Intervention (The Galactic Milieu Series Book 1) by Julian May; How the Galactic Milieu Began

 

Intervention (The Galactic Milieu Series Book 1) by Julian May; How the Galactic Milieu Began

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Upon rereading The Galactic Milieu Series by Julian May, I came to a discovery that I never knew for decades: the series is not a trilogy. When I purchased the series in the late 90’s, it was advertised on the covers as a trilogy. I read it in order as a trilogy. It has a beginning, middle, and end, with some intriguing exposition and back story, as a trilogy. Everything about it screamed, “Read me, I'm a trilogy!” Well, it turns out that I was wrong. The Galactic Milieu Series is actually a four book series. 

Well depending on where or when you read it, the series is either a four or five book series. The actual first volume, Intervention was published in 1987 in the UK as one volume and in the US as two volumes: Surveillance and Metaconcert. The subsequent books, Jack the Bodiless, Diamond Mask, and Magnificat published in 1991, 1994, and 1996 respectively were released as a trilogy separate from Intervention at the time. Intervention has subsequently been rereleased as one volume and renumbered to fit the series proper. 

Oh and to make things even more interesting, I just learned that Intervention links The Galactic Milieu Series to May's earlier series, The Saga of Pliocene Exile. Even more important, some Milieu characters, most notably Marc Remillard, serve double duty in both series making them one continuous shared universe, The May Literary Universe or MLU if you will. Julian May loved to make things difficult for her readers didn't she? But I digress.

The good news is that the intriguing exposition and backstory hold up as a decent gatekeeping introduction to the rest of the Galactic Milieu Series. Intervention gives us important information about the Remillard Family, the Galactic Milieu, the Atoning Unifex, and the introduction of metapsychic abilities, the sociopolitical intergalactic circumstances that will affect the world at large and the Remillard's personal struggles and conflicts which will result in the creation of Fury, the metapsychic creature who will make the family’s lives miserable in the next three books.

The book begins when narrator Rogatien “Rogi” is a tween with his twin brother, Donatien “Don,” in the 1940’s and ends in the late 90’s when intergalactic intervention occurs. It is a fascinating experience to read this book after the trilogy just to see how concepts like psychic abilities are introduced. 

In the subsequent books, metapsychics are so well known that those abilities are considered commonplace. It's interesting to see a point when they are so new that it scares Rogi the first time that he hears someone's thoughts. He, like anyone else who would discover mental telepathy, thinks that he imagined it or he's going crazy. 

Throughout this book, we see metapsychic abilities evolve from a pseudoscience, to a theory, to something few people have, to a recognized legitimate phenomena, to something openly studied and practiced, to something feared and used to dehumanize others, to something that gives a huge advantage for those who have it, to becoming a central facet in some lives. The trajectory has some historical and scientific parallels in the real world. 

I keep forgetting to mention in these books there are five types of metapsychic abilities. There is creativity which is creating illusions, changing shape, manipulating energy, and assembling matter into new forms, coercion which is controlling others' minds, overwhelming mental awareness, and creating mental defenses, psychokinesis which is telekinesis, farsensing which is communicating with others mentally and sensing remotely, and redaction which is psychic healing and mind reading. In previous books, some excel in one specific ability like Dorothea with redaction and Rogi with creativity while others notably Jon can practice all five.

 This book emphasizes those different types and how they can be used and misused. Some use their specific abilities to help others like Denis who uses farsensing to create a bridge of understanding between those who are metapsychic and those who aren't. Then we see those like Denis’s brother Victor who uses coercion to commit criminal violent activity. It shows the different talents that one can specialize in and what means they use them for.

The book also introduces us to the conflicts found within the Remillard Family. Fury has yet to be formed but we see the toxic environment in which such a being would be mentally created and thrive inside a powerful subconscious. Rogi and Don’s struggles begin early. As Rogi studies his abilities and comes to terms with his sterility, Don falls into alcoholism, early marriage and fatherhood, and philandering. Rogi who is in love with Sunny, the woman who married Don, becomes the de facto husband father figure in her and her children's ives alienating Don further.

