Death of a Master "In our imaginations we can go anywhere. Travel with me to Redwall in Mossflower country."

British author Brian Jacques, who wrote the "Redwall" (Penguin) adventure series, died of a sudden heart attack on February 5 in Liverpool, England. He was 71.

School Library Journal reports that Roque Crew (Penguin, 2011), the 22nd book in the series, is scheduled for release on May 3. This final book is about the murderous and evil Razzid Wearat (vermin pirate) and his crew of vermin, who are on a mission to seize Redwall Abbey.

According to Jane Henderson, Post/Dispatch Book editor, Jacques (pronounced "jakes"), a former Liverpool longshoreman, who left formal schooling at age 15, conveys a personal and professional bent toward nostalgia that was not uncommon in the early, great British fantasy writers such as Lewis Carroll and J. M. Barrie.

Brian, who grew up in Orwell Road, Kirkdale championed childrens literacy throughout his life and created the Brian Jacques Literary Award to inspire and reward talent.

When asked why so many good fantasy writers come from Great Britain he supposed that perhaps Americans watch too much TV. (He might have benefited, however, when his Redwall books were made into a TV series.)

He also said that good British writers "have a command of language. The heroes don't say 'gee, golly ' He criticized America's tendency to make "beautiful childhood stories into Disney abominations. If you can just stick to the integrity of the thing."

Jacques fine-tuned his first "Redwall" yarn while reading to blind students. He carefully described banquets and feasts (hunger during World War II made him interested in details about food) and he takes the time -- often about 400 pages -- to create singular personalities and accents for the animals and include songs, riddles and poems. As the needs of this first audience encouraged Jacques to describe his newly created world as vividly as possible; wisely, he retained the same detail and drama when the stories were written down. Their quality was recognized by a former English teacher, Alan Durband, who sent them to a publisher without telling Jacques and secured him a contract.

Jacques was a natural storyteller. He told touching stories of the responses he got from young readers, with tears springing to his eyes. He revelled in being recognized within Liverpool.

His favorite book: "Wind in the Willows" by Kenneth Grahame.

Fun Vacation Reading

I just came back from a week of vacation. I did not go to a beach and get sand in my books. In fact I did not even get into a pool. But I had a wonderful time in Flagstaff, Arizona with my husband Steve. We stayed at a wonderful Embassey Suite with a great staff. It was cool and rainy...Flagstaff is at 7200 feet. And it is the monsoon season in Arizona. I was there for three days of quilt classes with Sharon Schamber. She taught her method of machine applique and two days of machine quilting. She is a wonderful quilter and an even better teacher. I really loved her classes. This year she won $100,000 prize for one of her quilts. She also won bet of show and a master quilt prize this year. Very few people ever get a masters quilt prize. This is a picture of here quilt that won Sharon the master's category prize.

Now on to the topic of my blog. I brought four books. Two I have read before and two I have not read. I started with one of the one's I have read before. A Mercedes Lackey book titled "Owlflight." The action begins during the recovery of Valdemar from the traumatic events of the Mage Storms trilogy completed by Storm Breaking (1996). The story is basically about the coming-of-age of Keisha, an untrained healer in a remote village who is trying to care for her people without going mad, and Darian, a young mage turned Hawkbrother who has figured in other Valdemar yarns. Together, Keisha and Darian take active part in the rebuilding of Valdemar.

After finishing this middle book in a trilogy, I tried starting each of my other books. One was even a Lackey book set in Valdemar....but none of them worked for me, so it was a half a block east of my hotel was the savior of all reader: Barnes and Noble. Now if I was from Flagstaff I would have gone to their wonderful beautiful public library, but I do not pay taxes in Flagstaff, so it was off to the bookstore. I ended up picking up first book in a trilogy by Lackey : Oathbound. Bound by oath to each other and to the Goddess, the swordswoman Tarma and the wizard Kethry begin a joint career as mercenaries in the constant struggle for justice in a land where demons come in human and not-so-human forms. The author of the "Heroes of Valdemar" trilogy begins a new series involving a pair of likeable, savvy heroines. Sword and sorcery with warmth and humor make this a story that will appeal to most fantasy fans.

I am almost done with oathbound. So this proves that you can never have enough books or enough bookstores or libraries when you are on vacation.

sue

Where Dreams Took Me

I just finished the second in the Elizabeth Knox duet "Dreamhunter" and "Dreamquake". These books are set in a world where select people can enter "The Place" and find dreams of every kind to share with others for a fee, a fifteen-year-old girl, Laura, is training to be a dreamhunter when her father disappears, leaving her to carry on his mysterious mission. By the beginning of the second book, Laura is more involved with what she perceives as her fathers wishes. While investigating the government's involvement in the disappearance of her father, Tziga Hame, and the decline of the art of projecting dreams, dreamhunter Laura learns more about "The Place."

In the second book, I began to worry for Laura's sanity. She lives with her aunt and uncle, her aunt being a renowned dreamhunter and rather self-involved. Her uncle is very supportive and both treat Laura as equal to their own daughter Rose. As the story evolves, Laura makes some choices I would not want for her if I were her mother, but she is a very strong willed and also self-involved. (I think selfishness is a requirement for a dreamhunter.) Rose, however, is also very strong willed, but she is also a very compassionate and thoughtful person. At least as thoughtful as a spoiled rich aristocrat can be. As the book comes to an end, though the story shows who has the true strength and who has to be babied.

I thought they were great teenage characters, very believable. The plot had a lot of twists to which I needed to pay attention in order to keep up. A couple of times I had to go back and find where the fork in the plot line had caught me off guard. Although this series is over, I will look for more books by Elizabeth Knox with anticipation.

connie

Harry Potter Insteads

I'm sure most everyone who was interested has read or is reading the new Harry Potter. After my disappointment in the latest movie, I was not particularly overwhelmed with anxiety about getting my copy. (Okay, it's been a few days since I first wrote this and I've listened to it all and I'm not saying a word.) I am thinking it is just more of the same old same old. For heaven sake, how many time can Harry come to the edge of death without going over. Yes, I'll read it, but there are others I will get to first. (I read "Golden" by Cameron Dokey and [blush] a romance first.)

If you don't want to be just another Harry Potter sheep (baa). Here are a few suggestions.


The Alchemyst by Michael Scott He holds the secret that can end the world.
The truth: Nicholas Flamel was born in Paris on September 28, 1330. Nearly 700 years later, he is acknowledged as the greatest Alchemyst of his day. It is said that he discovered the secret of eternal life.
The records show that he died in 1418.
But his tomb is empty. (I am reading this now - it is excellent.)

(This series I have read more than once and listened to on CD.)

The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman
In a landmark epic of fantasy and storytelling, Philip Pullman invites readers into a world as convincing and thoroughly realized as Narnia, Earthsea, or Redwall. Here lives an orphaned ward named Lyra Belacqua, whose carefree life among the scholars at Oxford's Jordan College is shattered by the arrival of two powerful visitors...read more


Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman Lyra finds herself in a shimmering, haunted underworld—Cittàgazze, where soul-eating Specters stalk the streets and wingbeats of distant angels sound against the sky...read more


The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman The Amber Spyglass brings the intrigue of The Golden Compass and The Subtle Knife to a heart-stopping end, marking the final volume of His Dark Materials as the most powerful of the trilogy...read more

Beka Cooper: Terrier by Tamora Pierce
The Prophet of Yonwood by Jeanne DuPrau
The Fetch by Chris Humphreys

(Book and site information courtesy of Strange Lands; Random House Science Fiction and Fantasy Newsletter)
comments are my own. Connie