Guardians of the Keep by Carol Berg

Carol Berg‘s Guardians of the Keep (New York:  Roc-Penguin, 2004) is the second book in her fantasy series The Bridge of D’Arnath.  I actually like this book better than the first one in the series, Son of Avonar, which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.  Though sections of Guardians of the Keep are told from the points of view of four different characters, it is easier to follow than  Son of Avonar, which had numerous lengthy flashbacks.

I’m looking forward to reading the third book in the series, The Soul Weaver.

Son of Avonar by Carol Berg

Son of Avonar (New York:  Roc-Penguin, 2004) is the first book in Carol Berg‘s fantasy series The Bridge of D’Arnath.  Some of the descriptions of tortured characters and similar events were disturbing.  The extensive flashbacks were also sometimes hard to follow, but I like the main character, Seri; enjoyed the book; and look forward to reading the others in the series:

• Guardians of the Keep
• The Soul Weaver
• Daughter of Ancients

Jane and the Canterbury Tale by Stephanie Barron

Stephanie Barron‘s latest book, Jane and the Canterbury Tale (New York:  Bantam Books, 2011), is at least as good as her last one, Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron, which I wrote about in January. One of the main reasons I enjoyed the most recent one so much is that Barron, for the most part, abandoned the pretext of Jane writing about events in her journal or letters.  As a result, the book flowed much better.

The Dawn Star by Catherine Asaro

I hadn’t read very far in Catherine Asaro‘s The Dawn Star (New York:  LUNA-Worldwide Library, 2006) before I realized that I had read at least one book in the series, probably The Misted Cliffs.  I’m going to have to go back and read the whole Lost Continent series:

• “Moonglow” (in Charmed Destinies)
• The Charmed Sphere
• The Misted Cliffs
• The Dawn Star
• The Fire Opal
• The Night Bird
  

Lord of the Changing Winds by Rachel Neumeier

Lord of the Changing Winds (New York:  Orbit Books, 2010) is Book One of the Griffin Mage Trilogy by Rachel Neumeier.  It reminded me of some of Mercedes Lackey’s books, maybe because she also wrote a trilogy about griffins and mages.  The other two books in the trilogy are

• Land of the Burning Sands
• Law of the Broken Earth
  

Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron by Stephanie Barron

I think that Stephanie Barron‘s latest Jane Austen mystery, Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron (New York:  Bantam Books, 2010), is probably her best to date.  I’ve added this novel, and her next one, which is apparently to be published this year, to my list.

In “A Few Questions for Stephanie Barron” at the end of the book, Barron states that “there’s no record of . . . her [Jane Austen] having met Lord Byron[, though] she read Byron’s poetry . . . and they had acquaintances in common” (335).

Video: “Shakespeare: Why Was I Never Told This?”

Video:  “Shakespeare: Why Was I Never Told This?“

A River in the Sky by Elizabeth Peters

A River in the Sky (New York:  William Morrow-HarperCollins, 2010) is Elizabeth Peters‘ most recent installment in the Amelia Peabody series.  As with most lengthy series of novels, the later books aren’t as good as the first ones.  They become father formulaic as the author churns them out.  This is true of A River in the Sky.

In addition, as the series has progressed, I’ve found Amelia less and less likable.  She has gone from naively confident to arrogant.  I’m also not sure I like the integration of passages from “Manuscript H.”

A few years ago, I reread the then existing Amelia Peabody novels in chronological order according to when they were set not when they were written.  This latest novel was written and published out of sequence.  According to the “Amelia Peabody series” article at Wikipedia, the novels occur in the following order:

• Crocodile on the Sandbank
• The Curse of the Pharaohs
• The Mummy Case
• Lion in the Valley
• Deeds of the Disturber
• The Last Camel Died at Noon
• The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog
• The Hippopotamus Pool
• Seeing a Large Cat
• The Ape Who Guards the Balance
• Guardian of the Horizon
• A River in the Sky
• The Falcon at the Portal
• He Shall Thunder in the Sky
• Lord of the Silent
• The Golden One
• Children of the Storm
• The Serpent on the Crown
• Tomb of the Golden Bird
  

Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave Manor by Stephanie Barron

I enjoyed Jane and the Unpleasantness at Scargrave (New York:  Bantam Books, 1996), Stephanie Barron‘s first Jane Austen mystery.  At times Barron did a good job of imitating Austen’s writing style.

Barron has written eight other books in the series:

• Jane and the Man of the Cloth (1997)
• Jane and the Wandering Eye (1998)
• Jane and the Genius of the Place (1999)
• Jane and the Stillroom Maid (2000)
• Jane and the Prisoner of Wool House (2001)
• Jane and the Ghosts of Netley (2003)
• Jane and His Lordship’s Legacy (2005)
• Jane and the Barque of Frailty (2006)
• Jane and the Madness of Lord Byron (2010)
• Jane and the Canterbury Tale (2011)

Barron also writes mysteries as Francine Mathews.

As I wrote last year, I’ve read mystery novels with Leonardo da Vinci as the detective.  I wonder if anyone has written murder mysteries where William Shakespeare or Agatha Christie is the sleuth.

HUM 121 Students’ Zakta Guides

This semester I had my HUM 121 students at Red Rocks create Zakta guides for the research part of their individual projects about heroes from different cultures.  Here are links to their guides:

• King Arthur
• Hector of Troy
• Roland
• Perseus
• Odysseus
• Romulus
• Cu Chulainn
• Sir Galahad
• Hercules