 Rogi eventually bonds with Denis who becomes a favorite nephew to him. Rogi and Denis’s mentor protege relationship is one of the highlights of this volume. He guides him in testing his metapsychic powers foreshadowing Denis’ eventual status as Remillard Family Head and prominent leader in metaphysics study and intergalactic relations. This also retroactively makes the decline of their relationship in the remaining books much more poignant knowing how close they once were.

The Remillards have several generations of family rivalries and this book shows the origins with Rogi and Don, then with Denis and Victor. While Don is simply a failure that exists for hedonistic pleasures, Victor is much more cunning and ruthless. He sees metapsychic powers as a means of superiority over people who don't have them.

As previously mentioned, Victor uses coercion in violent and destructive ways such as assaulting women, accessing accounts and government secrets, and brokering an alliance with organized crime leader, Kierian O’Connor while manipulating O’Connor’s daughter. In this reality, the Cold War is still relevant into the late 90’s and Victor manipulates various political sides to his advantage.

Later such things as intergalactic intervention, creating the Galactic Milieu, and interstellar travel will do their part in making these Earth struggles between warring nations and the law and lawless seem minor in comparison. But here they are in this book, present and unaware that the time when Earth's residents believed that they were alone in the universe and can treat the planet as horribly as they want will soon be at an end. Victor, like many, is all about his personal gain until forces greater than himself render him obsolete.

As far as the aliens are concerned, mostly they interact with each other in space, observe Earthling activity, and debate whether this planet deserves Intervention and an invitation to join the Milieu (No spoiler alert: obviously we know they will extend the offer and Earth will accept otherwise the previous books would never have happened). Mostly they just summarize what has happened so far.

However one alien character fascinates: The Atoning Unifex AKA Rogi’s Family Ghost. The Unifex has been helping Rogi since he was young to discover his powers, predict his future, help him face conflicts, and provide the extra strength for self-defense. There were hints in the next three books of what exactly the Unifex is and what is their motive for helping Rogi without confirming or denying the truth. One line in this book reveals the truth behind this character’s identity and why they are connected to Rogi.

Readers could skip Intervention and begin with Jack The Bodiless as I did. The exposition is revealed in an easy way to follow without getting lost and the three books could be seen as occurring en media res. It wouldn't have changed anything and there are advantages in reading the three without it like gaining immediacy with the characters and being left surprised at the twists and revelations.

However, Intervention does include some interesting backstories and take us to the beginning of Rogi and The Remillard Family. In turn it makes the remaining series more meaningful and powerful.

Now maybe onwards to The Saga of The Pliocene Exile to get the full story.

14 Hours of Saturn by Mike J. Kizman; Antonio's Odyssey by Mike Pagone; They Know When The Killer Will Strike by Michael J. Bowler

14 Hours of Saturn by Mike J. Kizman; Antonio's Odyssey by Mike Pagone; They Know When The Killer Will Strike by Michael J. Bowler 

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

14 Hours of Saturn by Mike J. Kizman 

This is a summary. The entire review is on LitPick.

14 Hours of Saturn is mostly a great character study of a young woman looking back on the trajectory of her life while embarking on her next step. Saturn's life doesn't by any means contain a lot of adventure or dramatic tense moments, but she is an interesting average person that we explore various moments throughout her young life. However, towards the end, the book loses character by forcing a repetitive and overbearing sermon that slows the book down. 

Saturn O Sayres is unpacking in her new apartment and exploring her new surroundings. She flashes back to memories of her family, particularly her love-hate relationship with her sister Venus, her education, artistic talents, friendships, romantic relationships, and spiritual concerns. 

