March 2020 Roundup – Reading, Writing and Blogging… #BrainfluffMarch2020Roundup

I’ve just read my roundup for February with a sense of unreality, because I didn’t once mention COVID 19. And whatever else I was chatting about, it didn’t include social isolation, daily death tolls and endless hand-washing. And now I’m going to take a deep breath and make that the last time I talk about that stuff. Because this is about carrying on as best we can, despite all that misery and fear. And maybe it’s rank cowardice, but I’m turning to the biggest consolation in my life, when the going gets tough. The one thing that never lets me down – books.

Reading
I read nineteen books in March, which I think is a record number. It was a really good month, with some cracking reads. This is the list:

Death of a Bean Counter – Book 12 of the Maggy Thorsen mystery series by Sandra Balzo – Review to follow

Song of Achilles AUDIOBOOK by Madeline Miller – this is my oustanding audiobook read of the month. Review to follow.

Feathertide by Beth Cartwright. Review to follow.

The Last Protector – Book 4 of the Lovett and Marwood series by Andrew Taylor

A Dying Fall – Book 5 of the Ruth Galloway series by Elly Griffiths.

Longbourn AUDIOBOOK by Jo Baker. Review to follow.

On Writing by Stephen King

Minimum Wage Magic – Book 1 of the DFZ series by Rachel Aaron

By the Pricking of her Thumb – Book 2 of the Real-Town Murders by Adam Roberts

The Case of the Missing Servant – Book 1 of the Vish Puri series by Tarquin Hall

Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer AUDIOBOOK – Book 1 of Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard series by Rick Riordan

No Good Dragon Goes Unpunished – Book 3 of the Heartstriker series by Rachel Aaron. Review to follow

Interdicted Space – Book 2 of the Interstellar Space Agency by Gillian Andrews

War of the Maps by Paul McAuley

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie

The Clutter Corpse – Book 1 of the Decluttering Mysteries by Simon Brett. Review to follow

Our Endless Numbered Days by Claire Fuller

The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Macksey – this is my outstanding book of the month. Review to follow.

A Dragon of a Different Colour – Book 4 of the Heartstriker series by Rachel Aaron

Writing
I finally completed the first draft of Mantivore Warrior in the second week of March. The book ended up being just over 103,000 words long – so much for thinking I was nearing the end at the 75,000 words mark! It took another 12,500 words to finish it and then I was quite ill for nearly a fortnight. I do need to learn to pace myself…

I’ve put it on one side and have been working on my first Creative Writing How-To book on Characterisation. It’s going reasonably well, I’ve just finished Chapter Five on Viewpoint, but it’s very different to writing fiction. I’m hoping to have it completed by the end of April – but with all that’s going on, inevitably that has to be more of a hope than a solid target. Overall, I wrote just over 48,000 words in March, with just over 15,000 words on my blog and just under 30,000 words going towards my writing projects, which brings my yearly total to just over 136,000 words so far.

Blogging
Like many others, I’m finding my online friends a real source of consolation. I can’t tell you how grateful I feel having so many lovely people around me from the book blogging community to talk books with. It’s at times like these that you discover what really matters and who has your back… Wishing everyone a peaceful, healthy April and stay safe.xx

Review of Audiobook Heroes: Mortals and Monsters, Quests and Adventures Book 2 of Stephen Fry’s Great Mythology series – written and narrated by Stephen Fry #Brainfluffbookreview #AudiobookreviewHeroes

Once I’d listened to the wonderful audio version of Mythos, see my review – I was keen to get hold of this sequel, which takes the story on from featuring mostly on the Greek pantheon of gods, to the mortals and demi-mortals that people this mythology.

BLURB: There are Heroes – and then there are Greek Heroes.
Few mere mortals have ever embarked on such bold and heart-stirring adventures, overcome myriad monstrous perils, or outwitted scheming vengeful gods, quite as stylishly and triumphantly as Greek heroes. In this companion to his bestselling Mythos, Stephen Fry brilliantly retells these dramatic, funny, tragic and timeless tales. Join Jason aboard the Argo as he quests for the Golden Fleece. See Atalanta – who was raised by bears – outrun any man before being tricked with golden apples. Witness wily Oedipus solve the riddle of the Sphinx and discover how Bellerophon captures the winged horse Pegasus to help him slay the monster Chimera. Filled with white-knuckle chases and battles, impossible puzzles and riddles, acts of base cowardice and real bravery, not to mention murders and selfless sacrifices, Heroes is the story of what we mortals are truly capable of – at our worst and our very best.

I’ve included the whole blurb – something I rarely do – because it pretty much sums up what the book is about. Fry clearly knows his stuff and has gone back to the available source material to pick his way through the various versions and delivers these timeless stories in an accessible, conversational style that I very much enjoyed. We have most of the familiar names such as Heracles and Theseus, as well as many of the monsters they tangled with. What came across very strongly – and why I was so grateful for Fry’s light touch – was how most of them ended in tragedy. If you wanted to have any kind of happiness in your life as an ancient Greek, whatever you do – don’t be beautiful or remarkable in any way, so as to catch the attention of the gods. Even those who managed to survive a series of harrowing adventures and fights against impossible odds invariably ended in ignominy and a bitter old age.

