Bona Fide's Menu
Books
- Shelf discovery of the week: Crime time part three - The Secrets of the Lazarus Club by Tony Pollard
- Book trailer: The Clockwork Girl
- Support Jeff's Amazon E-Book Experiment
- Update: My November Reading Challenge
- Music video: Don't Stop
- Scavenger trilogy by K. J. Parker
- Elephant quotes and German proverbs
Books
Crime time part three
Last week we travelled back in time to New York. This week we travel again back in time but our destination is London in 1857. Follow me to The Secrets of the Lazarus Club (2008) [US][UK], by Tony Pollard. This is his debut novel."London, 1857 - A series of mutilated corpses are pulled from the Thames. Young surgeon DrGeorge Philips is first consulted, and then suspected, by baffled police......
The Lazarus Club
Meanwhile, a secret society meets. This gathering of the finest minds of the age - Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Charles Babbage, Charles Darwin and others - wish to use their discoveries to change the world...
Muder and Conspiracy
But there are those who use the club for theirown mysterious and dark ends. With his reputation and his life on the line, Dr Philips must unmask the plotters before they unleash on an unsuspecting world an awesome scientific power..." [Source: back of the book]
Book Trailer
This is the trailer for the graphic novel The Clockwork Girl (2008) [US][UK], by Sean Patrick O'Reilly and Kevin Hanna. Read the blurb for more information:
"The Tinkerer is a mad scientist convinced that mechanical technology is a stable and precise science and is more important than all of the other sciences. Metal twists and bends, gears, axles, and ratchets work in unison giving life to a conscious machine - The Astonishing Clockwork Girl! The Grafter believes that the natural uncontainable power of biology should be revered against all other sciences. Assembling a body from parts of exhumed corpses, organs, skin, and limbs are stitched together to create the son that he could not have - The Amazing Mutant Boy! Life is beautiful. The Astonishing Clockwork Girl and the Amazing Mutant Boy begin to take their first steps into this world, learning about individual existence, freedom, and choice. But a true understanding of who they are can't begin until they meet..." [Source]
Blogosphere
Support Jeff
As you may know I'm not that interested in e-books. But I try to follow what is going on. Jeff over at Fantasy Book News & Reviews likes and reads e-books. What would you think when you could not get the first two books of a trilogy? Yes, that is not nice. Such a thing happened Jeff who wants to read the Memory, Sorrow & Thorn books by Tad Williams in e-book format. Therefore he started an experiment in order to force the publisher to release the missing books in e-book format. If you like e-books and you want to help Jeff then read his Help Requested For My Amazon E-Book Experiment. Thanks for your attention.
My November Reading Challenge
Just one week to go and two books left: The Magic of Twilight by S. L. Farrell and Crown of Vengeance by Stephen Zimmer. For details of these books please read Bona Fide: November Reading Challenge. Next week I'm on a business trip to UK and so far I did not receive my copy of Crown of Vengeance. Therefore I replaced it by two other books.
The first one is the book which I received last week. It is the first book in the Sword of Albion series: The Silver Skull (2009, 423 p.) [US][UK], by Mark Chadbourn. Just read the blurb:"A DEVILISH PLOT TO ASSASSINATE THE QUEEN, A COLD WAR ENEMY HELL-BENT ON DESTROYING THE NATION, INCREDIBLE GADGETS, A RACE AGAINST TIME AROUND THE WORLD TO STOP THE ULTIMATE DOOMSDAY DEVICE...AND ELIZABETHAN ENGLAND'S GREATEST SPY!I have been intrigued by this blurb and so I could not resist!
Meet Will Swyfte -- adventurer, swordsman, rake, swashbuckler, wit, scholar and the greatest of Walsingham's new band of spies. His exploits against the forces of Philip of Spain have made him a national hero, lauded from Carlisle to Kent. Yet his associates can barely disguise their incredulity -- what is the point of a spy whose face and name is known across Europe?
But Swyfte's public image is a carefully-crafted facade to give the people of England something to believe in, and to allow them to sleep peacefully at night. It deflects attention from his real work -- and the true reason why Walsingham's spy network was established.
A Cold War seethes, and England remains under a state of threat. The forces of Faerie have been preying on humanity for millennia. Responsible for our myths and legends, of gods and fairies, dragons, griffins, devils, imps and every other supernatural menace that has haunted our dreams, this power in the darkness has seen humans as playthings to be tormented, hunted or eradicated.
But now England is fighting back!
Magical defences have been put in place by the Queen's sorcerer Dr John Dee, who is also a senior member of Walsingham's secret service and provides many of the bizarre gadgets utilised by the spies. Finally there is a balance of power. But the Cold War is threatening to turn hot at any moment...