Most of the book focuses on Saturn's tempestuous relationship with her fashionista logical sister, Venus. The two sisters argued over interests, romances, parent's attention, acting more like school rivals than related by blood. It's a very relatable relationship as anyone who has siblings can understand. 

Although Saturn and Venus's relationship is frosty and tempestuous most of the time, they occasionally show genuine love and support to the point that when the girls are separated by college, marriage, and life plans they miss each other more than either will admit.

14 Hours of Saturn could be a brilliant book about a woman who creates bridges with her conflicted relationships with others, particularly Venus or finds personal and financial success in her chosen professional field. Some of that is present. However, it is hidden by an overemphasis towards religion that overpowers the final chapters.

The final third of the book is almost taken over by religion. Saturn's overbearing college roommate quotes Christian platitudes and tries to convert Saturn which ultimately works.

It's not that the book is Christian Fiction that is the problem. It is that the book was so secretive about it. There was barely any mention of religion through most of the book until towards the end. It's like a Trojan Horse hiding religious meaning in a slice of life novel about two bickering sisters.

 Perhaps, it might have come across better if religious concepts were generously sprinkled throughout the book and that Saturn came into it on her own instead of through her roommate pestering her.

14 Hours of Saturn is a book that turns into a sermon, but at least has an interesting, spirited, creative, intelligent protagonist as the focus. 

 

Antonio's Odyssey by Mike Pagone 

Antonio's Odyssey by Mike Pagone is a charming slice of life novel about the life and loves of a man named Antonio or Tony from his 1940’s childhood to late in life contentment. 

Tony's life is described through various anecdotes and incidents which combine humor and emotion. His childhood is filled with memories of his relatives particularly his lively ebullient grandfather. He also writes about other youthful experiences like shining shoes for a living, joining a street gang, his interests in music and pigeons, and an early interracial romance with a Black girl named Rosetta. 

Antonio moved to Las Vegas to play piano with a band in 1954. This was when Vegas was just beginning its reputation as an entertainment destination during the jazz and Rat Pack Era. At the time, it was a flourishing thriving scene just perfect for a young musician to get his start. 

Unfortunately it's also a place where one could  get extremely close to organized crime as Tony does in a chilling chapter. His interactions with criminals costs Tony his job, his then girlfriend Laura, and ultimately his Vegas residence as he is forced to go on the run.

Antonio describes various people in his life through witty observation and self-deprecating humor. For example, his first wife Kelly had an IQ that was “like one hundred and forty-nine while (his) was probably zero, well maybe ten, but anyway she never used her intelligence to trick or fool (him).”  Another love interest, “Spur-Of-The-Moment” Linda led Tony on many strange antics to teach him to embrace life.

There are also moments of emotional anguish such as the decline of Linda’s friend, Julie, who suffered from addiction and potential psychosis. There is also genuine tenderness such as when Linda and Tony bond with Heather, a young girl from a troubled background. 

Tony, and Pagone, described these events with such earnestness and sincerity that the Reader feels like they really know Tony and his inner circle even if he wasn't a real person.

They Know When The Killer Will Strike (A Film Milieu Thriller) by Michael J. Bowler

This is a summary. The entire review is on LitPick.

Normally reading a later volume without reading a previous one can be a confusing chore because readers get lost. But They Know When The Killer Will Strike by Michael J. Bowler benefits from reading out of order because all is explained through a movie-within-a-book.

Leo Cantrell discovers that his previous adventure (told in the first volume I Know When You Are Going to Die), is going to turn into a movie produced by his ambitious pushy mother. Leo and his friends JC, Chet, and Laura get to experience the making of a film and befriend the actors who will play them. Leo however receives psychic visions of gruesome attacks on set suggesting that a killer is on the loose and has their eyes set on the cast and crew. While this is going on Leo has to weigh his sexuality and feelings for Asher, the actor/model playing him.

Using the device of a film made out of the previous book, readers are given information about characters’s back stories, important plot points, and the occasional spoiler without having read the first book. It's a very unique way of catching up late coming readers while also telling a great story in its own right. Film buffs will enjoy the behind the scenes look on how a film adaptation is made..

