A Study in Silks

            What if Sherlock Holmes had a younger sister who decided to run off with a gypsy that had magical powers? What if they had a daughter that had all the wits of her Holmes relatives and all the magic of her father's kin? What if that daughter then had to enter "polite" society and helped her famous uncle on some of his cases?

            That is the basic idea of this steam punk Victorian novel. In this version of London, the world is controlled by the powerful steam barons who decide who gets power and who dies alone on the street. Needless to say they hate anyone that can use magic because magic is the one thing that can undermine their control on their world. Enter Evelina Cooper. Evelina is the niece of the great Sherlock Holmes, and she can do magic. She also has some control over metal and the ability to control "spirits" by placing them in the metal creations she creates. Evelina must hide this gift from everyone because the steam barons would try to use her magic for their own ends, placing her forever in a laboratory to perform diabolical experiments on her.

            There is a love triangle going on between her, the son of a prominent family friend named Tobias and the boy from her past, Nick.

            Our story begins with the death of a maid. Evelina feels that as the niece of Sherlock Holmes she should be able to find out the culprit and prove herself worthy of her mother's family. She does solve the murder, but I'm not going to tell you who did it! Quite an enjoyable story.

            This is the first in a series of three with a short story collection published recently. I am currently reading the second one. It is available on Nook and Kindle as well as in paperback form.

An explanation of High Fantasy

I got to thinking today that many of the authors that I will be reviewing in my "epic" fantasy section return to their world for more stories over the course of years. Some of these sequel series I have read, some I have not. Some I tried to read and did not like, but that doesn't mean that you won't. I've decided that if there are additional books connected to the ones I review I will indicate it with an * next to the title. Then if you want to read more books about that world, you can.  

           

Raising Dragons

This series I admit dances a fine line between "sacrilegious" and good clean fantasy. In the series 

(which is a young adult fantasy series), the main characters are mostly descended from dragons that were miraculously turned into humans during the reign of King Arthur. These dragon children have magical abilities such as the ability to breathe fire and wings so they can fly. Where it strays into dangerous territory is that it is a Christian fantasy. The characters follow God and the Bible and all the "magic" is explained off as miracles. However, despite this Davis really respects the Bible and uses his fantastical characters to explain Biblical truths. For instance, Bonnie, the girl with wings, is a beautiful character who brings the other hero, Billy, to God through her testimony. After all there are other fantasy books that take the Bible and basically do their own weird thing with it or try to toot a "all paths lead to God" philosophy. This series does not do that. It also drifts a little into the myth of Arthur and the idea that he will "return" when the world needs him. In the book, Billy's father was adopted by King Arthur after he became a human, so Billy is Arthur's grandson and is able to wield the ancient sword Excalibur and use its power. (Which is again explained as a miraculous angelic sword and that's why it appears to have magical powers). There is also a good lesson on the negative effects of racism. The main antagonists of the plot are the "Slayers." These so called knights decided long ago that dragons were evil and had to be eradicated from the earth. They have spent the last several centuries seeking out the original dragons and those of draconian descent and killing them. For this reason the children are forced to hide their draconian powers so that the slayers don't see them. For instance, Bonnie always wears a backpack to hide her "birth defect". There are four books in the original series, plus Davis has written two sequel series. All of the books are excellent reads and one of the few series that has a lot of "meat" to the plot line. The book is available through kindle, nook, and trade paperback.

The Dragon and the George

What I love about this book is it is funny as well as a great fantasy novel. It is actually the first book in a series called "the dragon knight" but the book really stands alone. So many of these fantasy books leave you on a cliffhanger so you have to read the next book to find out what happens. Not so with this series. Every book in the series concludes its action within the plot of the book. The rest of the series is good, but this is by far the best one and the only one I've read more than once. (Which considering that I hardly ever reread books is a compliment).
The story follows Jim Eckrett, a man from our world that basically gets on the wrong side of a science experience and ends up in an alternate version of medieval England. Dr. Grottwold accidentally sends Jim's fiancee, Angie, into a world with "dragons." Grottwold attempts to just send Jim's "spirit" after Angie, but he ends up sending him into the body of a huge dragon named Gorbash. This science experiment upsets the natural balance between the magical powers of this alternate world and the Dark Powers end up kidnapping Angie. Jim must then gather together a group of misfits to rescue Angie and save the world. These include the wizard Carolinus, Sir Brian, a talking wolf named Aragh, an archer named Dafydd, and Danielle who is the daughter of a Robin Hood like character.
The humor in this book comes from the "fish out of water" aspects that Jim experiences whilst in this world. He is a modern man transported to a medieval world and does not immediately grasp concepts that are considered commonplace to the surrounding community. This provides some funny moments as he tries to navigate this strange world and survive long enough to rescue Angie.
If you are interested in reading the book, Amazon kindle and Barnes and Noble nook do provide it digitally. You can also get the book used from these sellers as well.

Elen Sila Lumenn' Omentielvo

The above quote comes from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Fellowship of the Ring. Elen Sila Lumenn' Omentielvo is Elvish for "a star shines on the hour of our meeting." 
My user name also comes from Middle Earth, and I think I just admitted to being a Ringer, or Lord of the Rings fan. Luthien, I feel, is one of the best characters in all of Middle Earth. In The Fellowship of the Ring, Aragorn tells her story to the hobbits at Weathertop, but her story is written in more detail in The Silmarillion. Luthien fell in love with Beren, a mortal man. When Beren asked for her hand, her father said only if he could bring him one of the Simarils. To get one of these priceless jewels, Beren and Luthien stole into the fortress of Morgoth, basically Tolkien's equivalent of Satan. They steal one of the Simarils, but a huge wolf manages to bite off Beren's hand and they return to her father. Some time later, Beren actually dies and Luthien dies of a broken heart. Her grief at losing Beren prompts Illuvater, or God, to grant Beren a second life and to allow Luthein to "leave the world" when she dies so that she can be with Beren. (If an elf was killed they lingered on in Valinor whereas mortals "left the world" for heaven). 
Tauriel comes from Peter Jackson's Hobbit trilogy and was not part of Tolkien's orignal mythology at all. But unlike a majority of my fellow Ringers, I never had a problem with her. I think she's cool and can hold her own in a fight. I guess the major complaint that most people have is her relationship with Kili. Although I do agree that it was not needed, it did not bother me quite so much. After all if Kili came knocking on my door...
So that being said, I want you to know that this will not be a blog completely about Middle Earth. Other blogs already do a wonderful job doing that. Tolkien and his world will be mentioned and probably even be blogged on a couple of times, but it will not be my complete focus. Basically, I want this blog to be a review of fantasy books and movies with a little bit of creative writing maybe thrown in for good measure. I warn you up front that many of the books and movies I tell you about may not be readily available, being out of print. But who knows? Maybe if enough people ask they will put it back in print :). 
So why fantasy? I was first introduced to fantasy through Disney and the fairy tale books of my childhood. I have almost completely memorized 95% of the stories in the University Press' Bookshelf for Boys and Girls volume 2: Folk and Fairy Tales. As I grew older, I graduated onto more advanced fantasy tales and have been a lover ever since. I am well aware that these stories are not "real life" and do not pertain to real life problems, but I give you the same answer I gave some one else who said that to me. I live in real life, and it usually stinks. If I can escape for a few hours into a world where boy always gets girl, heroes always win, and villains are always vanquished, I'm happy. 
This blog will be divided into sub categories. Movies will be in a class of its own. The books will be divided into "High or Epic fantasy", "Murder Mysteries", "Teen or Junior", "Fairy Tales"and "Other" for all the books that do not fit into the above categories. I hope you enjoy reading.