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).

Visiting Stonehenge

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fiction Friday10 Comments

With my trip to England this month, I thought it would be fun to share again my reflection on a past visit–specifically, to Stonehenge.  I don’t plan to head out that way this time, but here’s a story about the last time I was there.

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I swear Stonehenge was laughing at us.

Not literally, of course, I don’t mean it like that.  But in a metaphorical, immense, stony kind of way, Stonehenge was definitely laughing.

I think Stonehenge is maybe about an hour or two bus ride outside of London.  I say “bus ride” because I think tour buses are all that go there; tour buses and druids, maybe.  I was on a tour bus when I went there.  Tour buses usually make me sleepy, which is why I’m not so sure about the time length to get there.  I woke up quick when we got there though.  Stonehenge is not something to be slept through.

Continue reading “Visiting Stonehenge” →

Keep Flying with Firefly

On By cherylmahoneyIn Reviews, Science Fiction5 Comments

If you know anything about Joss Whedon’s Firefly, then you know that it ended much too soon.  There are 14 TV episodes and one movie, Serenity, and what exists is wonderful–but also makes it pretty clear that there was meant to be a much longer story arc, if only the show hadn’t been canceled.  With that context, you’ll understand why I was excited to hear there are Firefly graphic novels, written by Whedon.  Maybe some of those unexplained mysteries and lingering plot threads would be resolved!

So were they?  Well…yes and no.

To give you just a little Firefly context, it’s a space western, set in a future where humanity has left Earth and spread to new worlds–rich at the center, scraping along on the frontier.  Mal is the captain of Serenity, a Firefly-class spaceship, and leads a group of more-and-less misfits, theoretically merchants but not above smuggling or stealing–anything to keep flying.

Don’t read the graphic novels unless you’ve seen the show and the movie–there are spoilers, and possibly more important, there just isn’t much context provided in the novels.  So from here out, I’ll assume that you know the show.

The three graphic novels I read are Vol. 1: Those Left Behind, Vol. 2: Better Days, and The Shepherd’s Tale.  Don’t be fooled by the volume numbers–Better Days is chronologically first, though the plots aren’t directly related.

Better Days and Those Left Behind are essentially two new Firefly adventures, set between the TV show and Serenity.  In BD, the crew gets unexpectedly rich, and then has to figure out what to do when they aren’t scraping to get by.  My favorite part was seeing each character’s dream of what a better life would be.  And of course, complications ensue.  I found the ending confusing, though at least the poor plot conclusion is followed by a sort of epilogue with Mal and Inara that was sweet.  TLB is set closer to Serenity, and is mostly interesting because it explores why Inara and the Shepherd left the ship.  It does the most to fill in a missing chapter (though a couple more chapters wouldn’t have hurt!)

The Shepherd’s Tale had me the most excited.  I think he’s the one who got burned worst by the early cancellation of the show, because it’s obvious that he has a secret past they meant to reveal gradually–and then never had time for.  This book does reveal a lot–but left me wanting to know so much more.  There are some revelations, though at the same time some of it feels obvious once you hear it.  And I still don’t understand what exactly happened in “Safe,” when the Alliance seemed awfully respectful of him.

I do love the way TST is told, though.  It’s chronologically backwards.  We start at Serenity, then jump to a moment that could have been in the TV show, then jump to a moment before that and a moment before that…all the way back to childhood.  Each transition is tied together by a phrase or an action–Kaylee tells him, “You’re gonna come with us,” and from there he flashes to an earlier moment hearing that phrase.  It moves like memory, and it’s a neat way to tell the story–although it takes a little effort to follow.  I went through it again backwards after I got to the end.

I should also comment that I loved the artwork in BD and TLB.  There are beautiful drawings, and the characters look perfect.  TST is no doubt good artwork for its kind, but it’s a more minimalist, cartoon-style that doesn’t appeal to me as well.

All in all, if you like the series these are well-worth reading to get a couple more adventures and answer a few questions.  There are apparently a few more comics floating out there too, but I’m not sure how to get them and they don’t look like they’re going to resolve my remaining questions anyway.  You see, I still want more about the Shepherd’s past, and something post-Serenity to finally resolve the Mal/Inara romance, and also something to reveal that a certain character’s death was all a hideous mistake and never really happened.  Which is kind of where I was before I read these three.

Oh well.  At least I got a few more Firefly adventures.

Other reviews:
Ramblings of a Semi-Housewife
Stories Geek
Anyone else with a review, Firefly fans?