Will now plays a constant game of deceit and death, holding back the Enemy's repeated incursions, dealing in a shadowy world of plots and counter-plots, deceptions, secrets, murder, where no one... and no thing...is quite what it seems." [Source]
The second book is unusual for me because it is a kind of urban fantasy. It is a reviewer copy which I received from tor.com. It is really interesting because it has been published first in 1943!. I speak about Conjure Wife (2009, 224p.) [US][UK], by Fritz Leiber.
Movies
Again I must say thank you to Steampunkopedia. Again and again they surprise me with great videos. This time I present you the latest single from English eccentrics, Patrick and Eugene. Enjoy!
Xgifts
On Friday I posted my review of Colours in the Steel (1998) [US][UK], by K. J. Parker. My one sentence résumé:
Dark, intelligent, sophisticated and exceptional entertainment at its best
So it wa no question for me to add more books by K. J. Parker to my Christmas list. I speak about the Scavenger trilogy.
Book one: Shadow (2001) [US][UK]"A man wakes in the wilderness, amid scattered corpses and inquisitive crows. He has no memory of who he is or how he came to be there. The only clues to his former existence lie in his apparent skill with a sword and the fragmented dreams that permeate his sleep." [Source]
When I look at the blurb of Colours in the Steel and the story behind I expect another dark and gritty novel.
It is interesting to see how I get excited by a few sentences.
Book two: Pattern (2002) [US][UK]"In a world he doesn't know, Poldarn's future is uncertain. Pursued by invisible enemies, haunted by the demons of his past, nobody can be trusted - not even himself. Attempting to piece together his life has brought nothing but trouble. All he craves is peace: will he find it in his childhood home?" [Source]
I like to see that except the name of the man you don't get more information from the first book.
I know sooner or later I will get these books.
Book three: Memory (2003) [US][UK]"In a world he did not know, Poldarn's future was uncertain. Pursued by invisible enemies, and haunted by the demons of his past, he trusted no one - not even himself. He thought that he might have found some answers on the island he thought to be his childhood home . but instead he has found only the rumour of a past in darkness. But now Poldarn has at last discovered the truth of his terrifying origins . and that truth may be more than he - or anyone - can bear." [Source]
Quotes
For no specific reason you get elephant quotes and more German proverbs. And again I used wikiqoute as my main source.
" When you have got an elephant by the hind leg, and he is trying to run away, it's best to let him run."
Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of US (1809 - 1865)
Abraham Lincoln, 16th president of US (1809 - 1865)
" I meant what I said, and I said what I meant.
An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent."
Dr Seuss, Horten Hatches the Egg, US author & illustrator (1904 - 1991)
An elephant's faithful, one hundred percent."
Dr Seuss, Horten Hatches the Egg, US author & illustrator (1904 - 1991)
" A true philosopher is like an elephant; he never puts the second foot down until the first one is solidly in place."
Fontanelle
Fontanelle
"* Einbildung ist auch eine Bildung.
Translation: Vanity is also an education.
Explanation: It's a pun: Bildung - > education; einBILDUNG -> Vanity So "Einbildung" is also some kind of "Bildung".”
Translation: Vanity is also an education.
Explanation: It's a pun: Bildung - > education; einBILDUNG -> Vanity So "Einbildung" is also some kind of "Bildung".”
" * Eulen nach Athen tragen.
Lit.: Carrying owls to Athens.
Meaning: A pointless exercise/activity.
Equivalent: To carry coals to Newcastle. (UK)”
Lit.: Carrying owls to Athens.
Meaning: A pointless exercise/activity.
Equivalent: To carry coals to Newcastle. (UK)”
6 comments:
Funny that you used a Dr. Seuss quote, I though he was mostly an American character.
The trailer for Clockwork Girl reminds me very much of Astro Boy, although I felt bad for the scientist when he couldn't put stuff together. Sadly, I never really got into graphic novels, and to be honest I did not know that you read them either!
Thanks for helping out with my Tad Williams request, Mchael!
Hey Jeff,
as I don't have an amazon.com account and I wanted to support you, this was the only way I could do it. I hope it willbe successful. Fingers crossed. I'm sure you will post about the result.
Hey Alec,
Dr Seuss is the pen name of Theodor Seuss Geisel. I know some of his political cartoons he did during WW II.
I like graphic novels since I read WATCHMEN by Alan Moore. Beside this I own and read volume one of the SANDMAN series by Neil Gaiman. So you see it not that much. I would like to read more but compared to a paperback a graphic novel is expensive. For the price of one graphic novel I can buy two to three paperbacks. Mostly the paperbacks win.
Hahaha, I love the Lincoln quote. That struck my funny nerve for some reason.
I also heard mixed reviews on 2012. My cousin said "Great bad movie." So I'm torn on whether to make the effort to see it... probably I'll skip it and read "Best Served Cold" instead.
Dave,
the special effects in 2012 are breath-taking. Roland Emmerich is the master of destroying earth.
But an excellent movie needs more.
When I da to decide again whether to watch or not I would say no.
I think to read "Best Served Cold" is great alternative.
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