnaby is convinced to try out the steepest hill in Centennial Park, and hits a bump that isn't there and takes a spill. Though he's not harmed, he wonders what he could have hit- there was nothing there to see.

The other two names on Barnaby's list are Laurence Oliphant's former assistant, and Dean Henry Dodson. The assistant blames the chemicals Laurence Oliphant was inhaling for the change in his personality, and Dean Henry Dodson has a note on his door saying he is taking an extended vacation from his teaching duties. But could one of them be behind the murders? And how can a man murder so many people while remaining unseen? Can Barnaby catch the murderer before the murderer catches Barnaby, whom he also seems to have a grudge for?

I love this series. So far, we've had werewolves, zombies, evil undead, and now, an invisible man. I liked how the title played off not only the invisibility, but linked it to another great piece of Victorian Literature, the Phantom of the Opera. And in truth, the villain of the book shares a number of things in common with both characters- like the Invisible Man, he's crazy, and like the Phantom, horribly disfigured.

In truth, there is another likeness as well- the pictures of Laurence Oliphant in the book reminded me of the iconic images of the Shadow, complete with the big hat and the scarf around the face, and the pulled-up coat collar (although the Shadow wasn't scarred). Truth be told, I love the character of Barnaby Grimes as well. He's smart, and though he may not be completely book-learned, he reads and puts to use what he reads- one can only hope his readers come to feel the same way about reading that he does! He's also quite brave, agile, and fit, attributes that come in very useful in his job, and when chasing monsters.

It's never stated quite how old Barnaby is, or what city it is he lives in, astute readers will know that he is somewhere in the 13 to 15 range and that the city is London. Places like Hartley Square and Riverhythe mimic London places like Harley Square and Rotterhithe. The writing in these books is exceptionally vivid. Both Barnaby, and the authors have an eye for image and line, and it's easy to imagine yourself in Barnaby's great city, both the upperclass places and the teeming slums, or Highstacking over the roofs of the city, smelling the fresh air and basking in the sunlight with him.

This book, and this series, are quite incredible. Though written generally for boys, Barnaby may well appeal to girls as well. So far, he's pursued any number of young ladies in his books, though none of them make more than one appearance so far. The only recurring characters are Will Farmer, another young Tick-Tock lad, and Professor Pinkerton-Barnes, or "PB". These books are fairly short, and excellent, exciting reads. Highly recommended.

A Mighty Fortress by David Weber

Cayleb Ahrmak is the head of the Charisian Empire, with his wife, Charleyan, who was formerly the Queen of Chisholm. Also in the Empire is the island of Emerald, and its ruler, Nahrman Baytes, who has become the Spymaster for the Charisian Empire. Also in the highest reaches of power is the seijin Merlin Athrawes, who is actually an android imprinted with the personality of a woman named Nimue Alban who died over 900 years ago.

Humans are on this planet because an alien race had been attacking them, conquering their planets (including Earth) and committing Genocide on them. The few humans who were left agreed to travel to a far planet, and live a life without technology so that the remaining aliens, the Gbaba, wuld pass them by. When they got to the planet, called Safehold, the humans in cold sleep deep inside the spaceships that had taken them there, were brainwashed into believing themselves just created and forgetting all about their origins on another planet. Then, most of the scientists, led by a man named Langhorne, decided to forcibly take over their society, casting themselves as benevolent angels looking out for humanity.

One of the scientists, Pei Shan-Wei, however, was completely against such blasphemy, for she foresaw that the other scientists would keep humanity unknowing and downtrodden forever. The idea had only been to hide from the Gbaba for 100-200 years, and then begin rebuilding. However, the "Bible" that Langhorne and his fellow scientists were writing made it clear that innovation was forbidden completely. Pei went to war with her fellow scientists, and both were eventually annihilated through nuclear weapons, leaving the remaining humans behind.

However, left behind in one of Pei Shan-Wei's bases was a PICA, an Android that had been gifted to a young woman in the Navy by her father, who had been rich. She'd never used it, but Pei-Shan Wei had programmed it to wake after some time, when the people of Safehold might find it in themselves to question what their "Holy Book" taught and eventually overthrow the church which had been constructed to hobble them, take their rightful place in the stars and eventually defeat the Gbaba.

But those final two goals would be a long way away. Nimue's PICA found the Kingdom of Charis, a sea-faring people who were at least somewhat open to innovation. Passing himself off as a seijin, or wandering holy man with incredible powers, he got close to the King of Charis, Haarahld, and his son, Caeleb, becoming Merlin's friend and advisor. But do to its openness to innovation, the Kingdom of Charis had attracted the attention of the church, especially the head of the Inquisitors, Zhaspar Clintahn, who made a decision to wipe the nation of Charis from the world. To do so, he convinced, with bribes and threats, the other island nations to go to war against Charis.

Unfortunately for Clintahn and the Church, Charis fought to survive and defeated its foes and their fleets at an Archipelago named Armageddon Reef. But it wasn't without cost- King Haarahld died, and many of Charis's ships were sunk, though more got away. Needless to say, Clintahn wasn't happy about the outcome, and continued to try and bring down Charis, who fought not only more attacks, but against the Church itself- who had decided to destroy them without warning. They founded their own church, the Church of Charis, and have continued to fight against their many foes to bring peace to Safehold and tear down the church, which has become riddled with corruption.

Recently, the Empire of Charis fought a war with Corisande, one of the nations who had gone to war against Charis at the Church's bidding. Its ruler, Prince Hektor, fought a long, but ultimately futile battle against Charis, his forces being overcome by Charisian weaponry and ingenuity. However, he was killed at the instigation of Clintahn, who blamed Prince Hektor's death (and his elder son's) on the Charisians, with the ultimate blame coming to rest on Emperor Cayleb and Empress Charleyan. Unfortunately, the Corisandeans swallowed this lie hook, line and sinker, and with the two remaining royals, Princess Irys and her brother Daivyn, spirited away to another court by Corisande's former Spymaster, Charus sets up a council to rule Corisande in Davyn's name until he and his sister can be returned home.

Irys, for her part, believes the lie that is being told about her father and elder brother, and hates Cayleb with all of her being. She takes refuge, along with her brother, in the Kingdom of Delferahk, under King Zhamez. There, she and her protector, Phylyp Ahzgood, make plans to get her brother's Kingdom back. Ahzgood decides to go to the Church lands, a journey that will take time, especially late in the year, as now.

Back in Corisande, the members of the Church left behind attempt to stir up Anti-Charisian sentiment against the occupying army. But Cayleb is reluctant to start killing Corisandeans out of hand, and cooler heads prevail on the Charisian side. Even more helpful are members of the Corisandean Clergy who back up the assertion that the church has grown corrupt, and speak out from the pulpit on the side of the Charisians. Some would accuse them of knowing which side their bread is buttered on, but the ones who speak out against the Church's growing corruption are all known for being honest men of great faith, not likely to be bought off by any means, and not scared of threats of death or being hurt, besides.

This is intolerable to the so-called Church Loyalists, and when they realize that people are coming to see *them* as the problem because of the sermons of those sympathetic to the Church of Charis and what it is trying to do, they decide to send a message that sympathy with the Church of Charis will not be allowed. They abduct a man named Tyman Hahskahns and bring him to the local inquisitor, who tortures him to death, then take his bleeding, broken body, and fling it on the street in front of another church whose pastor has been giving sermons that support the Charisians.

