Blog – Page 87 – angelahighland.com

Victoria/Cumberland 2014 Trip, Day 4: Le Vent du Nord at the Cumberland Hotel, 3/11/2014

And now, O Internets, the second to last post of my Victoria and Cumberland vacation series–in which Dara, siestabear, maellenkleth, and I all had the supreme pleasure of getting to see Le Vent du Nord play at the Cumberland Hotel!

Previously in this particular adventure, Dara and I saw Le Vent in Victoria! And then we explored a bunch of rocks before Dara sang that night! And then we explored Cumberland and sang some more!

It’s truly fitting that we wound up the trip with one hell of a gig out of les gars. Because don’t get me wrong, you guys–I enjoyed the symphony show immensely, but even after only four shows’ worth of experience, I’m here to tell you that the best way to enjoy Le Vent du Nord is in a tiny, cozy venue. Preferably front row center. With a MAMMOTH.

April 19, 2014 by Angela Korra'ti

Main

Victoria/Cumberland 2014 Trip, Day 3-4: Cumberland!

Forgive me Internet, for I have delayed MIGHTILY in finishing up posting about my and Dara’s trip to Victoria and Cumberland in March!

This post therefore will be dedicated to Day 3 of our trip, which was mostly all about Dara and me heading northward from Victoria to Cumberland, and what happened once we got there and safely arrived at the abode of siestabear and maellenkleth!

Pictures of snow and trees and flags behind the fold!

April 18, 2014 by Angela Korra'ti

Other People's Books

Book review: Luna: La cité maudite, by Élodie Tirel

Luna: La cité maudite by Elodie Tirel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It’s a challenge to properly review this on the grounds that I’m very new to the French language–and this was the first book I tried to read in order to practice my reading comprehension with Quebecois French! So I have to comment on this book with the caveat that my understanding of it is therefore decidedly imperfect.

But that said, I was very pleased to be able to follow the broad strokes of the plot even though I missed a lot of the detail. Right out of the gate we start with a prologue in which the elf Ambrethil, a slave of the drow, is giving birth to a child. She’s scared out of her wits that her child will be born half-drow and a girl, which will run a huge risk of the baby being raised in the evil cult of the spider goddess Lloth. Ambrethil will have exactly NONE of this, so she arranges to have her baby smuggled out of the drow city, Rhasgarrok.

Commence the A plot, fast-forwarding twelve years, to when our young heroine Luna is being raised by wolves. Like ya DO. Her only bipedal family figure is a solitary mage, Le Marécageux, who taught her how to speak, read, and write. When her adoptive wolf pack is attacked and apparently wiped out by a drow attacker, Luna learns the truth of her origins from Le Marécageux, and resolves to venture into Rhasgarrok in search of her mother.

Meanwhile, over in plot B, the warrior Darkhan is also infiltrating Rhasgarrok on a mission of his own. He’s promptly captured by the sorceress Oloraé, who forces him to become a gladiator. Again, like ya DO.

I was entirely unsurprised that plot A and plot B eventually intersected, but was pleasantly surprised by what transpired then. Luna, despite her initial introduction being quite cliched (because of course she’s unbelievably beautiful and looks exactly like her mother, yadda yadda yadda), was quite a bit more mature and clever than Darkhan was willing to give her initial credit for. Sure, the whole “oh this sweet innocent young thing I must protect from the awful things in this city” thing is another heavily used trope, but Luna and Darkhan both carried it out in a surprisingly likeable fashion. Which is the overall thing about this book; it uses a lot of heavily used tropes, but it does it surprisingly charmingly.

And, despite how my ability to follow the French was rough at best, I was able to pick up on how there’s some surprisingly grim bits with Darkhan in the gladiatorial bouts. My rough impression of the interactions between Darkhan and Oloraé suggested there was probably innueundo there, too. But overall this certainly seemed appropriately written for a YA audience.

So if you’re an Anglophone looking to practice your French, this would be a fun way to do it. I’ll be checking out more books in the series, since they’re digitally available to US customers on a few different sites. I’ll give this one four stars, mostly out of pleasure for the language practice, but also for finding it generally charming.

