Author: cherylmahoney

I'm a book review blogger and writer. I have published four novels, The Wanderers; The Storyteller and Her Sisters; and The People the Fairies Forget; and The Lioness and the Spellspinners. All can be found on Amazon as an ebook and paperback. In my day job, I'm a Marketing Specialist. Find me on Twitter (@MarvelousTales) and GoodReads (MarvelousTales).

Book/Play Review: The Comedy of Errors

On By cherylmahoneyIn ReviewsLeave a comment

Anticipating my Shakespeare reading goals, I hauled out my Complete Works and checked off all the plays I’ve read and/or seen, to see what was missing. I found out there were four Comedies and four Tragedies I’ve yet to encounter—and then I put the Complete Works away and requested a paperback of The Comedy of Errors from the library. Because I like footnotes and books that don’t weigh far too much!

I knew vaguely that The Comedy of Errors was Shakespeare’s twins story…and that was about all I knew. Sure enough, the story is about two sets of identical twins, each separated from his brother at birth. Antipholus of Syracuse and his servant Dromio of Syracuse arrive in Ephesus, looking for their lost brothers…and are swiftly mistaken for Antipholus of Ephesus and his servant, Dromio of Ephesus. There follows a great deal of confusion and mix-ups as all four twins keep encountering the same people but not each other.

I think this is basically Shakespeare’s slapstick comedy. Both Antipholuses keep beating on both Dromios, and the whole thing is far more farcical and far-fetched than Shakespeare’s usual fare. Though in a way, that’s impressive—that the same person wrote a play this absurd, and wrote, say, Hamlet. Continue reading “Book/Play Review: The Comedy of Errors” →

Books That Lie

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations3 Comments

I raided the Broke and the Bookish for a topic idea again, and found this one that seemed quite intriguing: Top Ten Books That Are Totally Deceiving…

1) How I Stole Johnny Depp’s Alien Girlfriend by Gary Ghislain – I am sorry to say that my buddy Johnny was not in this for even a cameo.  He only came up in references–and the book had bigger issues anyway.

2) Dating Hamlet: Ophelia’s Story by Lisa Fielder – It really is Ophelia’s version of Hamlet, but the title (and cover) make it sound much sillier than it is.  It’s actually a reasonably dramatic retelling, and quite good.  The same deception is being cast by the companion novel, Romeo’s Ex: Rosalind’s Story.

3) Rejection Proof by Jia Jiang – You cannot explore rejection if you take all the vulnerability out of the experience, and after doing that, you cannot claim to be an expert on the topic.  Period.

4) Tarzan of the Apes by Edgar Rice Burroughs – Burroughs has his flaws, but he writes an exciting story–except for the first few chapters of Tarzan.  After the apes show up, it’s all good, but before that it’s astonishingly dull.  I wonder how many people have never got past chapter two?  If they do, they’re set up for a new deception at the end…because Tarzan doesn’t win Jane until the end of the second book, yet many “Classic Editions” fail to note a second book even exists…

5) Starcrossed by Mark Schrieber – You cannot claim to be writing a retelling of Romeo and Juliet if there is no feud parting the lovers.  And just because the heroine has a crack-pot theory about how Romeo and Juliet is her love story…no.  Just no.  As her boyfriend observed (really!), they’re about as much like Romeo and Juliet as they are like Hamlet.

6) Mairelon the Magician by Patricia C. Wrede – It’s probably just the particular edition I read that is deceptive.  The tagline was “Could his magic be real?”and the answer, revealed by maybe chapter three, is yes, of course it is, and it’s not even very shocking.  The edition offered a completely inaccurate summary of what the actual plot of the book is–and the book was wonderful!

7) The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom – An enjoyable read, but it didn’t really examine its premise.  The inventor of time must help two people who have issues with time…except they don’t.  One has messed-up priorities, one is depressed and suicidal.  Neither is really about time.

8) Wicked by Gregory Maguire – Deceptive because I am sure loads of edition have “The inspiration for the wildly successful musical!!!” blazoned across their covers.  This is true–but it gives you absolutely no concept of what you’re going to be reading, because the two bear shockingly little resemblance to each other (yes, they’re both about Glinda and the Wicked Witch at school…but that’s about the extent of the connection).  See the musical.  Do not (do not) read the book.