Merlin, whose small spy devices named SNARCs have been planted all across Corisande, finds out about what is happening too late to help. He, Cayleb, and the others on the inner council had been monitoring the situation in Corisande through the SNARCs and Owl, the computer in charge of the small outpost where his body had been kept. But the death of Father Tymahn is something that makes him finally move to act against the Anti-Charisian faction in Corisande's capital city, Manchyr. Using his SNARCs, he pens a message to the Corisandean Knight in charge of the Capital, Koryn Garvai, detailing a list of the conspirators, those who killed Tymahn, and maps showing where to find them all, plus the hidden rooms where Church Inquisitors have been hiding out in Manchyr- the same ones who killed Tymahn, allow him to take all of them in at once.

Meanwhile. in the Church Lands, a group of conspirators known as "The Circle", are trying to reform the church from within. However, Clintahn has discovered the existence of the Circle, and being as he is the one who is really in charge of the church, and he uses the church to go after people he sees as enemies, it's obvious he won't stand for it- and he doesn't. He lets the conspirators know that he knows, and that he will do something about it, and enjoys the fear and frenzies it creates in the members of the circle. At the same time, he sends his inquisitors to keep watch on the families of the churchmen in the Circle, preparatory to sweeping them up. Some churchmen commit suicide, while the leader of the circle prepares to be tortured for his beliefs. But his brother won't let him, and just before the hammer falls, invites him over for one final breakfast together.

When the Inquisitors knock on their door, the younger brother, who has experience in fighting, kills his own brother with a sword, and fights the Inquisitors and their troops until he, too, is killed. However, thanks to a woman who is a madam, some 200 people in the families of the Members of the Circle are able to escape the noose set by the Inquisitors, and another cleric escapes with the help of his servant and his secretary. But the church is rocked by the actions, and the clerics and members of their families are tortured until they agree to say what the church wants, and then are put to death. So are 10 Charisians who have been held and tortured by the church for months.

In the end, the Circle lies condemned out of their own mouths, and their families are killed also. Few over the age of 14 survive, and those over 5 are sent to monasteries where the conditions are brutal. Babes in arms are adopted out to other families, and with this act, Clintahn's triumph over the church is complete. No one will dare stand up to him, lest they and their families suffer the same fate. Now, he can go after the Charisian Empire with no impediments to his anger and greed. But unbeknownst to him, one of his closest associates, Robhair Ducharn, has decided to do his own part in reforming the Church, by working to help people- setting up soup kitchens and houses where they can stay instead of starving and freezing to death in the long winters.

Additional problems are in the wind for Charis, though, for now that Clintahn is supreme within the Church, there is nothing and no one to prevent him from bringing all the church's force to bear on Charis and her navy. Charis's Ships and weapons may be the most technically advanced, but it's not a large nation, and other nations have far more men to call on to build up their navies. Nor are their admirals complete fools, so when the technical gap begins closing for other countries, Charis can no longer count on easy victories.

Imperial Charis has one last hope, a weapon that completely demolishes the strictures that Safeholdians have been accustomed to these last 900 years- modern exploding shells. They haven't many of them yet, because they are hard to build, but when Clintahn uses the trials of the Circle, and the torture-confessions of Charisians to declare Holy War on the Empire of Charis, both sides will come at last to a conflict which will forever change the way that war is fought on Safehold. and may be the only way that Charis can save the world- and itself.

This book is huge, almost 700 pages, and it's a story of both sides of the war trying to build-up their armies, find and adapt to new technical advances, and for the people of the Empire of Charis, how to find enough experienced seamen to fight a war against the much larger nations going to war against her. Charis has some significant advantages- technology for one. They are developing their own while other nations are almost continually playing "catch-up", and seeing their ships blown out of the water because of the Charisian technical advantages, but with enough ships, even a technical advantage can be overcome eventually- as the Charisians learn, to their cost.

The second advantage is that Charis is a free country, where as others still cling to serfhood and even slavery. Some countries have serfs in name only, ones who can fight and own property, while others have serfs who are actually slaves, such as Harchong. Slaves, needless to say, don't fight or do anything with the enthusiasm or drive that free men do- so even though the number of foundries in Harchong is larger, for example. their lack of enthusiasm for tasks (because businesses use slaves instead of free men for the grunt work) means more mistakes, and guns that explode or shatter the second or third time they are used. These problems give Charis a time advantage in their favor as well.

In this book, the Church continues to remain its own worst enemy. The things it does rebound back on it- the murder of Tymahn Hahskahns, meant to cement support for the Church of God Awaiting, actually brings up more resentment among the church, and his murderer can't understand why. Hahskahns was a traitor to the church, after all, shouldn't people be happy he is dead?, instead of seeing that his murder turned sentiment against the church and the men who killed him. The rest of the church, back in the Church lands, also can't understand this attitude- but they no longer have to worry about those who would try and purify the church from within- Clintahn just killed that chance dead by doing an awful lot of killing in the name of the church- and it seems to have turned at least one former ally against him, though he's biding his time and will dance on Clintahn's grave when he's dead.

I really enjoy this series. it's does have a lot of "Talking head"-type stuff in it, but it builds up the characters very well and politics plays a part in the tale along with battle. The church remains evil- not just because of how it was put together (and why) but because it really doesn't care about anything but itself and retaining its primacy. And even the rulers allied with the church are beginning to see that, which means that, once again, the church is helping to dig its own grave. Even those who aren't all that politically astute can see it How much longer can the church last? Recommended.

Wheel of Fortune by Kate Sedley

Roger the Chapman has just returned home from a trip in which he worked for his patron, the Duke of Gloucester, as well as doing his usual job of being a wandering merchant, and he's heading home to his wife and children, eager to see their faces again, when he first hears of the death of King Edward IV.

Because the Prince of Wales is too young to ascend to the throne himself, on his behalf, the forces of the Queen and Gloucester are marshaling, each eager to be the next King's advisors until he comes of age. However, the Queen's relatives are hostile to the forces of Gloucester, and the maneuvering between the two is likely to be protracted and severe. After hearing the news, and taking a quick pint of ale and questioning the messenger, Roger returns to his home in Somerset... only to find it deserted.

From his neighbor, he learns that a woman came to see his wife, along with a young child, and that his wife left soon after, leaving Roger's daughter from a previous marriage with his former mother-in-law. Roger, who has been unfaithful to his wife while he was away, is afraid, but realizes that the woman he was with could not have returned in time to have a child of such an age after being with him, and is only somewhat reassured.

He hurries quickly to his former mother-in-law's house where he learns that the woman was Judith Gerrish, a woman he shared a single night with some years ago, but that the child, appearing to be the age it was, could not have been his, even if she claimed it was. But his wife, who was told that the child was his, was horrified by his betrayal and took herself to the home of some relatives of hers in London, the Godslove family.

Taking himself and his daughter to London, Roger finds he has already been forgiven for the incident that sent his wife there, and instead, she asks him to aid her hosts, the Godsloves. The Godslove family consists of three sisters, Clemency, Sybilla and Celia (who is actually a half-sister) and their brother Oswald, a solicitor. Also in the house is Arbella Rokeswood, their housemaid, who is deeply in love with Oswald, but because he and his siblings are so close, he would never marry her, nor none of the others marry out of the family.