View all my reviews

April 18, 2014 by Angela Korra'ti

Boosting the Signal

Boosting the Signal: The Sergeant’s Lady and A Marriage of Inconvenience, by Susanna Fraser

It is my distinct pleasure to feature Susanna Fraser on Boosting the Signal today. Some of you may have seen me post about Susanna before, since she’s a fellow Carina Press author–and she’s also one of the authors that falls squarely into the somewhat narrow bracket of historical romances I like to read! I have read both of the books we’ll be featuring today, Regency-era romances, and was very pleased to learn in particular that Susanna is a fellow Browncoat. If you check out The Sergeant’s Lady, see if you can spot the same Firefly reference I did!

Also–be advised that A Marriage of Inconvenience actually is a prequel to The Sergeant’s Lady, even though it came out later. So I’d recommend reading them in reverse order.

And without further ado, here’s Anna Wright-Gordon, the sister of the hero of A Marriage of Inconvenience. At the halfway point of her brother’s story, she has a complaint!

The Sergeant’s Lady

My brother James likes to think he knows everything. When I was younger, I believed it was true. Of course to a little girl of 5, a 10-year-old brother, especially a kind and affectionate one, will seem quite splendid and wise. He taught me my letters and gave me my first riding lessons on his old pony, years before Papa thought I was ready.

But I’m 19 now, and he still cannot accept that I’m a grown woman who knows her own mind and heart. He thinks I am mad to marry Sebastian Arrington on so short an acquaintance, that I cannot truly know him. Well, I know enough! I know that he is nothing like any other man I know. He is neither frivolous youth nor callous rake, which is enough to set him apart from most of the gentlemen who attempted to court me during my Season. Sebastian is serious, even grave, and the way he watches me, so hungry and fascinated and almost worshipful, makes me feel honored and cherished in a way I’ve never experienced before.

James himself said I should marry an officer, a diplomat, or a politician–someone whose career I can help to advance. I don’t know how he can complain when I am only following his advice. And it’s all very well of him to say that if Sebastian and I truly love each other, we would be willing to wait a year or two. Has he forgotten that we are at war, and that Sebastian must return to his regiment on the Peninsula next month? Surely James knows how short and uncertain life is. What if Sebastian…dies, and we never had the chance to live together as husband and wife?

A Marriage of Inconvenience

And I know something about James that he has yet to discover: he is going to marry Sebastian’s cousin Lucy Jones. I don’t think he even realizes how he watches her every time she enters the room, nor how he spends more time at her side than with anyone else. But I do, and so do our aunt and uncle. They think that James could do better than to marry a poor relation with no fortune at all. Yet while it’s true that he could, James’s own fortune is so large that he doesn’t need a wife with money, so I think he should choose a woman who will make him happy. And Miss Jones will. He needs someone with her peace, quietness, and calm, or he will never develop any of those qualities himself.

Best of all, once he marries Lucy and I marry Sebastian, our families will be doubly connected, and we will be so much in each other’s company. No matter how much James exasperates me, I don’t want to drift apart from him now that we are both grown. He is the best of brothers, after all. I’ll never forget the pony.

You can read James’s story in A Marriage of Inconvenience, and Anna’s further adventures are found in The Sergeant’s Lady.

Buy A Marriage of Inconvenience: Carina Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

Buy The Sergeant’s Lady: Carina Press | Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo

Follow the Author On: Official Site | Blog | Twitter | Facebook

April 18, 2014 by Angela Korra'ti

Movies

Movie review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Gracious, that was highly satisfying!

I’ve heard rumors that in Germany the trailers for this movie have been playing it up as a Black Widow movie that just happens to also include Captain America. I’m really rather okay with that, because goddamn, Black Widow laid down her awesome all over this plot. Which is not to say that the Cap and Nick Fury weren’t also awesome–because they were.

And I gotta admit, although I bailed on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. after episode 6, I’m intrigued enough by what this movie did to the overall universe that I’m thinking I’ll have to get caught up on the story. Five or six different people have already told me that GOD YES YOU NEED TO GET CAUGHT UP. So I’ll see what I can do about that.

Spoilers behind the fold!