9) The Frog Princess by E. D. Baker – Similar deception to above, many editions claim this was the inspiration for Disney’s The Princess and the Frog.  True, I guess…but the entire, complete sum total of similarity is…a girl kisses a frog and turns into one.  That’s it.  Circumstances, characters, setting–all different.  Also, not a good book.  Watch the movie–or read Frogged, which has just as much in common with it but is better.

10) Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson – I have rarely been so irritated by a book, and this prompted what was probably my most scathing review ever (although Underworld is a contender).  There’s the title: the kid’s name is Alcatraz, the book has nothing to do with the prison.  And there’s the opening scene: Alcatraz is tied to an altar of encyclopedias, about to be sacrificed by evil librarians…but he’ll get back to that later.  And many chapters later, he reveals…that scene’s actually in the next book, not this one.  I think that makes this a book that literally lied to me.

Have you encountered books that, in their cover or plot description or marketing campaign (or even in their narration…) are totally deceptive?  I’d love to hear!

Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Songs I Wish Were Books

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations7 Comments

I love reading other people’s Top Ten Tuesday posts, a bookish meme from The Broke and the Bookish, but I rarely manage to keep up with it myself.  However–this one was such a great topic I had to go for it: Ten songs I wish were books!

My longest playlist in my iTunes music library is called Story Songs, and I have a tendency to get irritated with songs if their narrative doesn’t make sense to me.  So…I have definite thoughts on this subject!

1) “Viva la Vida” by Coldplay – These are really arranged in no particular order–except this one, which is absolutely crying out to be a novel.  I mean, the opening lines are “I used to rule the world/Seas would rise when I gave the word/Now in the morning I sleep alone/Sweep the streets I used to own.”  How is this not a novel already?

2) “The Downeaster Alexa”  by Billy Joel – This one is mostly about the line “There ain’t no future for a man who works the sea/But there ain’t no islands left for islanders like me.”  And on that theme…

3) “Captain Jack” by Bill Joel – This could be part of the previous novel…  “Captain Jack will get you high tonight/Take you to his special island.”  Yeah, I know that’s probably metaphorical, but if it wasn’t?  Totally have a pirate story here.

4) “Fernando” by ABBA -Despite the female singer, this is definitely the story of two old soldiers remembering their war and their cause–even though they lost.  And there’s something about still taking pride in a lost cause that I especially like (Firefly, anyone?)  “Now we’re old and gray, Fernando/Since many years I haven’t seen a rifle in your hand/Can you hear the drums, Fernando?/Do you still recall the fateful night we crossed the Rio Grande/I could see it in your eyes how proud you were to fight for freedom in this land.”

5) “The Highwayman” by Loreena McKennit – I assume this must be an old legend of some sort, because it’s virtually a novel already.  Well, a short story at least, about the Highwayman, Bess the landlord’s daughter, and the red-coated soldiers: “I’ll come to thee by moonlight, though hell should bar the way.”  This story actually was written into one of the Jacky Faber novels, but to be honest, Jacky was kind of a distraction and it didn’t do the song justice.

6) “Highwayman” by Johnny Cash – Maybe connected to the previous one, maybe not…  This would have to be an epic, centuries-spanning story of reincarnation–“I fly a starship/across the universe divide/and when I reach the other side/I’ll find a place to rest my spirit if I can/or I may become a highwayman again./Or I may become a single drop of rain/but I will remain/and I’ll come back again, and again, and again…”

7) “These Dreams” by Heart – One of my all-time favorite song lines is “In a wood full of princes, freedom is a kiss.”  There’s a whole novel, right there.

8) “She Should’a Been Mine” by Barry Manilow – This one’s better if you read the CD liner.  It’s on a concept album about an apartment building, with each song a different apartment; this one is the elevator operator, who sees a resident come in with the wrong guy again and again…”I’m the one that she’s been looking for/I keep hoping for a sign/If it could’a been it would’a been/Still she should’a been mine.”

9) “When Did You Fall” by Chris Rice – There are loads of love songs that could be novels, but I picked this one because I especially like slow burn romances where love takes friends by surprise…”When did you fall in love with me/Because I swear I never knew it.”