There was a fourth sister, Charity, but she died after eating some suspicious mushrooms, and another half-brother, Martin, owned a tavern but was killed in a brawl. At first, the siblings believed that the deaths in the family were simple mischance or bad luck, but when Sybilla became ill so suddenly after Charity died, they started to believe that someone had it in for their family and wants them dead.

Roger asks if perhaps it was someone that Oswald defended in court, thinking he didn't do his best and is persecuting him for some reason. But Oswald, who doesn't appear to be the nicest man, and who is short and quarrelsome with everyone, refuses to accept or admit that any of his clients could want to kill him. Instead, he places the blame on one of two people. The first is an ex-suitor of Celia's, a physician named Roderick Jeavons. He and Celia were once very close, but once she refused to marry him, his relations with the rest of the family soured, but he is still cordial with Celia. The second is a silver merchant named Adrian Jollifant, who once owned the house that the Godsloves live in. He sold it to another, and that man sold it to the Godsloves, but Jollifant believes he was cheated out of the house and wants it back.

Roger doesn't like Oswald Godslove, but the longer he stays in the house with Adela, the more he is inclined to believe that someone is out to kill one or more of the Godsloves. However, the King is dead, and his son, too young to rule on his own, must be guided by someone, and both Roger's benefactor, The Duke of Gloucester and the relatives of the Queen, are fighting over who it is to be. As Roger seeks to find out who might have it in for the Godsloves, he tries to keep watch on the unfolding events involving his patron. But when Celia Godslove is kidnapped from her home, can Roger find out who has her and return her to the bosom of her family before she can be killed, and find out who is trying to kill off the Godsloves?

This was a very twisting mystery, and three braids run through the book. One is the Godslove Mystery, the second is that of the relationship between Roger and his wife, and the third is the situation with the King. At their heart, though, they are all about family and relationships. I will have to admit that this solution was one I didn't see coming at the end, and the story it told was rather nasty and twisted as well.

Unfortunately, I had a hard time keeping my mind on what was going on in the book. We're not allowed to linger too long on any one thread before another comes up to distract us, and there are loads of lesser mysteries that pop up along the way, from who stole the ring that Roger gave to his wife to what really happened to Adrian Jollifant's father, all of which are solved by Roger as he tries to solve the main mystery.

Again, the solution to the mystery rather shocked me. I was sort of aware that situations like this had existed in Medieval times, but what actually happened? Well, suffice to say I didn't see that coming in a million years. Not that the slavery aspect hasn't shown up in Kate Sedley stories before- one of the stories was about young boys being stolen from England, given herbs to inhibit their growth, and then sold into slavery in Italy as miniature court jesters and dwarves, since they were so much in demand in Italy. This is still a good mystery, and I did enjoy it, especially the ending, but occasionally reading about the Godsloves was hard, since Oswald was such a jerk and his sisters fawned and doted on him so much it made me want to gag. Recommended.

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz by L. Frank Baum, Eric Shanower and Skottie Young

Dorothy Gale is a young girl who lives on a Kansas farm with her Uncle Henry and Aunt Em. But when a tornado blows across the wide Kansas plains, her pet dog, Toto, ran away, and when Dorothy went to get him back, she was in the house when it spun away from its foundation and was carried off into the sky.

When the house finally landed, though, Dorothy found herself in a strange land known as "OZ". She is met by a group of people dressed all in blue, known as the Munchkins, and a small woman dressed in white. Because Dorothy's House has killed the Wicked Witch of the East, the Munchkins think she is a powerful witch. Dorothy protests that she isn't a witch and she hasn't killed anyone, but the woman points out that her house did so, so it doesn't make any difference. and there are two good witches in Oz, the witch of the North, and of the South. Only the Eastern and Western Witches are wicked.

However, Dorothy inherits the Witch's silver shoes, and sets off to the Emerald City to find the Wizard, the only man who can get her home. Along the way, she meets up with three other people who become her traveling companions: a scarecrow who wants a brain, a woodcutter who made an enemy of a witch and slowly had to replace all of his body parts with tin when she enchanted his axe to chop them off, and who now misses his human heart, and a Lion, who should be the King of the Jungle, but who is actually a coward at heart and wants some courage.

Soon, they arrive at the Emerald City, so named because of its color, but are forced to wear green-tinted glasses while they are in the city. There, each meets with the great and Terrible Wizard known as Oz, and each time, Oz is in a new form, which seems to prove that his powers as a wizard are vast, indeed. But Oz has one condition for fulfilling their wishes. Since Dorothy has killed the Wicked Witch of the East, she must go to the land of the Winkies, whom the Wicked Witch of the West had imprisoned and turned into her slaves. But the Witch knew that Dorothy and her companions were coming, and set out to destroy them- with her Wolves, her Black Bees, with her army of enslaved Winkies and finally, with her flying Monkeys. Though Dorothy and her friends overcome the first three challenges, the winged Monkeys defeat them, and they are imprisoned in the Witch's castle.

The Lion is put in a cage, and the witch disposes of the scarecrow and Tin Woodsman, breaking and scattering their bodies, and Dorothy, she turns into a slave and keeps in her castle. But she wants the silver shoes that once belonged to the Wicked Witch of the East and are now Dorothy's. But will she be able to steal the shoes and keep Dorothy imprisoned as a slave forever?

This is an unusual comic book, in that it hews more closely to the story in the book of the Wizard of Oz, and not to that of the movie, and therefore, a lot of the story will be new to people who have only seen the Judy Garland film. Here, the shoes are silver, not Ruby, and the Munchkins are not the only inhabitants of Oz- there are also the Winkies and the Quadlings. Glinda is the Good Witch of the South, not the North, and so on. Oh, and Aunt Em loved Dorothy and wasn't going to get rid of Toto- that was all made up for the movie.

But at the same time, the stories of the main characters make more sense, even that of the Wizard, who confesses himself to be a "humbug". I loved how so many things that appeared in the movie finally get an explanation- why the flying Monkeys served the Witch, how they came to be enslaved, and why the Emerald City appears all green (it's not actually green, but everyone who lives or visits there has to wear emerald-colored glasses, which makes everything appear to be green. All this information is presented in a way that makes me want to read more

Thankfully, the comic will be continuing with the next book in the Oz series, The Marvelous Land of Oz, which will introduce the character of Jack Pumpkinhead. I will certainly looking forward to it. This series has actually kindled a real interest in Oz, which is so much more than the famous movie. Highly recommended.

A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters

In 1909, Amelia Peabody Emerson was at home with her husband, Radcliffe Emerson. Their son, Ramses, was in the Holy Land, working on a dig at Samaria, mainly to build his credibility as an Archaeologist with a man other than his father, and also to get experience working with someone other than his father.

Amelia is missing her son, but her husband's opinion of the Old Testament Bible stories would alarm many Christians. He labels them as a bunch of hooey that isn't borne out by actual archaeology. But the reason he's been reading the Bible is that two men have approached him, one who claims to be Solomon reborn and to know where the lost temple is, and therefore the Ark of the Covenant.

Emerson is opposed to the entire idea. After all, all three faiths get mighty antsy if anyone even considers digging in Jerusalem and triply so near the Dome of the Rock, where Panagopolous claims the Ark is. Panagopolous also bursts into a spate of gibberish in three languages, including Greek, Latin and Hebrew, but Emerson, who understands them all, knows they are gibberish.