April 14, 2014 by Angela Korra'ti

Boosting the Signal

Boosting the Signal: Much Ado in Montana, by M.M. Justus

M.M. Justus is a fellow indie writer in the Pacific Northwest, who has a line of time-travel related romances she’s been deploying for sale. Much Ado in Montana, however, is her first contemporary!

Much Ado in Montana

Hello, folks. I’m Dr. Swanson, or, as most folks here in Campbell, Montana, call me, Dr. Samuel. I’ve been the doctor here for donkey’s years–since, well, for longer than most people can remember. Campbell’s not a big place, or a fancy one, and we’re pretty much out in the back of beyond. As the young people are fond of complaining, we’re a two-hour drive from the nearest mall. But we’re smack in the middle of God’s country, surrounded by wilderness, with the snowcapped Cabinet Mountains watching over us, and there’s no better place to be.

Kalispell’s where that mall is, not that anyone with any sense cares. It’s where the nearest hospital is, too. So when it comes to medical care, I’m the only horse in town.

Like I said, I love it here. My wife grew up here, and my son, and I wouldn’t go anywhere else. People here in Campbell are the salt of the earth, and I’ve loved doctoring ’em for, well, donkey’s years.

My son Timothy, on the other hand…

He went off to Seattle to the University of Washington to go to medical school, just like his old man, and graduated with honors. I couldn’t be more proud of him. I couldn’t wait for him to come back home and work with me, and take over my practice someday.

But as soon as he saw the bright lights of Seattle, he told me he didn’t want to come back. He’s young, and smart, and he can work anywhere he wants to. He needed some time to get the wanderlust out of his system.

But the thing is, I’m getting old. And no one who hasn’t grown up here is going to stick. We found that one out the hard way. And I’m pretty sure–no, I’m not going to pussyfoot around it–I know there’s something wrong. I can’t remember like I used to. Things happen and I can’t figure out how. Sometimes I’m not even sure how I got somewhere. My lovely Avis is worried about me, too, and I can’t do that to her.

But I can’t leave the good people of Campbell without a doctor, either.

Tim’s coming home for my seventy-fifth birthday party in a few weeks. I can’t wait to see him, and I’m not the only one. His buddy Jack, who teaches science at the high school and spends his summers out in eastern Montana digging dinosaur bones, has been telling everyone how much he’s looking forward to seeing Tim again, too. So have most of the girls in town, from what I understand, except for little Becky Thorstein, but then she’s sweet on Jack. Well, Tim is a handsome young man. Takes after his father that way, he does.

What was I saying? Yes? Oh, yes. The girls and Tim. I know one girl in particular who’s got to be looking forward to seeing him again–our pretty young town librarian, Tara Hillerman.

They’ve been sweet on each other all their lives, but something happened while they were both away at college. No one would ever tell me what. I suppose they thought it wasn’t any of my business, but whatever it was it must have caused a world of hurt.

Well, it’s time for them to kiss and make up. It’s time for Timothy to settle down. There’s nowhere else he should be doing it. And, I bet, no one but Tara he’d want to do it with.

What was I saying? Oh. Well, he does want to come home, you know. He just doesn’t know it yet.

Buy the Book: Amazon | Smashwords

Follow the Author On: Facebook | Twitter | Google+ | Official site

April 11, 2014 by Angela Korra'ti

Boosting the Signal

Boosting the Signal: Wreck of the Nebula Dream, by Veronica Scott

Veronica Scott is one of my fellow authors from the Here Be Magic crowd at Carina Press! She writes the Egyptian Gods series for Carina, but she’s also got some indie work, and this post is about one of those! Wreck of the Nebula Dream is SF adventure with a side helping of romance, and if you’re a fan of the lore of the Titanic sinking, you may well find this book to your tastes–because it draws a lot of inspiration from that. This book won awards in 2013, and got a lot of highly favorable commentary from the SFR (science fiction romance) community.

You don’t need to stretch much to figure out what her hero’s goal is in this story: save lives. Check it out!

