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).

Heir to Sevenwaters by Juliet Marillier

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews6 Comments

Heir to SevenwatersOne of my goals for Once Upon a Time was to continue my way through the Sevenwaters series by Juliet Marillier.  It’s a wonderful series that has been taking me far too long to read!  I just finished Heir to Sevenwaters, and can happily report that it’s my favorite of the series so far.

This could possibly be read independently of the first three, but there would be spoilers for the earlier books, and sorting out the family members and their various backgrounds and context could be confusing without knowing the first three books.

The heroine of this story is Clodagh, one of the daughters of the Chieftain of Sevenwaters (and if you lose track of the family tree by this point in the series–I did–there are helpful guides at the beginning of the book).  Clodagh considers herself a rather dull, domestic type, unlikely to do anything of any great excitement or depth.  When her newborn baby brother is kidnapped, however, she must set off on a quest to rescue him from magical forces.  And meanwhile there’s the question of Cathal, a young man who plainly has some connection to the recent turmoil, but whether for good or ill is much harder to say.

This is Book Four, placing us beyond the original Sevenwaters Trilogy which all tied more closely together.  It felt slightly removed from the first three, in tone and focus.  Certainly it’s still part of the series, still in the same world, but it feels a little bit lighter and a little bit more focused.  Of course, when I say “lighter,” that doesn’t mean there isn’t still dark magic and grim adventures!  But it deals less with sweeping forces that will decide the fate of entire countries, and the magic has taken a less mysterious turn.

The magic in the previous books was certainly present, but there was a strong Otherworldly mystique to it.  We saw the magic folk mostly as very cerebral, very distant figures who drift on the edges of human affairs.  This book had more of  a straight fairy tale or folklore feel to it, with some elements reminscent of the ballad of Tam Lynn, and the magical creatures more resembling fairies or leprechauns of folklore.  I love fairy tales, so I enjoyed this brand of magic.

I liked Clodagh quite a bit, as I always have a soft spot for heroines who don’t realize their own strength.  I really liked Cathal as the book developed and we learned more about him.  Slight spoiler (though not much) to say that I inevitably loved him because I have an equally strong soft spot for grim, forbidding heroes who are hiding hearts of gold.  The romance fell together a little easily, but for the most part it was an absolute delight.

There are some clever plot twists in here that I don’t want to give away, and some very clever use of stories-within-a-story.  I love books that feature the power of stories, and of folk lore as the key to a riddle or the answer to a quest.  The novel is immensely engaging throughout, and I found it very difficult to put down during the last 150 pages or so (a common feature of Marillier’s writing, by the way).

So: unknowingly strong heroine, gruff but good hero, fairy tale elements and the power of stories.  Yeah, this is definitely my favorite so far…

Author’s Site: http://www.julietmarillier.com/

Other reviews:
Gilded Page Reviews
Zeitgeist Reviews
Caressing the Muse
Me and My Books
Anyone else?

Buy it here: Heir to Sevenwaters

The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Reviews3 Comments

Blue SwordContinuing recent trends, I reread The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley for Once Upon a Time, and for my goal to reread old favorites.  I’ve no idea when I last read this, but it may have been middle school.  By now, it’s like an entirely new book–not a bad thing, when it’s by one of my favorite (but not prolific enough!) authors.

The heroine of the story is Harry, who travels from what seems to be loosely Victorian England, out to the edge of the empire.  The Homeland has never quite conquered the desert and hills of Damar, where the natives still follow the old ways–and are rumored to have magical power.  When Harry is abducted by the Damarian king, she begins to forge a new identity among a foreign people she’s strangely drawn to–and finds a role in their coming war with the North.

I feel like this plot summary makes the book sound like Indian Captive, which it isn’t at all…but telling more would give too much away.

I like Harry as a protagonist–she’s intelligent and capable, and always puts on a strong appearance even when she’s secretly unsure.  She makes some leaps in learning and skills that are, um, improbable to say the least, but there’s a magical explanation so I’ll give that a pass…  McKinley also succeeds in making the Damarian king, Corlath, into a sympathetic character, when he very easily might not have been at all.

The romance comes slightly out of left field, but…it feels like it makes sense when it arrives, so I’ll accept that too.  Slightly sudden romances are a recurring feature of McKinley’s writing…

Besides lots of magic and swordfighting and epic legends, possibly the coolest part of the story is Harry’s animal companions.  She has the world’s most amazing horse, and if that’s not enough, there’s a wildcat too!