Panagopolous's friend, George Morley, wants Emerson's help to go to Jerusalem and find the Ark, but Emerson turns him down flat. He doesn't think that Morley will find anything. But later, when he's summoned to the British Government offices because of the government's suspicion that Panagopolous is a spy for the Prussian Government, but Emerson believes he's nothing of the sort. In the end, they convince Radcliffe and Amelia to go to the Holy Land, and along with them, they take Nefret, and David, the grandson of Daoud, a man who had worked with Emerson for years before his death, and had come to be a sort of second-in-command.

Meanwhile, in the Holy Land, Ramses has been attacked twice, but the attacks were very weak tea, as attacks go. Once a rock was thrown at him, but not very hard. Of course, Ramses doesn't know if someone is targeting him specificially, or someone in his expedition. Then, the dig is visited by Madame Von Eine, and Reisner, the head of the dig, asks Ramses to show her around.

But something about the way she acts sets off alarm bells in Ramses mind, even though he can't point out anything specific, and her relationship with her Turkish bodyguards also seems rather... iffy. He tries to keep a watch on her campsite, but because of the Turkish guards who patrol around it, he can't get close enough to see what is really going on. Then, one night, he is approached by a man in the darkness who speaks to him, a British secret agent keeping watch on Madame Von Eine. He thinks she may be involved with the German secret service, and are trailing her to find out. She was also in a city where there was an antiquities theft, and passed through, but the agent doesn't know if she had anything to do with that for sure.

After Ramses leaves to go back to the dig, he has a fairly quiet night, but the next morning, the agent's dead body is not far from where Madame Von Eine's camp *used* to be, and of course, she and her men are long gone. Ramses, who has received word that his parents are coming to meet him in Jerusalem, leaves the dig and attempts to follow Madame Von Eine to figure out exactly what she is up to. But before he can find out much of anything, he's discovered by her main Turkish bodyguard, kidnapped and taken along with them. But what is Madame Von Eine doing in Palestine, and who is really in charge in her party? Is she a fellow captive, leader or follower? Ramses' safety may hinge on him figuring it out quickly, for even though he's been assured that his life is not in danger, he isn't entirely certain it's the truth.

Back in Jerusalem, Amelia and her family are being passed from Hostel to Hostel by the government, and with them is Mr. Panagopolous, who Emerson is convinced is a conman, and whom Nefret has taken under her wing. A message, which Ramses has been forced to write by his captors, diverts them for now, but can Emerson stop Morley from his mad plan to find the Ark under the Dome of the Rock? Who *is* Plato Panagopolous really? A simple idiot. a con-man, or a spy? And when Ramses's family becomes aware he is missing, can they retrieve their captured son before he perishes in the unforgiving landscape of the Holy Land?

I was rather surprised that this book wasn't a sequel to the book before, but a prequel, coming in time between two earlier books. Still, It was nice to see classic Amelia, and her family, and so out of their depth in a country where they have not worked before. But they aren't completely on their own. Even though Emerson hasn't worked in Palestine (Israel, of course, didn't come into being until after 1948), the "Father of Curses" does know some people in the area, and people seem to know of his reputation, even here.

I did kind of like the idea of a prequel story. But putting it so early into the continuity of the stories (well, relatively early) also brings up a conundrum of why the events here aren't spoken of in later books that occur after this in continuity, but of course, were written before this book came out. It's always a problem for an author when setting later books earlier in continuity, of how to reconcile the new "history" to the writings in books written before this one was conceived.

I also rather admit that while I love Amelia Emerson and her husband, I also want to see books where Ramses, Nefret, David and Lia finally come into their own as main characters. But Peters is facing a time crunch, because soon World War I will happen, and a lot of Egyptian and Holy Land Archaeology conditions will change. So far, she's skillfully avoided the problem by having Emerson be an early champion of modern-style archaeology, but she won't be able to put it off forever if she continues writing sequels as opposed to interspersed Prequel-Sequels.

This was an interesting book that I liked a lot. I like Amelia and her family, but I am really ready to read about Ramses and Nefret being the main characters while Radcliffe and Amelia take supporting roles. They deserve to become advisors and side characters to their own children at this point. It's a natural progression for the series, and something I'd like to see. Recommended.

All My Patients Have Tales by Jeff Wells, D.V.M.

Child of a farming family, Jeff Wells loved animals and knew what he wanted to be when he got older. A Veterinarian. And being the child of a farm family, he knew that he was better suited to the life of a vet than someone who'd never had to geld cattle, or seen them give birth.

And while it makes him proud that kids want to be vets when they grow up, he also knows it involves a great deal of hard work- work at three in the morning, when you are tired, cold and wishing you were anywhere but up to your elbow in a cow, something that kids have no conception of at the age when they typically want to be a vet.

Wells shares some background on his life growing up and going through college, and then when he first became a practicing vet in South Dakota, under a woman named Ann. But he spent much more time with Jenny, his technician. After a month of on the job training under Dr. Ann, he had his first day on the job, a punishing experience that included a horse who he couldn't tell if it was pregnant or not, a dog spay operation that required a transfusion from the Office dog after the original patient started bleeding catastrophically, and an aborted birth from a cow that required a Ceasarian after hours of trying to get the calf out by pulling it.

After that point, his days involved Puppies with either Diarrhea or constipation, including one young Puppy named Sam who ate too many grasshoppers and who became utterly blocked by their indigestible legs, a horse with an abcess in its frog, and the most vicious animals he'd ever encountered- not a dog or a wildcat, but some domestic Turkeys who not only pecked him and drew blood, but also attacked the daughter of the farmer who owned them- which quickly got them turned into Turkey dinners!

As soon as his year apprenticeship was over, he left South Dakota for Colorado, and yet another practice. This one was less farm animals and more pets, but it was here that he met the woman who eventually became his wife- someone whose family he would never, in a million years dream of meeting or hanging out with. But when he went to meet them, he discovered that his knowledge of pets and their ailments allowed him to meet them on their level, and which made her family view him in a new light.

But even after he was married, he continued to be called out to late-night emergencies and other calls, like three terriers who had to be brought in three times by their owner with their snouts and faces full of porcupine quills. You'd think that the first brush with the porcupine would have taught them better, but no...and being that they were terriers, they strutted around quite proudly, showing off their "Battle scars".

I loved this book, which is full of stories about animals both wild, domestic and domesticated, from a potbelly pig that was the scourge of the neighborhood, to Beastie Cat, a rescued stray who managed to put a bunch of rambunctious kids in their place at the Veterinary office, and a tiny, tiny pony who hated nothing more than having to see the Vet, and would do anything to escape.

Through all the stories, you come to feel how deeply Dr. Wells cares, both for his patients and their owners. Though some of both may try his patience, in the end, they teach him quite a bit when it comes to animals, and himself. Some of the stories are flat-out hilarious, such as a Vietnam Vet who was a medic who passed out when it was his beloved dog getting stitches to the Dude at the Dude Ranch who kept making passes at his technician when she had just broken up with her boyfriend and hated all men.

The thirty-six stories in this book run the gamut of tales, and explains why a mixed Vet practice is something almost unheard of today. Specialization is now the norm, and having a mixed practice is something of a lost art. If you're looking for a collection of tales mostly funny and sometimes sad, but always heartwarming, this is the book you want to read. Highly recommended.

Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey

It is a world both like and unlike our own, where the death of Jesus on the cross happened, and his blood dripping on the earth, mingled with the tears of Mary Magdalene, engendered a child, the Blessed Elua.

Scorned by the followers of Jesus, Elua wandered the earth, and in time, thirteen of God's angels left Heaven to follow him. One of them, Naamah, slept with the King of Persis when he had imprisoned Elua in his dungeons. The Price of the night with her was Elua's freedom.

Everywhere Elua went, the people rejected him and his message. Until he eventually came to a land that was nameless, where the people accepted him and his companions with open arms. There, Elua and his companions settled, and quickly interbred with the people there. After some years, God saw that if Elua and his companions stayed there, their offspring would outbreed ordinary humans, so he appeared to Elua, and asked him if he and his angelic companions would come and stay with him in Heaven.

In response, Elua drew a dagger and cut his hand. Blood came, and Elua said. "Your heaven is a bloodless place, and I am not. Can you promise me a land like Terre D'Ange (for that was what the Kingdom was now called, "Land of Angels"), but only better and truer?" And God said, "There is no place like that." Quickly, Mother Earth spoke up, saying, "But we can make one." And so Elua and his companions travelled to the True Terre D'Ange, where the offspring of he and his companions go when they die, a reflection of love of the land they left behind.

Into Terre D'Ange is born a girl named Phèdre, the daughter of an Adept of Naamah and a minor merchant. Though her parents loved each other, they were not lucky in business, and to make money to recoup their losses and support themselves, they sold their daughter into servitude in the House of Cereus, and Cereus would have been glad to have her, except for the scsrlet mote in her left eye, that made her imperfect and unfit.

Until a nobleman named Anafiel Delaunay saw her and realized the rare gift she was, for Phèdre was marked by the angel Cassiel, born to know pain and pleasure as one. She was an Anguisette, the first born in Terre D'Ange in hundreds of years. He bought her from Cereus House and put her into his service, intending to make her a spy.

At first, she knew none of this. She was raised in the House until she was ten, and then brought to Delaunay's estate where she was raised with his other student, Alcuin, a young man with silver hair. They learn many tongues, and to truly see and remember. When they are 13, each dedicates themselves to Naamah's service- a sort of sacred prostitution.

For the most part, Phèdre lives a life unknown to others, except for one woman, Melisande Shahrizai, who comes from a line descended from Kushiel. Phèdre finds herself fascinated by the woman, who is both beautiful and has an aura of cruelty, something that she, as a anguisette, finds arousing. Melisande also knows Phèdre for an anguisette at first glance.

Melisande and Anafiel have a strange sort of relationship- both allies and rivals. Anafiel doesn't exactly trust her, but there is nothing to make them be actual enemies.

At sixteen, her virgin-price is bought by a man named Childeric D'Essoms. Anafiel has a plan in mind for both of his proteges, and each of them appeals to different sorts of people, with very different tastes- but all of whom have secrets that Anafiel Delaunay wants to know. His patron-gift to her allows her to start work on her marque, a tattoo that will eventually cover her back from the base of her spine to the back of her neck.

One night, Melisande Shahrizai buys the services of Phèdre for her lover, Badoin d'Trevalion. He isn't used to the sort of service that Phèdre provides, but gamely follows his lover's instructions to beat and use Phèdre.

But shortly thereafter, the House of Trevalion goes to trial for treason to the crown. Attending the trial with her mentor and Alcuin, she is impressed with the heir to the throne, seeing a core of steel beneath the fragile exterior that everyone sees. But Trevalion House suffers, with the mother and son are put to death for their plots to overthrow the throne, and the father and daughter are banished, while the uncle is absolved of guilt or knowledge of the plot. It turns out that he was undone by Melisande, who found proof of Badoin's mother Lyonette to betray the Royal family in collusion with the help of the Alba and place her son on the throne. Phèdre cannot get over the fact that her name is considered Bad Luck, and when she was young, Badoin kissed her for luck when she served in Cereus House, and that she slept with Badoin before his death.

Alcuin, meanwhile, has been pursued most feverishly by the man who bought his virgin price, Vitale Bouvarre. He has become so insistent that Alcuin see him again that Alcuin finally sets a high price on doing so- enough money to completely pay off his mark, and the names of those who helped in the murder of Isabel L'Envers. Bouvarre is desperate enough to do so, but afterwards, attempts to have Alcuin killed. Alcuin survives, thanks to his and Phèdre's bodyguard, an ex-servant of Cassiel named Guy.

Unfortunately, Guy, an expelled brother, dies in defending Alcuin, and Anafiel refuses to let the two of them go to further assignations unguarded. So he contacts the head of the Casseline order, an order of Celibate protectors- named after Cassiel, the only one of Elua's companions never to settle down and have children, remaining the perfect protector, and has a true Cassiel brother named Joscelin Verrueil brought as a protector for Phèdre.

Soon, Alcuin is free, and leaves Naamah's service. In fact, he only entered it for love of his master, Anafiel, making his service to her a blasphemy, but when his service is done, he asks of Naamah a pardon for his blasphemy. And soon, he and Anafiel Delaunay become lovers, something that Phèdre finds both happy and sad, because she loved her mentor as well and would have done anything for him. But she finds happiness in their happiness.

She and Joscelin don't get along- he's horrified by what she does and the sorts of services she performs, but eventually, he comes to realize that she has her honor, and can at least stomach being with her. On the longest night, Melisande buys her services for the entire night, and parades her around the ballroom in an outfit composed only of sheer gauze and diamonds, and with a lead around her throat with a diamond hanging from it. This causes Phèdre to lose herself so that she barely remembers what went on that night.

Afterwards, Melisande cuts the dress from her and uses flechettes on her, causing Phèdre to use her signale, a safe-word. In the aftermath, Phèdre accidentally reveals that Anafiel is waiting word from Quintillus Rousse, letting slip part of what he has been working on. Melisande's gift to her is the remains of her gown, letting her fill in the rest of her marque.

But before it can be completed, a sailor from Quintilus Rousse finds her with the message, which is, "When the Black Boar rules in Alba, Elder Brother will accede." Phèdre returns home to deliver the message and finds her mentor slaughtered and Alcuin dying. Alcuin reveals that Anafiel has been working to place Ysandre on the throne, and ally her with an Alban, Drustan Mab Necthana, who had fallen in love with her, and she with him on a state visit.

They go immediately to the palace, and Melisande offers them shelter when the King cannot see them right away, neither can Thelesis de Mornay. But Melisande drugs them and sells them into slavery in a brutal land named Skaldia, roughly analagous to Germany. There, she is initially sold into slavery in a small holding, but Joscelin is furious and fights incessantly.

It's up to Phèdre to keep him from fighting for no reason, and to keep him from being killed. She will need his help to escape and return to Terre D'Ange and reveal the plot of the traitor Melisande. But first, the leader of the steading puts them to work, joscelin among the dogs and later as a servant, and Phèdre in his bed. Soon, they are brought to a meeting of the leader of the Skaldic tribes, Waldemar Selig, where the man who owns her gives her to Waldemar Selig as a gift.