Quotable L. M. Montgomery

On By cherylmahoneyIn Quotable2 Comments

“The one all-important canon of literature: ‘Thou shalt not write a dull book.’ “

– Paraphrased from L. M. Montgomery

Classic Review: Ella Enchanted

On By cherylmahoneyIn Fantasy, Juvenile, ReviewsLeave a comment

I’ve reviewed a lot of retold fairy tales on this blog.  One of the first was Ella Enchanted, and I still think it’s one of the best!

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Cinderella, in her traditional form, is a character who drives me absolutely up the wall.  Come on, woman—I know you lived in a pre-feminist culture, but don’t you have any backbone at all?  Your life’s awful—so do something about it!  And the fairy godmother—where was she all these years while Ella was being mistreated?  The fairy only shows up when the girl wants to go to a party?  (Because obviously that’s something of paramount importance.)

But, like all great fairy tales, Cinderella does have that spark of eternal appeal.  Who can’t relate to the dream of being lifted out of your ordinary or even unpleasant life, because that one person (the prince, the book editor, the boss for the dream job, the head of the club…fill in your own relevant personality) sees you and says, yes, you’re special above all others.  That’s the core of Cinderella.  But Cinderella herself is irritating.

So when you can take that eternal spark and improve on the character and the plausibility—well, as I said when discussing Wildwood Dancing, then you’ve got something.  And Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine is one of the best retellings of Cinderella I’ve ever read.

Ella is cursed at her christening—if anyone gives her a command (from “eat this cake” to “go jump off a roof”) she has to obey it.  And with that one brilliant stroke, Levine has a heroine who, like the traditional Cinderella, does everything her wicked stepfamily tells her to do—but who also has a mind of her own.  No one could accuse Levine’s Ella of lacking backbone.  She obeys, but I don’t think I’d describe her as obedient.  She can think for herself and, as much as she can around the limits of her curse, takes control of her own life.

There’s a good plot, with ogres and adventures and a kind of quest in Ella’s search for a way to overcome her curse, but I think what mostly stands out in my mind are the characters.  Ella, of course.  And her fairy godmothers (both of them), her more-than-usually complex wicked stepfamily, her absentee father, and, of course, Prince Charmont—because what’s a Cinderella story without a true love, right?

Ella Enchanted probably belongs in the juvenile category, rather than young adult.  But, kind of like the original Cinderella, it has a wide appeal, even if you’re not really the target age group.

I unfortunately can’t quite just ignore the movie here.  There is one, but let’s all just pretend that there isn’t.  Don’t see it.  Really.  I did, and I think I spent most of it twitching and saying, “No, no, no, that’s wrong.”  Besides getting the details wrong, it got the spirit wrong, and while I can sometimes forgive a movie for changing the facts a little, it’s much harder to forgive a movie for maiming of the spirit of a story.

Because what Ella Enchanted really is is a very practical, plausible (once you accept the existence of magic) retelling of Cinderella.  The movie isn’t.  But the book is, and it’s well-worth the read.

Author’s site: http://www.gailcarsonlevine.com/

Saturday Snapshot: Lyrics as Art

On By cherylmahoneyIn Saturday Snapshot14 Comments

I was looking around for inspiration this week, and decided on my own walls.  I like all of my art to have a story.  A few have songs, and I thought I’d share those today.  Sort of meldings of art mediums.

These two pictures were a gift from a friend, who got them from her friend who bought them from an artist selling them by the Thames.  The hard-to-read lyric in the middle (sorry for the glare!) is “Part of me still has never come back from London,” from the beautiful song by Barry Manilow, “London.”  And it’s true–I went to London when I was sixteen, and part of me has never come back.  I suppose that’s why I’ve been dreaming of getting back ever since.  I don’t plan to ever move there; I have too many ties on this side of the ocean.  But part of me has never left London.

I bought this poster because I wanted to put up the song quote.  I had to hunt quite a bit for a good picture of the sky (harder to find than you’d think).  The line is from “A Piece of Sky,” a song from Yentil, but what counts for me is that Michael Crawford put it on his A Touch of Music in the Night CD.  The song is all about realizing that there’s a bigger, broader world out there, and deciding to go out and find it, to believe that we don’t have to settle for less, and that we can chase our dreams.  It’s a good thing to be reminded of now and then.

And just to tie it together, going to London is definitely a dream I chase. 🙂

Check out At Home with Books for more Saturday Snapshots!