It was funny reading this right after Fellowship of the Ring, because in some ways the writing style seemed even more Tolkien than Tolkien himself–more what I expected Tolkien to be.  And by that I mean that there is considerable detail given to what the landscape looks like, the clothing styles, the exact details of saddles…  Most of the time that was all right and even interesting, and mostly the book still moved at a reasonable pace.

The only real trouble I had was at the beginning, and “trouble” might be putting it strongly.  It’s just that there’s a fair bit of set-up explaining the political situation and Harry’s personal past, and it all comes out rather dry.  This is particularly funny because McKinley is known for throwing readers in without much backstory or explanation…but this was an early book.  Evidently her writing evolved.  So if you pick this one up and find it slow, at least go on until Harry’s abducted–I found it picked up considerably then.

This book has made me very much want to reread The Hero and the Crown, which I only remember marginally better.  That one is a prequel, focusing on legendary characters who are frequently referenced here, and I look forward to reading their story.

This book also made me want a really amazing wildcat companion, but that want could be a bit more difficult to satisfy…

Author’s Site: http://www.robinmckinley.com/

Other reviews:
Lisa Godfrees
Bookshop Talk
Tor.com
Anyone else?

Buy it here: The Blue Sword

Saturday Snapshot: With Love, Michael Crawford

On By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot16 Comments

I had very exciting mail this week…

But before I get to that, let me tell you a story, if I may.  I’ll give you the short version.  About eight years ago, a friend loaned me a copy of Leroux’s Phantom of the Opera, and a CD of Webber’s musical.  I wasn’t all that into the book, but I liked the soundtrack.  And so an obsession was born.

A couple years after that, after a lot of delving into Phantom versions and who-knows-how-many times through the soundtrack, another friend suggested I find Michael Crawford’s other CDs.  Crawford was the original Phantom in London and Broadway, and his is the voice on the soundtrack.  As my friend suggested, listening to his other CDs would be like listening to the Phantom sing other songs–and it was!  And so a new obsession was born.

I now have all of Crawford’s CDs because, well, he’s amazing.  Somewhere along the way I stopped hearing the Phantom when Crawford sang and started hearing Crawford when the Phantom sang…if that makes any sense!

Recently I had an opportunity to mail an item in for a personalized autograph.  And so, exciting mail arrived this week…

Michael Crawford Autograph

I could have had my Phantom soundtrack signed…but I suspect Crawford signs a lot of Phantom CDs!  And I wanted this one anyway, because it’s my favorite.  Or to be more precise, the last song on the CD, “A Piece of Sky,” is mind-blowing, life-altering, unbelievably amazing.

So I’d say that’s the most exciting mail I’ve had in, hmm, a long time.  Couldn’t resist sharing!

Have a wonderful weekend, and visit At Home with Books for more Saturday Snapshots!

Favorites Friday: Cheer-Up Songs

On By cherylmahoneyIn Favorites Friday4 Comments

I was musing on topics for this Friday, and thought I’d do another song round-up.  I’ve posted on my favorite songs about following your dreams (twice, in fact) but today’s not quite that.  These songs are for days when, never mind following dreams, you don’t even want to get out of bed.  Maybe it’s raining, maybe it’s Monday (in which case you could listen to “Rainy Days and Mondays” but it’s not very uplifting) and you just need something to battle the blues.

I have a playlist for those days, and here are a few of my favorites…  Links go to YouTube videos if you’d like to listen too.

“Talking Optimist Blues” by Neil Diamond is a slightly odd one, because it’s all about how lousy the singer’s life is.  It starts with “I’ve got worries by the ton” then lists them all–but “despite it all, I’d like to say, I’m gonna have a good day, today.  Gonna have a good time anyway.”  A lot of cheer-up songs focus on life getting better.  I like the reminder in this song that happiness isn’t out there somewhere, after everything changes.  We can’t always change our circumstances, but we can change our attitude.  And have a good day–today.  (Listen here)

“Daybreak” by Barry Manilow is more conventional, with an uplifting melody and enthusiastic singing–though it is present tense and there’s a little of the same message: “Hey, it’s daybreak, if you only believe, it can be daybreak.” (Listen here)