Phèdre, using her skills as a spy and a lover, keeps Selig occupied while finding out that he plans to invade Terre D'Ange, where he will rule over both countries with his fellow plotter and soon to be Queen, Melisande Shahrizai! Selig has in his possession a letter from Melisande outlining their plan, and Phèdre and Joscelin make plans to escape, but she knows she cannot take the letter with her, as it will alert both plotters to what she knows and cause them to change their plans.

She also listens to his meeting with his warlords, and finds out how and when they will invade Terre D'Ange. When he and his warlords leave on a hunt, Joscelin kills one of the White Brothers, special guards who wear White Wolfskins and are the strongest supporters of Waldemar Selig, as well as his bodyguards, and they steal food, wine, horses and fodder, saying Waldemar has called for Phèdre and a tent, to enjoy her in the outdoors overnight.

Their escape goes unnoticed at first, but soon Waldemar Selig has his men search for her. In the depths of the Skaldian winter, Phèdre and Joscelin evade most of their trackers, slay others, and make their way over the Mountains to Terre D'Ange. At one point, physically and emotionally exhausted, the two become lovers in a high mountain cave, which, as they only discover the morning after, once sheltered Elua and his companions.

But time is running out. Waldemar Selig will be invading Terre D'Ange as soon as the Winter snows melt from the high mountain passes, allowing his army passage. Phèdre and Joscelin must make their way to the City of Elua, persuade Ysandre Courcel of the truth of their tale, and bring Melisande Shahrizai to justice.

But it's not going to be that easy. Ysandre is persuaded by the evidence, but she needs the help of her love, Drustan Mab Necthana, who has been toppled from his throne of the Cruarch by his uncle, Maelcon. He and his loyal followers have taken shelter with two Lords of the Dalriada, Grainne and Eamon. To persuade them to invade and restore Drustan to the throne, Ysandre calls a council of War with the few people she can trust and makes Phèdre ambassador in her name.

But can Phèdre, a scholar, spy and sacred prostitute, fulfill her mission, and return to Terre D'Ange in time to save her home and see Ysandre restored to the throne? Or will the might of the assembled armies be too much even for her and the powers of an Anguisette?

Yes, I know this is a long review, but this is a very long book, over 900 pages, and I've barely even touched on some of the story, simply because it would take me days to finish this review. Kushiel's Dart was Jacqueline Carey's first novel, but you would never know it to read it. The writing is lush, sensual and lyrical, and although an awful lot of sex takes place in it, it's not handled like soft-core pornography or erotica. Carey does an awful lot of suggestion that allows you to paint a picture in your mind of what is going on, and then she draws back and moves on.

For a culture whose abiding rule is "Love as thou wilt", D'Angelline society is remarkably free and open. The idea of two men, two women, or even more combinations, is not looked down upon or demonized. So if you find the idea or talk of such to be disgusting, disquieting, unnatural or wrong, this is not a book you are going to enjoy- the same if you find games of S&M to be the same way. It's not that Phèdre can only get her jollies that way, but she enjoys the added spice that pain adds to the mix (something Joscelin doesn't understand until *after* they become lovers). Still, those mental images are very potent- so much so that some readers may find them disturbing.

But when it really starts getting disturbing is when she is sold into slavery in Skaldia. Say what you like about different kinds of sex- at least they are doing it by their choice in Terre D'Ange. In Skaldia, Phédre has no say in what happens to her at all- it's little better than rape. For me, that was the disturbing part, not necessarily the sex. The D'Angelines agree- rape or taking away one's ability to choose love is heresy and a capital crime.

I love lots of things about this book- The World, the characters, and the ideas that make it up. I love how everything in the world feels real. Characters feel like they could exist, the Court of Night-Blooming Flowers seems real, even countries seem like they could exist- even the ones we haven't yet visited like Caerdicci Unitas and Persis. Yes, it's a fantasy world, and yes, it's based on our world, but neither means that a world will seem real, but here, you get a sense that the world still exists, even when the story is over and you close the book.

I cannot recommend this book, and Jacqueline Carey, highly enough. This is the sort of Fantasy work that really sets the bar higher. With a few words, she paints a picture of a world that has a strong feeling of reality, and on this backdrop, people who seem real deal with problems that have far-reaching implications. This is a huge book (901 pages), but when you read it, you are completely immersed in the world and the characters. You must read this book.

The Good, the Bad and the Uncanny- A novel of the Nightside by Simon R. Green

The Nightside is a strange area of London, created by Lilith because she had been thrown out of Paradise and didn't want Hell. Created to be her place, it is a collection of people and places from all worlds and all times. It is always 3 AM there, and you can find anything you want there- things that aren't good for you, things that will eat at your body, your sanity, and your soul.

John Taylor is a Private Eye who has lived in Nightside for years. He has one specific psychic talent- he can find anything. And, as he has learned, that Talent comes from who his mother was- Lilith. But when she appeared back in the Nightside, ready to take it over again, John fought against her to keep the Nightside as free as possible.

But the Nightside isn't truly free. Something always keeps watch over it. Originally, it was the authorities, until John and his friends brought them down. Now it is the New Authorities, and their agent is a man named Walker, who was once the friend of John's father, and once John's friend as well. But John isn't so friendly with Walker these days, because he knows what Walker has had to do on behalf of his new bosses, and John doesn't approve.

So, when Walker turns up to talk to him, John hears him out, but won't agree to anything more. It turns out that Walker is dying, and he needs to pass on his job, to be the front man for the Authorities as they currently exist, on to his chosen successor, and to John's shock, that person is none other than John Taylor, P.I..

John, though, doesn't want to, and he turns Walker down. He's seen what Walker's time as an Agent of the Authorities has done to him, and John isn't particularly able to give up his scruples and morals to be a mouthpiece or the man behind it all. The Authorities both old and new have condoned some awful things in the past, and John has too much of a conscience. Walker gets him to agree to at least consider it, but John still plans on saying, "No,", much to Walker's anger and disappointment.

John takes on a job with an elf named Lord Scratch, to escort him to a portal to Faerie through the Nightside. Nobody likes elves, considering they look down on humans, and anyone who isn't an elf, not to mention lying like a rug whenever they feel like it, but John isn't going to go back on his word once it's given, and teams up with Mrs. Fate, the Nightside's Transvestite Superhero and her supercar to get Lord Scratch to his destination while opposed by Werewolf bikers. But can even John Taylor succeed here? And what is the information that Lord Screech seems to think that John Taylor needs to know that he offered in payment?

Next, Larry Oblivion, the Nightside's Dead Detective, coerces John to help him find his brother, Tommy, who disappeared in the Nightside during the Lilith War. Larry is afraid that his disappearance has something to do with his other brother, Hadleigh, who once was a simple magician before going truly out of his mind and becoming something truly frightening and out of his mind. But Larry isn't the only one still missing from that time, and John's talent is giving him inconsistent results, which is why he thinks that Larry is really dead.

But can he and Larry survive the many places they will have to look to find out where Larry Oblivion really is? And can Larry and John survive a meeting with Hadleight, and Larry, Hadley and Tommy's parents, a famous adventurer and his wife?

Lastly, Walker ups the stakes on his request of John, and takes him on a tour of the Nightside, showing him the powers and privileges of the new position Walker would offer him. But all John wants is to enjoy his life and his love with Suzy Shooter, who has finally faced up to the pain of her past, and can actually stand to be touched now- at least for a small while, and John has hope for more. But Walker won't take no for an answer- and John isn't willing to give in. Who will win, and who or what will be the new face and Voice of the Authorities?

