vivdunstan

Here are my three main reads at the moment: "Our Mutual Friend" by Charles Dickens (an umpteenth time reread), "Eerie East Anglia" collection of weird/spooky short stories from the British Library, and Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson's fantasy / timey wimey / space epic "The Principle of Moments".

The books I'm currently reading. A mix of fiction (historical and fantasy), history, architecture/religion, Tolkien and space/astronomy.

I finished this the other night, the first in a trilogy I think of stories set in the Scarlet Pimpernel world of the French Revolution, with added vampires. I'd previously read one Invisible Library series book by the same author.

There was a lot to like in Scarlet. You don't need to be familiar with the original Scarlet Pimpernel stories by Baroness Orczy, though it's nice to recognise familiar characters. It is set after the first Pimpernel book, and tells you what you need to know. The Scarlet Pimpernel is an English aristocrat, with a French wife, who with his gang of fellow conspirators goes undercover in France to rescue French aristocrats from the guillotine.

The book is told through the experiences of an English maid, who gets embroiled in the Pimpernel's efforts in France. I did wonder how well this was going to work. Was she always going to be listening at doors, one step removed? But no, she is enmeshed effectively, in what to me was a surprising and good way.

I did expect the plot to go slightly differently in one section of the book, but overall it was full of surprises. And not necessarily following the history as we know it.

I wasn't so keen on another fantasy element (not the vampires) that was introduced later on in the story. But maybe this will be developed more in the subsequent books.

The big downside of the book for me was that there was far too much info dumping about the history. Not least in the introduction to the book, which had a phenomenally in-depth - far, far too much depth to be honest - essay giving a historical overview of the French Revolution at this point. Which I found phenomenally off-putting, and did not endear me to the author. Show us what we need to know through the story, through what the character encounters, and their experiences. Do not have a long-winded and frankly boring history lesson. I would skip this sort of thing when I was my doing my taught postgraduate Masters degree in history including this exact historical period. I don't want to read it in a fiction book, even historical fiction.

Also I don’t recommend following a Dramatis Personae listing with an opening chapter about a whole bunch of folk not in the list. It was a good chapter, but having the list immediately before it was jarring.

There were also extended sections - often multiple pages - of psychological reflections by the characters. I think the editor(s) could have tightened this aspect considerably.

For these reasons I'm rating it 3/5 stars. But I did enjoy it. And would read the sequels. But it should have been better.

Picking my next fiction read, which I think will be Scarlet by Genevieve Cogman, an author best known for the Invisible Library series of books. Scarlet is an alternative take on the Scarlet Pimpernel, combining the French Revolution with vampires. That sounds like a fun read.

I thought it might be nice to do a series of blog posts about fandoms I engaged with at a very early stage. I was born in the early 1970s, so as a youngster particularly enjoyed TV from the late 1970s through to the early 1990s.

First up it's Robin of Sherwood, the ITV version of the legend that aired from 1984-1986. I loved this: an intoxicating mix of myth, folklore, magic, action and romance. All in gorgeous countryside too. And made even better with a soundtrack by Irish folk group Clannad. Just fab stuff. Though I'm very much more of a fan of the first Robin incarnation played by Michael Praed. I struggled when Jason Connery took over. It was rather similar to how I felt when Romana regenerated in Doctor Who, even if I did get used to it.

In terms of organised fandom I was a member of Forest, a Robin of Sherwood fan club based in Glasgow, Scotland, that existed from 1986-1988. I never attended any events in person, but got a regular fanzine through the post. I also entered their competitions, and won a script from "The Swords of Wayland", signed by series creator and writer Richard Carpenter. My original prize went missing in the post, but when I queried it later Richard (or "Kip") sent me a replacement himself.

It was many years before I saw Robin of Sherwood again after the series ended. I am part way through a rewatch again now (it's on Britbox, and there is a Blu-ray release). It's still magic. The best TV or film version of the Robin Hood legend for me. And absolutely a product of the 1980s.

Got through my final two Edinburgh Book Festival 2023 recordings, nicely ahead of the 3AM on 30th September deadline to view them online!

Here are the latest two talks I watched:

• Kübra Gümüşy, R F Kuang & Irene Vallejo: A Short History of Language - a fascinating panel discussing language, translation, culture, colonialism and power
• David Greig & Alan Warner: Scottish Legends Retold - two authors of recent novellas set in Scotland in the 9th and 18th centuries, with an insightful discussion about the writing process, historical research, dealing with imposter syndrome and aiming for historical fidelity

I was especially wowed by the latter panel, which had a great discussion between the two authors and chair Sally Magnusson. And I very much want to read their two books, reimagining the stories of the theft of St Columba's bones and Bonnie Prince Charlie's flight across the Highlands and Islands.

