Andy and Darcy’s Blog

Ivanhoe is about a knight named Ivanhoe who precedes King Richard coming back from the crusades. Sound familiar? This book somewhat resembles the story of Robin Hood, as told by Disney in the Robin Hood cartoon made in the 80′s. However, the plot is completely different and there is no maid Marian or sheriff of Nottingham. The character of Ivanhoe is not reflected in any of the Disney characters. There is an archery contest so that is one similarity. And there is the heroic bandit Robin Hood, who leads his banditti against the evil nobility and collects a few taxes as well. Disney left out the seige of the castle, the near burning of a Jewish woman (at the stake), the Templar knights, and the Norman vs. Saxon tension throughout this book. And there is a lot of discussion about the parts that make up armor. I probably would have learned a lot, if I had only looked up the meaning of the words.

But this book is good! The (fuzzy) history is interesting, the characters are very likeable or dislikeable, and this book had one of the most entertaining battles I have ever read (I hate most of them). And I really liked the way Sir Walter Scott would cut to the next scene for a “here’s what’s going on all at once effect”. Just so you know, this book is also available for free on the internet, since it was written in the 1800′s.

Actually, I find myself thinking of a quote from the Simpson’s a lot. It’s pretty juvenile, but I can’t help it: “The story of Ivanhoe is about a Russian farmer and his tool”. Funny, ya?

I feel like I’ve recommended nearly all the books I’ve read lately, but I think I might just be on a lucky streak. Usually I am not that happy with a lot of the books I’ve read, so please don’t think I blog only about the good ones.

This book is actually based on a fairy tale. It took me some time before I realized it. This is not a well known fairy tale. I think I had just read it once or twice when I read books of fairy tales in my youth. This is the fairy tale of 7 children, 6 brothers and 1 sister. The brothers are turned into swans, and the sister must spin and make 6 shirts of a thorny plant to break the spell. She cannot speak while she makes the shirts either, so you can imagine that all kinds of things happen to her. Not all of them were good, but none were so bad (or so vividly described) that I could not go on reading.

This was a very good book. It was suspenseful, not too violent, and still wonderfully told. I like fantasy books where the main character is a female. There are way too few of them. There are some Druids in this book, and a magical forest. No leprechauns though, just in case Wayne and Garth read this blog. I kinda feel like there ought to be.

Since I would read this book again for pure enjoyment, it must get 5 stars.

Ombria in Shadow is written by Patricia McKillip, who has also written The Riddle Master trilogy. I enjoyed the The Riddle Master trilogy, so I thought, “Why not another?”. I borrowed this book from the Rochester Public Library from their several shelves devoted to books of the fantasy genre. It has a very detailed cover that promises good things…castles, sailing, and at least one character that is a woman.

Here is the plot in as few words as I can manage: The prince of Ombria dies, probably as a result of poison administered in small doses. He leaves behind his legal heir, a boy of approximately 7 years. He also leaves behind a mistress who is cast out in the streets and and an illegitimate nephew. The nephew is an odd silver-haired man in his twenties who spends his time in the taverns of Ombria and makes prophetic sketches with charcoal. The great aunt of all the royalty involved in this book, Domina Pearl, is the regent and happens to be evil and very into the dark arts.

This book reminds me a bit of Magician by Raymond Feist without the fantastic character development. It’s not that Patricia doesn’t develop her characters. She does, but I feel that some quality is lacking. I’m probably being vague, but I can’t come up with any supporting arguments. It’s just the feeling I get reading this book.

After reading the entire book, I wonder why is Ombria so special…is it just because the characters in the book live there? In my interpretation, it’s a city state with a monarchy. I don’t really have any idea what is outside of Ombria. Maybe its just a suburb of Amber.

One other detail about this book is that it has no glossary. Sometimes glossaries tell me a lot…like that the author had a vivid imagination and had to make up so much that he or she couldn’t find subtle ways to introduce his fantasy concepts. And that’s ok with me. There is no glossary in this book. There isn’t a lot that needs explaining.

So now I come to the end of my thoughts on this book. If you have to choose between reading Being Dead and this book, you should definitely pick this book. But there are so many better books out there. Hmm…I wonder if I should really bother with blogging for mediocre books.