They Know When The Killer Will Strike is gripping thriller with a fun satirical edge as it looks at murder on the set of a Hollywood film. 

Weekly Reader: The Fairy Tale Plague (Anne Anderson Book 2) by Cameron Jace; Prequel and Sequel of Fairy Tales Search is Exciting but Uneven

 

Weekly Reader: The Fairy Tale Plague (Anne Anderson Book 2) by Cameron Jace; Prequel and Sequel of Fairy Tales Search is Exciting but Uneven

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: It hurts me to say this because Cameron Jace's The Fairy Tale Code was one of my favorite books last year. It also hurts because I just read two other books that were the second volumes in their series, series that I also loved, but their second volumes were as good as or better than the first ones.

The Fairy Tale Plague, the second book in Jace's Anne Anderson series is good. It has some great moments of suspense and is another great hunt for historical truth that leads to bigger consequences for the entire world. However, it's an uneven volume because it combined two separate adventures, making it a prequel and a sequel. The results are two parts that are fine on their own but are needlessly crammed together.

In The Fairy Tale Code, Folklorist Professor Anne Anderson and DCI David Tale uncover a mystery of a dead woman hanging on a cross. The dead body leads the two down the Fairy Tale Road, a series of locations in Germany that were the real life locations of the sources behind fairy tales. They are followed by a creepy character called The Advocate, who would kill to keep his grip on the world, and The Ovitz Sisters, an eccentric family that are connected to the fairy tale world. 

David and Anne uncover the truth that these tales were dark brutal histories disguised as folklore that were gathered and collected by a secret group called the Sisterhood (which the Ovitzs are members of), and not the Brothers Grimm. Their discoveries open the truths about many fairy tale characters, such as Snow White and the Evil Queen who were actually Queen Mary Tudor of England and a young woman whom Mary killed after she caught the interest of her husband, Prince Phillip of Spain.

In the Fairy Tale Plague, the resolutions of the previous volume have become big news. Many now see fairy tales, the Brothers Grimm, and the British Royal Family in different lights. David and Anne have become instant celebrities. However, the Advocate has a story of his own to tell. The story leads us to the prequel portion of the novel.

Three years before Anne wandered down the Fairy Tale Road, she was hired by the wealthy Max Bauer to oversee the digital tour of the Brothers Grimm house in the town of Kassell, Germany. On her way to the Grimm House, she receives a call from a mysterious woman who informs her that she will discover a secret at the House. Her assignment coincides with the abduction of a young girl named Mary Miller. The secret has not only to do with Mary's abduction but centuries of crimes caused by the family of Wilhelm Grimm's wife, Gretchen Wild, crimes that still continue and are being covered up by the people in charge. 

Mary's abduction, the unsolved cases of the past, and the themes of powerful families controlling everything around them, including history and folklore are echoed in the sequel portion of the book which begins halfway through the novel. 

Anne is connected online to the rest of the Sisterhood, then watches in horror as they are murdered around the world one by one. She then has to save the London based Sister before she is assassinated too.

Meanwhile, David and his partner, Harriet are called to investigate the death of the Prince of Wales. No his name's not William. It's Julian. (Though he is the son of the recently crowned king so that makes things interesting). It turns out the deaths of the Prince, the Sisters, and Mary's abduction in the prequel are tied to the existence of a very powerful network of families and a fairy tale that could foretell the end of mankind, a tale called The Last Fairy Tale.

It's not that the prequel and sequel are bad. Individually, they are very good very involved stories that captivate the Reader's interest. 

The prequel has some great intense moments where the kidnapper taunts Anne and others through emails revealing that they not only know exactly where Anne is but what she is doing at any given time. 