“Smile” was sung by many people but I have Josh Groban’s version.  It’s not a cheery, upbeat melody.  It’s almost a little melancholy, in fact, but it’s an encouraging, uplifting song in another way: “Smile, what’s the use of crying?  You’ll find that life is still worthwhile if you just smile.”  It’s sounds better when he’s singing it than when you just read it flat-out… (so listen here)

“Get Rhythm” by Johnny Cash is perhaps the most direct of all, with it’s repeated refrain, “when you get the blues, c’mon, get rhythm.”  It does what it promises, as it’s a good toe-tapper. (Listen here)

“Put on Your Sunday Clothes” from Hello, Dolly is another exhuberantly cheerful one, from it’s opening “Out there, there’s a world outside of Yonkers…full of shine and full of sparkle.”  All about seizing the wonderful things in the world, you can hardly help but feel enthusiastic…and to wonder how Michael Crawford ever transitioned from Hello, Dolly to The Phantom of the Opera.  But that’s a different story! (Listen here)

I have to say this post has put me in a good mood…since I listened to everything while writing it!  What do you listen to when you’ve got worries by the ton, get the blues, or feel down-and-out? 🙂

The Writer’s Voice

On By cherylmahoneyIn Ruminations20 Comments

Exciting news today!  Recently my friend Ruth told me about a contest for writers with polished manuscripts hoping to find an agent.  Step One was to enter a lottery just to be in the contest–and I got in!

Step Two is to post a query and the first 250 words of the novel to the writer’s blog.  Regular readers may remember hearing before about Jasper the wandering adventurer and Tom the talking cat, yes?  Well, you’re going to hear a bit more about them now…  I hope you enjoy, and cross your fingers for me that the contest-organizers enjoy it too!

Query

Jasper planned to fight a magician, but he didn’t expect to pick up a talking cat as a traveling companion in the process—especially since he has a long list of rules, and one of them is Always travel alone (#18).  The Wanderers follows the exploits of Jasper and talking cat Tom, through a landscape full of monsters, questing princes, and new spins on familiar fairy tales

The Wanderers is a young adult fantasy novel.  It is a completed work, with a length of 107,000 words.  We follow Jasper and Tom as they successfully help an inept prince complete a quest (and follow Rule #7, On quests, always help anyone who asks), and rescue a girl kidnapped by a witch.  Plans take another twist (and Rule #18 is tested again) when the girl runs away and joins Jasper and Tom’s travels.  Julie is just hoping to escape from the witch—who is, in fact, her mother.  She quickly discovers a taste for adventure as well.  The three band together to tangle with outlaws, a sea serpent, a very hungry (yet refined) ogre, and to solve a mystery involving twelve princesses and a lot of worn-out dancing slippers.  Situations are rarely as they appear, and Jasper would probably do much better if he just listened more often to the cat!

I graduated summa cum laude from the University of San Francisco, where I was an English major with a writing emphasis, and had multiple submissions accepted to the school’s literary magazine.  I currently work in marketing and social media with UniversalGiving, a San Francisco-based nonprofit.  I also run my own writing and book review blog, Tales of the Marvelous.  I am hoping to make The Wanderers my first published novel.  It is a stand-alone piece, but I believe there is high potential for a series.  The first 250 words are included below.

The Wanderers

No one mentioned mucking out stables when they told stories of wandering adventurers.  Jasper didn’t bring up that part himself, when he spun out tales of his exploits.  But it’s hard to ignore the reality when you’re in the middle of it, especially when that reality stinks.  Even now, when he was well-out of the stable, he could still detect a whiff of that particular slice of reality.  It was making an otherwise terrible meal even worse.

The food was excellent.  They had started with a fish course, gone on to baked ham, and were fast approaching cherries jubilee for dessert.  The bench was comfortable, the table didn’t slant, and the banquet hall was clean, if a little too full of stone pillars for Jasper’s taste, and far too large for a scant company of twenty.

The trouble was that company of twenty.  Almost everyone present was a servant, and every one of them served with terrified zeal, as though their lives depended on performing their duties to perfection—which they did.  By far the biggest trouble among many troubling people was the only one who wasn’t a servant, the magician sitting at the head of the table.  The meal had begun when Magician Hawkins swept into the banquet hall, violet velvet cloak billowing around him in what was clearly calculated grandeur, and he had dominated the room ever since.

Hawkins passed the meal making caustic comments.  Everyone laughed when he did, the sound echoing off the stone walls.

And…that’s 249 words!