10) “The Longest Time” by Billy Joel – This might not look like the seeds of a novel…but I realized recently, looking at songs for inspiration, that I’m basically writing this story.  I pulled out a dozen love songs with relevant pieces for inspiration for the last portion of my Phantom of the Opera retelling, and this one…pretty much the whole thing is spot on.  “If you said good-bye to me tonight/there would still be music left to write…”  …which tells you something about how the story ends! (But who writes a retelling/sequel to Phantom without giving it a happy ending?)

Do you have any favorite songs you’d love to see as a novel?  Can you think of any example where they actually turned a song into a novel?  I’d like to believe there’s hope I could someday read Viva La Vida… 🙂

TV Review: Doctor Who – The River Song Saga

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Science Fiction2 Comments

River 4We recently finished out a wonderful season of Doctor Who with a Christmas episode featuring the delightful, mysterious and intriguing River Song.  Because of that appearance, and maybe because I didn’t quite want to walk away from the Doctor just yet, I embarked on some rewatching–specifically, of what I’m calling The River Song Saga.

For non-fans, River’s place in the Who universe requires some explanation.  She’s a recurring character who is very important to the Doctor…but frequently we (and he) are not quite sure how or, most vitally, when.  It’s time travel, and River and the Doctor are moving opposite directions through time.  So the first time the Doctor (and we) met River, she knew everything about him.  As he moves forward in time, he learns more but she knows less and less…and the same thing happens from her perspective, that he knows less about her each time they meet.

Following so far?  🙂  As the episodes aired, we moved through time from the Doctor’s perspective.  So on this re-watch, I thought it would be fun to try to watch them from River’s perspective.  This would no doubt be utterly confusing if I didn’t know the total arc, but I wanted to see what that arc looked like as River lived it.  So this post obviously will contain, as River herself would say, spoilers.  And it’s going to be a long one!

River 1

Continue reading “TV Review: Doctor Who – The River Song Saga” →

Favorites Friday: Romantic Couples (Biannual Event)

On By cherylmahoneyIn Favorites Friday3 Comments

Valentine’s Day is this weekend, and I have a (loose) tradition of posting about favorite fictional romantic couples around this holiday…  I’ve covered a number of favorites in the past (2012 and 2014), but have met some new ones since last time, and noticed one I’m surprised I didn’t have before…

1) Cress and Thorne, The Lunar Chronicles Series – This series is just full of wonderful romances, and I could put Scarlet and Wolf or Winter and Jacin on this list too…but Cress and Thorne are my favorites, each one a little unsure, each trying to become more than what they fear they are.  And they’re just adorable, separately and together.

2) Percy and Annabeth, Heroes of Olympus Series – I met these characters in the Percy Jackson series, but the romance doesn’t come in until Heroes of Olympus…and it’s wonderful.  I love that they are such equals with so much respect for each other; they’re comrades in arms who are also in love, who literally go through Hell (Tartarus) leaning on each other.  In Book Two Percy forgets all of his memories except the name Annabeth; in Book Three there’s a lovely moment when Percy reassures Annabeth by saying, “It’s okay, we’re together” and she reflects on how he knows that’s what will most make her feel better.  It’s just beautiful.

3) Daniel and Sophia/Lucy, My Name Is Memory – This is less about who they are and more about the nature of their story (unusual for me).  A story of reincarnation across 1,500 years, Daniel always remembers and recognizes “Sophia” – but she never knows him, until finally in the 21st century, as Lucy, she begins to pull some glimmers together.  I just love the way they’re connected to each other in different ways in different lifetimes.  So fascinating.

4) Faolan and Eile, The Well of Shades – Two incredible characters with hideous amounts of pain and darkness in their pasts, who help each other heal…so beautiful!  The one and only time Juliet Marillier has left me dissatisfied with an ending was the book preceding this one, because I was sad for Faolan–and this book made it all come out right after all!

5) Beatrice and Benedick, Much Ado About Nothing – I can’t believe these two never made it onto my lists before!  My favorite Shakespearean couple, the sparring Beatrice and Benedick who are clearly obsessed with each other and fall right into love with just a little pushing.  Maybe I love them because they’re such intellectual equals–and for a story written in 1598(ish), that’s remarkable!

Do you have any favorite fictional couples?  And happy Valentine’s Day!