Digital tickets are still available for a huge number of 2023 Edinburgh Book Festival events, but you have to watch the recordings by 3AM on this coming Saturday, so time is tight!

Booking my online streaming Edinburgh Book Festival tickets for this year. I could watch the events live online, but will also have until the end of September to watch them on catchup, which is most likely how I’ll watch. Martin is going to watch the Greta Thunberg talk with me. And yes that is the Icelandic Prime Minister speaking about her crime writing career in another one.

Inspired by posts elsewhere by some fellow book readers I thought it might be nice to look back on what I read this month. I probably won't manage this every month.

Here are the 10 books I finished in May:

• Lord of Chaos (The Wheel of Time, #6) by Robert Jordan
• Stardust by Neil Gaiman
• Messy Roots: A Graphic Memoir of a Wuhanese American by Laura Gao
• Doctor Who The Return of Robin Hood by Paul Magrs
• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordain
• Donald Duck, Duck in the Iron Mask by Disney (short comic)
• I am Oliver the Otter by Pam Ayres (picture book)
• The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas
• Raw Spirit: In Search of the Perfect Dram by Iain Banks
• Bowie on Bowie: Interviews and Encounters edited by Sean Egan (interviews collection)

It was honestly a relief to finish the first book, another long Wheel of Time one. But it's the best in the series for me so far, and really shakes things up. So looking ahead hopefully.

Stardust by Neil Gaiman was this month's book club choice for me, a lovely fairy tale book, albeit somewhat different from the movie. I have reread this several times over the years.

Messy Roots graphic novel was a recommendation from the paid TBR service I treated myself to a subscription of. It's really interesting, showing how a family adapted moving from China to the US. And then there's the spectre of Covid as well - they had come from Wuhan many years earlier. Recommended, though I think it was maybe a bit more light in places than it might be.

Paul Magrs' latest Doctor Who book is lovely, a melancholy tale of an older Robin Hood and outlaws, with a clever timey wimey plot. A little too many different character points of view in places for me, but overall it was a strong read.

Percy Jackson book 1 was a quick fun read. I'm not sure I'll read any more in the series, but this was breezy stuff. It reminded me in many ways of Neil Gaiman's American Gods, but aimed at a younger audience.

The Donald Duck comic book was a quick read in the Comixology app on my iPad. Very funny retelling of the Man in the Iron Mask.

We love watching Pam Ayres on the telly so when we chanced on a signed copy of her latest rhyming poem picture book in our local bookshop we snapped it up, even if we are way over the target age range! It's really sweet though, and educational. And gorgeous otter pictures!

The Black Tulip by Alexandre Dumas was a surprise. Given its very short length by his standards I didn't expect the depth and twists in store. A gripping historical novel set in late 17th century Holland at the time of Tulipmania. An absolute gem.

I'm Scottish but haven't tried too many whiskies over the years. I have my favourites, especially Balvenie Caribbean Cask. Iain Banks's book Raw Spirit is a sprawling travelogue around Scotland, going to lots of whisky distilleries with stories of history, the places and tasting notes about the drinks. I now have a very long list of whiskies I want to try! It was a bit too rambling in places, very political as well which even though I share his politics got somewhat exasperating. Probably also a bit long. But still a good read.

Alongside the Dumas book my other standout highlight of the month was the book of David Bowie interview transcripts edited by Sean Egan. I read this on my Kindle and it's very long, but a fascinating insight into his life and career. The interviews span the 1960s to the early 2000s, and seeing how things evolved for him was intriguing. I did not expect to be so gripped by this. And I now want to explore more of his back catalogue of music.

I still have a few books on the go to finish off, but here are two more that I've just loaded onto my Kindle. Harry Harrison's sci-fi tale of Hollywood film makers filming real Vikings in the 11th century Orkney Islands. And Michael Troughton's biography of his dad. Which I have had in print for years, bought direct from Michael, but haven't been able to read much before. Now I have it on my Kindle, so should make better progress.

I just posted a brief review of Babel by RF Kuang on the Discord of a Booktuber I enjoy/support. Here is the non spoilery version:

Some more thoughts from me about Babel. Note I haven’t watched Christy’s video about it yet. I found it a really compelling page turner of a historical novel, raising so many important issues about colonialism. But also about language, and words, and movement of ideas. It felt almost Dickensian for much of the plot, but in a much more dynamic way than Dickens usually is. There were also academia elements that felt familiar from even Harry Potter. The worldbuilding was superb, and the characters were well defined. I really liked some of the narrative tricks, including at times looking back and foreshadowing. To get a little more into spoiler territory <REDACTED HERE>.