The Other Boleyn Girl – Philippa Gregory

     I have apparently been on both a historical fiction kick and an Anne Boleyn kick. To be honest, I picked up The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn because I couldn’t find this particular book at the library. I found a copy at the local Goodwill though which made my day. I’ve seen the movie a half dozen times at least and wanted to see how the book compared. It’s much like what happened when I saw Memoirs of a Geisha. The book contains way more information than the movie and if you like the movie, you need to read the book. The movie got the major points correct but it left out many little details as well as having a small issue with the timing of events.

     This book tells the story of Anne Boleyn and Henry the VIII from the perspective of Anne’s sister, Mary. It begins with 12 year old Mary witnessing her uncle’s execution and believing he will be pardoned at the last minute. A few years pass with details of the family, Mary’s marriage, calling Anne back from France, and generally introducing their family and explaining how the Court works and why things are the way they are. Mary catches the attention of Henry and is moved out of her husband’s rooms and into her own so that she can be at the king’s disposal and any kids are obviously Henry’s. The rest of the book is a bit love story and a bit drama. When Mary gets pregnant and can’t sleep with the king until after she gives birth, her sister starts to catch Henry’s attention and eventually leads the story to it’s conclusion. There are about 15 years between the beginning of the novel and the end; be prepared at nearly 700 pages, it’s a long book.

     It seems from all the reviews I’ve read, this is a book that is either hated or loved, there is no in between with this one. It has gotten a lot of insults for not being accurate. Those people seem to be missing the point of it being historical fiction. Fiction (not real) being the key word. Also, this took place 500 years ago. There’s no way to know for certain the tiny little details of what happened back then, even the details of whether or not Mary was the youngest or oldest Boleyn is in dispute. The character of Mary was kind of a wimp and very naïve compared to Anne but she grows a backbone eventually. The writing was engaging and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. If you liked the movie or historical fiction in general, this book is definitely a must read. 

Mage Storms Trilogy – Mercedes Lackey

     I know I just complained copiously about a Mercedes Lackey book but this trilogy is one of the reasons her new books annoy me so much. I grew up reading this and some of her earlier works. I still reread them every couple of years and thoroughly enjoy them. She explores so many different themes in her early books that the new stuff is just fluff. There isn’t the same depth. It feels like she is just writing to meet her contractual obligations.

     These books take place after a disastrous war between the countries of Valdemar and Hardorn. The Valedemarans had to enlist the help of their traditional enemies, Karse. They had been fighting over the borders disguised as religious differences for several hundred years. Unfortunately for them, Hardorn’s king despised women in power and was poised to overrun both countries which were ruled by women unless they put aside their differences to defeat him.

     Storm Warning: This book starts with the first non-military ambassadors to Valdemar from Karse. The story concentrates on Karal, the secretary of the ambassador. The ambassador himself is an elderly mage-cleric and the close personal advisor of the ruler of Karse, Solaris, and Karal’s mentor. As usual, the author spends the first few chapters introducing the reader to the world and giving the reactions of the common people a.k.a Karal to this new alliance since the fall of Hardorn’s kingdom for anyone who hasn’t read the series. The protagonists get to deal with two challenges in this book. The legendary country-devouring Empire (simply known as The Empire) trying to add what’s left of Hardorn to itself and the Mage storms, the after-effects of a long ago cataclysm happening in reverse that disrupt the way magic works. The Empire runs mostly on magic and believe that the mage storms are a weapon sent from Valdemar to prevent them from adding to their territory. While Karal is making friends and trying to prevent people from being hurt by the storms and the Empire, they eventually come up with a temporary solution and that is where the first book ends. There are of course many more complications and manipulations from the Empire.

     Storm Rising: This book mostly concentrates on finding a permanent solution to the mage storms. There’s quite a bit of relationship development between Karal, his friends, and a potential love interest. Karal has been promoted to Ambassador because of his mentor’s murder. Unfortunately, his youth and the prejudices of the other councilors cause him so many issues that he begins working himself sick, trying to do too many things at once. Another main protagonist that is expanded on is the Grand Duke Tremaine. Tremaine is the heir to the leader of the Empire and is in charge of “pacifying” Hardorn. The mage storms however have disrupted communications and supplies from the Empire. After many attempts to contact his superiors for more supplies, he comes to believe that the Emperor is sacrificing his own men to test a magic disrupting weapon on the Valdemarans. Tremaine starts to consolidate his power and take over Hardorn for himself and his men. Despite his origins and occasional questionable morals, the people of Hardorn begin to accept him as their protector from hunger and mage-storm created monsters. Sensing that the Duke may be able to help them and knowing he’s left the Empire, Karal and his friends reach out to him for his help to solve the puzzle of the mage storms. Again a temporary solution is found at the end of the novel with half the characters recovering from trauma and the other half still desperately searching for a permanent solution.