I love the Nightside novels, and I love John Taylor, but even more than him (and trust me, he's great), the best parts of the Nightside are the other characters who live there, like Mrs, Fate and her fluffy pink car, or Alex, the owner and bartender of John's favorite bar, Strangeways, with his dead ancestor, Merlin, who lives (if one can say that about him) in the basement of the bar, and can save Alex's bacon, but who mostly just makes his life hell. And then there is Slick Eddie, God of the Straight Razor, who is only mentioned here, but one of my favorite characters.

Another good thing about this series is the writing, which is sharp, vivid and witty as all Hell. The Nightside is a place that seems like a more twisted version of big city back alleys late in the night in the midst of the drunks and the muggers who wait in the alleys to pick you off, only magnified by at least a thousandfold. It's a bit like the puzzle box in Hellraiser- the people who end up in the Nightside are the people who want the most extreme things that the world and existence has to offer, and mostly the more profane over the blessed. It's not Hell itself, but definitely Hell's doorstep- or maybe somewhere on the same street.

This series is winding down now, I hear there will only be a novel or two more, and I will tell you that I am going to miss this series. I haven't enjoyed Simon Green's other series about Eddie Drood as much as this one, and I really miss his "Hawk and Fisher" series that I first read. But this is definitely a series you have got to read, as John Taylor has it all over Eddie Drood, Mixing a modern Fantasy tale, with Noir Detective character, and characters from Fantasy, Science Fiction and Mythology as well as wit, verse and dialogue so sharp it can cut a single hair without even trying, this combines several genres and a grim and gritty worldview like nothing else you've ever read. Highly recommended.

Vermonia: Volume 1- Quest for the Silver Tiger by Yoyo

Mel, Doug, Naomi and Jim are members of a band, but even when they aren't singing, they like hanging out together at the skate park, but little do they know that they share a secret history together. Long ago, the planet of Vermonia was ruled by Queen Frasnella, who had a long and peaceful reign.

Her advisors were partly human and partly animal spirits. But her rule came to and end when she was betrayed by one of her two generals- Uro. The loyal general, Boros, who was Uro's brother, tried to defend an orb named the Bolirios, but to no avail. Uro and his army were the stronger. With Boros defeated, the Queen would soon fall into his hands- but she can at least save her advisots. Stripping them of the animal spirits that were part of their souls, she sent them on to a new world, a less magical world, known as earth.

She turned Boros into a lowly squelp, and the animal parts of the spirits were housed in shrines around Vermonia itself. Their human selves took on new bodies, and grew up on the Blue Planet- Earth. Now, they are friends who love to skate- only the Mayor has closed down the skate park, so they jump the fence and go in anyway. They have formed a band named Veracity, and they are going to enter the Battle of the Bands- first prize is $5000- enough for them to at least start building a Real Skate park.

Mel and Naomi are a little tense right now. Mel quit the band because her father ordered her to. He caught her skipping class to work with the band, and her grades are slipping- and he never really liked her friends. Additionally, he's the mayor, but in order to keep herself by being embarrassed over what really happened, she just said their music stank and she quit. Now, the tension between them remains.

That night, Naomi goes home and has a very strange dream. She's at the Skate Park, and suddenly she's sinking into the ground, which has turned to water. She keeps sinking, and winds up in a cave. A young man is being tortured, and is wrapped in snakes. He says he will never forgive the Queen. The thing that is torturing him says he must wear the mask of Obedience and serve Oro. A strange mask, like a mass of seaweed with a single eye poking out of it shoots onto his face and adheres. The thing names the man Acidulous... and Naomi wakes up back on the floor of her room, having fallen out of bed.

The next day, she meets up with her friends, and they all have had the same dream, even Mel. But something, like a bubble, is rising from the center of the place where they skate. They go out to see what it is, and as they reach the center, a pattern flashes on the ground, and something black and ugly rises from the tarmac. It startles Mel, and another person, dressed like a Jester, grabs her.

Then another Jester appears, with an egg in her hands. and tells the first Jester and the thing to let her go, but they do not, and disappear. The Jester raises the egg, and it cracks, revealing a strange cat-like creature inside. She tells the friends that this is a Squelp, and she is giving it to them, as they will need it- the Squelp will guide and help them- and that they will meet again. Then, she fades away.

The squelp can talk, and when they want to rescue Mel, it turns the ground to liquid and they fall through into a new world, the turtle world. But as soon as they appear, they are attacked by the same thing that captured Mel, and the Jester, too. When Naomi tells the Squelp to help them, it conjures up their skateboards, and when that isn't enough, it conjures up a mountain behind them and helps a forest grow around them. This enables them to escape the thing chasing them.

Eventually they end up in the desert, and in the midst of the Potonawi people. They meet Rainbow, the Potonawi Princess, and she takes them back to her village to speak to her grandmother. But while they are there, one of the boys, Doug, has a dream/vision of a white Tiger imprisoned in a place that looks like silver crystals. The Tiger wants to be freed, and as a sign that he and Doug are connected, he gives Doug a silver fang/Dagger necklace that appears around his throat.

But in this strange new world where they don't know anyone and are opposed by strange forces, how can they fight against the enemies facing them? And how will they find and free the Silver Tiger, if they don't know where it is? And what will happen to Mel, imprisoned by their enemies, but feeling empathy for General Acidulous and the people working for the side of Uro, all of whom seem to be either coerced or have been promised aid they desperately need if they work for him?

I was disposed to like this manga. Of course, the whole "Five kids" dynamic, and the five different animal/beast spirits made me wonder if this was going to turn out to be a Sentai comic. Sentai, of course, being a team of five, like the Power Rangers, Science Ninja Team Gatchaman, or the original Sailor Moon Team. Even Captain Planet, a western animated series, had the five Sentai type of organization. I'm not sure why there are usually five members. I know a Sentai is a Japanese military term, but how did it come to mean "five" in manga?

In any case, this series could certainly take a turn in that direction, if it's not heading there already. I know there is only four characters, I consider the fifth to be the squelp, who is the other general transformed. For now, he's a magical pet, but who knows? The other thing I especially noted was that the scene where they arrived in the turtle world, the background was almost exactly identical to that of Cephiro, the land of Magic Knight Rayearth, including the mountains (here one of the characters calls them "icebergs") floating in the air. Copying? Homage? Who knows, at this point, but the mountains/icebergs definitely do say, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." in spades.

On the whole, it wasn't a bad manga, but I honestly just couldn't summon up a great deal of enthusiasm about it. It's neither exceptionally good, nor exceptionally bad. It's just nothing that hasn't been done before, especially in Shonen manga. If you've read a lot of manga, like I have, you can probably tick them off fairly endlessly. Recommended.

Wonder Woman: Amazon, Hero, Icon by Robert Greenberger

Born an Amazon on Paradise Island, Diana of Themiscyra was the daughter of Queen Hippolyta, ruler of the Amazons. Long ago imprisoned by Hercules and his men when he stole her girdle from her, Hyppolyta had prayed long and hard for the forgiveness of Aphrodite, who had turned her eyes from the Amazons when they were captured by men. Finally, the goddess was moved, and gave Hippolyta back her girdle, with which she freed her fellow Amazons, and they retreated to an isle unseen by the eyes of men.