To be honest, I don’t think I would have been able to continue listening if Fry had been remotely heavy-handed in his treatment of this fascinating, but ultimately depressing series of stories where the price of any kind of talent or beauty was to suffer a series of terrible fates. And that would have been a shame – because, whether we like it or not, these stories are part of the bedrock of our western civilisation and many of the ideals and beliefs have been unconsciously absorbed into our collective psyche. For anyone interested in the subject, I would recommend the audiobook, where Fry’s handling of all those unfriendly Greek names makes it a lot easier to absorb.
10/10

Friday Faceoff – Off the leash… #Brainfluffbookblog #FridayFaceofffreebiecovers

This meme was started by Books by Proxy, whose fabulous idea was to compare UK and US book covers and decide which is we prefer. This meme is being nurtured by Lynn’s Book Blog and this week we are featuring FREEBIE covers. I’ve selected Circe by Madeline Miller, which I absolutely loved. And I also love every one of these covers…

This edition was produced by Boomsbury Publishing UK in April 2018. Isn’t it gorgeous? I love the warm colours that reference the Greek art on ancient pottery and the beautiful title font running from top to bottom of the urn, giving it a strikingly different look. And those flowers with the shading and beautiful detail… I think this is one of my all-time favourite covers and it was this design that prompted me to buy this one. I’m so glad I did…

 

Published in April 2018 by Little, Brown and Company, this is also a wonderfully striking effort. That Grecian face staring out at us, both imperious and slightly sad, draws our gaze. Once again, the warm orange and black colour scheme is both attractive and references Greek artefacts, as does the border detailing. I also like the title font, which works well. However, I do think it’s a shame to clutter this lovely design with unnecessary chatter, compromising the look and feel of the cover.

 

This edition, published by Bloomsbury Publishing in April 2019, is another wonderful design, given it’s a pared-down, less luscious version of the first cover. Once again, the colour scheme just sings out – and I love the Grecian urn with that lovely raised title font. It would look even more stunning if we didn’t, have that wonderful jar-shaped space stuffed with a load of pointless chatter, which despoils this cover more than any of the others, I think. I also love the background, directly referencing some of the ancient Greek figures depicted on artefacts.

 

This edition, produced by Pocket in May 2019, is another fabulous effort. A wonderful, subtle design that has stolen my heart. And NO annoying chatter to compromise and detract from the intended visual impact – and doesn’t it just look so much better for it? Not that I’m ranting. At all. Nope. This was so very nearly my favourite…


This French edition, published by Rue Fromentin in May 2018, is a bit different from the rest – for starters, it has broken away from the orange and black colour scheme. I love the soft-focus figure offering up a charger, presumably to a god. Though I’m guessing it wouldn’t be Zeus… It’s a beautiful image, the shape of the woman and colouring working well in making this a cover full of mystery. So this is my freebie selection – which is your favourite?

Friday Faceoff – The king is dead, long live the king…

This meme was started by Books by Proxy, whose fabulous idea was to compare UK and US book covers and decide which is we prefer. This week the theme is a cover featuring Greek myths, so I’ve selected The King Must Die – Book 1 of the Theseus series by Mary Renault.

 

This cover, produced by Virago in March 2015, is my favourite. I really like the simplicity of this image – the white against the golden colour is very effective. I also like the fact that background is shaded and slightly patterned with that classic Hellenic design. My one grizzle is all that chatter on the cover seems unnecessary. Ah well – you can’t have it all. Apparently…

 

This Serbian edition was produced by Laguna in November 2012 and is also a reasonable effort, although that border pattern seems to hark back more to my great grandmother’s antimacassars than anything remotely Grecian. It’s a shame, because that apparently small anomaly really jars with me.

 

Published in 1990 by Hodder and Stoughton, this is a strong contender for being my favourite. I love the design – that statue of the minotaur with the blood-tipped curving horns makes for an arresting image. The frieze in the background is also well designed. I think, though, that the top cover just edges it.

 

This Portuguese edition, published by Círculo do Livro in 1985 is the least successful, in my opinion. While I love the striking, orange backdrop the figures are looking stilted and a bit peculiar. I think this would have been far more effective if Theseus and the minotaur were in silhouette.

 

This edition, produced by Vintage Books USA is another blast from the past as it was produced in 1988. I very much like the overall effect of this one – but the one drawback is that I cannot work out what that shape is. Is it a map of Greece? Not exactly, as far as I can gather. So I find it frustrating as neither can I make an outline of an aurochs or a Greek warrior. I’m probably being an idiot and missing something really obvious, here – I’m looking forward to someone telling me. Which is your favourite?