Wreck of the Nebula Dream

Captain Nick Jameson, Sectors Special Forces, reporting as ordered for the interview. I don’t usually talk about that time on the Nebula Dream–I think pretty much everyone in the Sectors knows the story of how she was the newest, most luxurious spaceliner ever built, destroyed on her maiden voyage, with a huge loss of life. I happened to be the right guy, in the wrong place – what was a solder like me doing hobnobbing with the rich and high powered on such a ship, you may ask? Asked myself that, more than once on the first few days of the voyage. Usually when I was getting drunk in my cabin, trying to blot out the memories of my last disaster of a mission. If the ship’s Second Officer hadn’t given me a tour, trying to impress me with the new tech, if I hadn’t met Mara Lyrae, first on the shuttle and then again in the Casino…well, I might have opted for finishing the trip in cryo sleep and then where would we all be? Dead or worse, that’s where.

Mara’s pretty amazing. She was a Vice President for Loxton Galactic Shipping at the time, doing big business deals, wheeling and dealing across the Sectors. But the moment the ship was in trouble, she was right there, brave as any soldier I ever served with, ready to do what had to be done to save lives. I tried to get her off in a lifeboat right after the crash but she wasn’t having any of that, no, sir. Mara is stubborn. There were some kids trapped in a cabin close to hers up on the next level and she wasn’t leaving the Nebula Dream without them. We had some pretty tense moments rescuing them, let me tell you.

Couldn’t have done it without Khevan, member of the D’nvannae Brotherhood. He’s just as scary smart and strong as the legends say those guys are, with a healthy dose of spooky stuff going on between him and the Red Lady his order serves. I don’t know if she’s a goddess or an alien or what she is, but she came through when we needed her. Of course then she tried to kill poor Khevan because she was mad at him but that’s another story. Talk to him about that.

Then there was Twilka, the Socialite. I gotta say I thought Twilka was going to be dead weight for my little group. Worse than the two kids! Spoiled rich girl, totally in her own version of reality, went off looking for her jewelry when we had to risk going down into the hold to find some gear I needed. But, she did pull her weight later when events demanded she step up. I’ve got no complaints about her and if she ever needs my help, I’ll be there.

Lady Damais? I uh, I still can’t talk about her, not in any detail. What she did for me, for all of us that night on the Nebula Dream, well, there are no words. I know she was an old lady, pretty ill by all the signs, but she had more guts than many a soldier I’ve served with.

So those were the people I was directly responsible for, while we were running around the Nebula Dream that night. The AI was trying to hold her together for me, maintain air and artificial gravity levels where I needed to be. My challenges? Find my gear, call for help, keep us alive till help arrived, fight off the enemy forces that showed up, ask Mara to have dinner with me if we actually did survive…yeah, long night. Not to mention various other surprises and developments that kept getting thrown at us. If only there’d been enough lifeboats. Lot of “if only” about the wreck.

Later some reporter told me about a shipwreck in ancient times, on Old Earth, where a lot of good people didn’t make it either. The Titanic, I think? Looked it up one day, sounds like her officers and a lot of brave people did the best they could too, against overwhelming circumstances. Freezing ocean or freezing outer space, innocent men, women and children in harm’s way, too many lost.

The story for WRECK OF THE NEBULA DREAM, a 2013 SFR Galaxy Award and Laurel Wreath Winner:

Traveling unexpectedly aboard the luxury liner Nebula Dream on its maiden voyage across the galaxy, Sectors Special Forces Captain Nick Jameson is ready for ten relaxing days, and hoping to forget his last disastrous mission behind enemy lines. All his plans vaporize when the ship suffers a wreck of Titanic proportions. Captain and crew abandon ship, leaving the 8000 passengers stranded without enough lifeboats and drifting unarmed in enemy territory. Aided by Mara, Nick must find a way off the doomed ship for himself and other innocent people before deadly enemy forces reach them or the ship’s malfunctioning engines finish ticking down to self destruction.

But can Nick conquer the demons from his past that tell him he’ll fail these innocent people just as he failed to save his Special Forces team? Will he outpace his own doubts to win this vital race against time?

Follow the Author On: Facebook | Twitter | Official site

April 11, 2014 by Angela Korra'ti

Older Posts

Newer Posts