Without men, however, the Amazons couldn't procreate. Unchanging and undying, they created their own technology and civilization, allowing them to attain heights unknown of in the outside world. And their Queen, greatly desiring a daughter, petitioned the goddess for a child. The Queen sculpted a child of clay, which then came to life, animated by the Goddess and gifted with a soul. That child, Queen Hippolyta named Diana, and she grew to adulthood on the island... until World War II intruded.

A man, shot down out of the sky, landed on the island, badly wounded. He was found by Diana, who watched over him as the Amazon Healers tended his wounds. Diana had great regard for this man. Some would even say, fell in love with him. The man's name was Steve Trevor, and the Amazons discovered the great conflict going on in the man's world. Diana was the one who suggested getting involved in the conflict, and the Queen, pressed hard, finally agreed, holding games to select the best warrior to return with Steve Trevor. She forbade her daughter not to take part in the games, but Diana disobeyed her mother, wearing a mask to conceal her identity until she triumphed over all.

Her mother, grieving, allowed her daughter to go take part in the man's war. Diana took on the persona of Diana Prince, a dead woman, becoming Steve Trevor's secretary and eventually fellow operative, concealed behind her secret identity, fighting all sorts of foes with her bullet-deflecting bracelets, her great strength, and her lasso, which was not only unbreakable and infinitely extendable, but could wring the truth from anyone.

It's a familliar story, that of Wonder Woman. This book, with an amazing cover by Alex Ross, traces Wonder Woman's career from its beginning in the 50's to the modern day, covering the major story arcs, influences that went into making up the character, costume changes and fluctuations in her powers- did you know that at one point, Wonder Woman gave up her Amazon powers to be strictly human? It's true! Back in the days when secret agents became more popular than Superheroes, Diana became Diana Prince, Secret Agent. But it didn't last long, and Wonder Woman soon regained her powers.

While Gods and Goddesses were mentioned in the first incarnations of the story, it wasn't until George Perez' run on the title that they actually began showing up in the Wonder Woman comic. Of course, Wonder Woman has always had friends and supporters from Etta Candy to two different Wonder Girls, including Cassie Sandsmark, who ended up being an actual demigoddess, the daughter of Zeus, and the first one, Donna Troy, whose story was retconned so many times that even I don't remember what exactly it is any more.

This book reminds me of a Dorling-Kindersley book, with all the information about Wonder Woman laid out in a chronological manner, with special sections on her allies and helpers, villains, and the major plotlines she went through.

Basically, everything you once thought you knew about Wonder Woman has changed. And I do mean everything. Remember how Wonder Woman was once in love with Steve Trevor? Well, that's been retconned away. Steve Trevor ended up marrying Etta Candy, who lost lots of weight, and Wonder Woman's exploits during World War 2 were actually those of her mother, Hippolyta.

I liked this book. It's a real guide to the Wonder Woman you might remember, and to the character of Wonder Woman who exists now. It's packed chock-full of information and plenty of art, both from Golden Age, Silver Age, and more modern Wonder Woman comics. This book is a triumph and should be on the reading list and shelf of every fan who loves Wonder Woman.

Burning Lamp by Amanda Quick

The Winters Family and the Jones Family were once the heads of the Arcane Society, both skilled in psychic powers. Both founders wanted to amp up their own powers, and each resolved on a different way to do so. For the Jones family, their founder attempted to find a means to amplify his powers through chemistry, concocting a formula to fulfill his deepest desires.

But the head of the Winters family, Nicholas, went to Engineering for his solution, and constructed a device known as the Burning Lamp. In using it, he required a woman adept in manipulating Dreamlight energy to power the lamp, and the lamp further required some kind of intimate connection between the person using the lamp and the woman manipulating the energy. However, the lamp was lost, and Nicholas made further changes to the lamp before it escaped his grasp, adding a large crystal, the Black Crystal, and saying that the Winters who succeeded in lighting the Black Crystal would be responsible for killing off the Jones family.

Adelaide Pyne knows the Burning Lamp, for when she was trapped in a brothel, sold into body slavery by the man who was supposed to be keeping watch over her and her family's money, a man came bearing the lamp, wanting to slake his lust on her body, and use her psychical powers to use the lamp, for Adelaide can manipulate dreamlight energy. But she escapes the man, sets fire to the brothel, and takes the lamp with her when she flees, to a new and better life.

Now returned, she spends her time rescuing girls from brothels, using her fortune to educate them so that they never need to return to selling their bodies ever again. But the methods that she is using to redeem the girls are being noted, and not just by the crime lord whose girls she is slowly stealing away.

Griffin Winters is one of the three main crime lords of London, and it just so happens that he is under going the effects of the Winters Curse, his nightmares growing dark and tortured. He needs to find the Burning Lamp, and when he attempts to warn Adelaide Pyne that the methods she is using to rescue the girls is becoming too overused and well-known, she is able to see the effects of the nightmares on his psyche, but not what they contain.

Furthermore, she still has the lamp, even after all these years. But Griffin doesn't know whether or not his ancestor's assertion that one must be in a close physical relationship with the dreamlight wielder before they can successfully use the lamp on him. But while he is definitely attracted to Adelaide Pyne, he can't see himself actually being married.

She, meanwhile, does find herself attracted to Griffin Winters, but she will not settle for merely being his mistress. And facing them are the crime lord Luttrell, and another man who seems to know a great deal about Adelaide Pyne, and wants nothing less than her body and the Burning Lamp. Can Griffin and Adelaide deal with his problems, even as Luttrell wants them both dead- Adelaide for stealing his girls away, and Griffin for his territory, and the strange man simply wants it all?

I enjoyed the first book of the Burning Lamp Trilogy, because it was a definite change from all the Joneses running around in the usual Arcane Society books. Here, there are both families, and in the end, they do end up working quite successfully together- which was rather contrary to the way the situation was presented in the first modern-day book by Jayne Anne Krentz, Fired Up, which seemed to imply that the two families had not worked together before.

But then again, a great deal of time has passed between now and then, and it could be that the working together simply wasn't remembered by Griffin and Adelaide's descendants- or that the Winters of that book, Jack, isn't descended from Griffin and Adelaide. I was actually rather hoping that we'd be reading about Nicholas Winters, and maybe we will at some point, but this story involved another descendant of Nicholas Winters.

Griffin is the last descendant of his line that he knows about, as his father and mother were killed when he was still a young man. In fact, the lamp went missing either shortly before or shortly after his parents died, and it was this impetus that pushed Griffin into a life of crime and eventually made him become a crimelord.

Different in that this story involves the Griffin family, it's otherwise not dissimilar to the other Arcane Society books. We get to see more of the Jones family living happily ever after from the endings of their own books, and in this case, its the Winters who are at risk from the powers created by their founder rather than others, but otherwise, its exactly the same as the Arcane society novels.

I think I may have burned out a little on Amanda Quick/Jayne Anne Krentz/Jayne Castle, because I felt almost bored when reading this. There was nothing that really set this book apart, and I felt rather same old, same old when reading it. I'm not sure why, exactly, except that I did.

Would I recommend this book? Yes, I still would, as Amanda Quick hasn't lost any of the polish or greatness of her writing, but after a while, you do note a marked sameness in her heroes and heroines that turned me off a little, as if I had read it before. Recommended, but not strongly.