     Storm Breaking: This book continues in the same vein as the others. With the help of the Valdemarans, Tremaine is magically bound to the land of Hardorn, so that he can do nothing that would harm the land or the people living, and then crowned King. Everyone is still frantically searching for a way to prevent or lessen the effects of the final cataclysmic mage storm. The only new real development to the story is the involvement of the country of Iftel. Iftel is fairly isolated and mysterious; there are few people allowed in and anyone who leaves never speaks about their homeland. We find out why when a delegation shows up at Tremaine’s court including gryphons and priests that appear to be the same as the ones that rule in Karse. They apparently are the descendents of another part of the ancient armies that were separated from the group that formed Karse. The author was really trying to drive home the fact that this cataclysm was going to be widespread and required much cooperation. Much soul searching is had, the final cataclysm finally happens, a solution is attempted, and the survivors are left tending their wounds and planning how to handle the aftermath.

     I cannot stress enough how much I enjoy these books. Mercedes Lackey explores the themes of religion and magic and science and how they fit together well. The insight she puts into her characters’ arguments of one versus the other or how the various religions interact and tolerance or not is so realistic. I’ve seen people make similar arguments for or against religions that hold different beliefs from their own. Some of it is hard to believe, such as the huge empire directly on the other side of a country that less than five or ten years ago was an ally not being known to any of the people in power in three different countries. Granted they are at about the pony express stage of long distance communication but that would be like Spain not knowing about Germany because France is between them. I also wish she had gone more into the history and future of Iftel. I want the long version of how they became the country they are. Unfortunately, after this series and the OwlMage Trilogy, the only future events that can be found are in short story collections written by other writers and edited or very occasionally written by Mercedes Lackey. 

Friday by Heinlein

I really like Heinlein as an author. Some of his themes cause me to pause but this particular book is devoid of those ones. It also happens to be one of my favorites.

It’s about an Artificial Person. A woman who has been genetically created but people who are genetically created are treated as though they are things. They have no rights and no privileges. They are raised as property for their owners. There are other types of “created” life in this society but the APs are the most mistreated because they look human and understand the injustice they suffer.

Anyway, back to Friday. This particular AP is owned by a specialized intrigue-type agency kind of like James Bond and MI-5 in the future. Friday is a message carrier getting sensitive information where it needs to be. Her employer has erased/covered up her status as an AP but she still suffers from self doubt and worry that she will be discovered and punished. During the this book, several world wide disasters occur while Friday is out on assignment/vacation. But the main focus is Friday and her perceptions of home, family, and love and the lengths people will go to gain and protect those things.

From my review, it sounds a little girly and romance novel-ish. It isn’t at all. Without going into specifics, it’s more periods of personal danger followed by “my family is missing how can I use my skills to find them”. The adventure aspect is well written, the “feeling” aspects are well written, the characters seem like real living breathing people. In general, Heinlein is just a great author. I cannot recommend reading his works enough. I read this book in one sitting every time I pick it up. It’s one of those books that I pick up every time I’m feeling sick because I know it by heart and it never fails to make me feel better.

Shanghai Girls by Lisa See

  Shanghai Girls is about a pair of sisters and their lives together. It starts in Shanghai with Pearl and May barely being out of teenage years and working as models for an advertisement painter. Their father arranges a marriage for them to a pair of brothers to cover his gambling debts and get the girls out of the country. Then the Japanese invade China and incidentally Shanghai and despite being warned the girls fail to immigrate in time. There’s a lot behind their not wanting leave Shanghai and the book goes into depth as to their reasoning but I’ll just summarize it as stubbornness and being young. Actually being stubborn is pretty much the cornerstone to all the girls triumphs and failures.

  Eventually the girls escape China and make it to America and their “husbands.” Despite wanting nothing more than to go home, they eventually decide to make the best of their situations. As the book progressed into their middle aged, working family future, I really started to sympathize with Pearl, the older sister. It seemed like she was always covering for her sister. While May was always unhappy, her motives and her actions, while hinted at,  were never truly defined. The woman who wrote this clearly had siblings because she got the dynamic completely right. The attitude of protectiveness and slight animosity and the ability to say the one thing that will either do the most damage or fix everything between the sisters was perfect.

  The book was moving and wonderful and I can see this as a book I’ll read many more times to come. The only problem was the ending. After a very dramatic last chapter, the book ends with an unnecessary cliff hanger. It was clearly written to be followed by a sequel and that always bothers me. A good book, game, or movie should not have to resort to that kind of emotional black mail. The sequels should want to be read on the strength of the previous installments. Now I’ll get off my soap box because I have to go add the sequel to my list of books to pick up from the library.