It also becomes eerie as the kidnapper provides Anne with a series of clues and riddles to Mary's whereabouts. As Anne solves them, other clues pop up on the Grimm House virtual tour so she is definitely being monitored by a highly intelligent and ruthless individual.

Even the resolution is brilliant as it reveals another tie to the fairy tale world that Anne is so enamored with and shows that unlike fairy tales, in reality, good does not always win and evil does not always get punished.

The sequel portion is just as nail biting. David has a personal tie to what happened to Prince Julian and as Anne did in Fairy Tale Code, he is able to use own expertise on the life and works of Charles Darwin to provide answers. There also is a fascinating link between Darwin and the Brothers Grimm which may not have existed in reality but gives an intriguing backstory to the series which combines the magic of folklore with the process of scientific theory. 

Anne's part in the story involves protecting the remaining Sisterhood with some old friends. That means the Ovitz Sisters, my favorite characters from the first book, are back and are more active in helping Anne and their fellow Sisters. Now that Anne and the Ovitzs have found each other and accepted each other as family, they have no intention of letting their remaining family members go. 

Speaking of families, we once again get some hints about Anne and David's troubled backgrounds. In the prequel, Anne succumbs to blackouts when thinking of her missing sister, Rachel. One of her enemies uses that PTSD to their advantage by accusing her of killing her sister and others. While in the Fairy Tale Code, the Reader knows that isn't true, it still puts Anne in a very vulnerable position.

However, in the sequel portion, David gets more attention than Anne and we learn more about his family such as his Darwin obsessed mother and physically deformed sister, Abigail. Many of the things that were hinted at in The Fairy Tale Code about David are outright said here and they show the full picture of who this detective really is. Just like Anne was shaped by her life with Rachel to love and study fairy tales, David was shaped by his life with Abigail to protect others by bringing criminals to justice.

There are a few big reveals and twists in the Fairy Tale Plague that are at first confusing but upon rereading the first volume check, are brilliantly foreshadowed, and work seamlessly into both books. They are surprise twists that are well executed.

There is a lot to recommend in this volume of the series but its pacing is uneven because of the prequel and sequel being part of one book. The prequel doesn't get as much time to develop its story before it's resolved. The sequel ends just as the characters learn some answers as though this adventure is just getting warmed up before its final chapter. It would have been better for Jace to release the prequel in novella form and add extra chapters to the sequel, thereby making them separate volumes rather than one.

Because of this unevenness, The Fairy Tale Plague is nowhere near as good as its predecessor but as an adventurous look into the history of fairy tales, there is still plenty to recommend. 

New Book Alert: The Email From God by Neil Stevenson; Talk To Text Style Highlights Immediacy in This Science Fiction Message From The Future

New Book Alert: The Email From God by Neil Stevenson; Talk To Text Style Highlights Immediacy in This Science Fiction Message From The Future

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: If all of Earth gets an email from God then we will know that we all screwed up big time.

That's the premise behind The Email From God by Neil Stevenson, a Science Fiction novel in which a small group of people from the future send an important email from God to the past to create a better world and beat the secret society determined to stop it.

Brother and sister, Fahim and Amina Graham both work at CERN in 2046 and have a very ambitious plan. In 2023, the entire world, I mean everybody in the entire world, received an email from God telling Earth that humanity messed up and caused mass environmental destruction, endless wars, socioeconomic collapse, hate crimes, and terrorist acts. However, there is time to turn it around before it's too late. So God sends a list of 23 Commandments to follow. The Commandments include ways of saving the environment, improving the economy, obtaining good mental and physical health, and ending violence and prejudice.

Oh and if anyone has trouble with that, then they get hit with a massive headache. Not fatal but just enough to let everyone know that the deity means business. 

That's all well and good. Everything begins to improve.  To make sure of this positive outcome, Fahim, Amina, and their respective husbands Mattheo and Dorje create Hindsight which contains uploads of the email, news articles about the email and subsequent events tied to it, and instructions on how to implement these plans. Then they will send these uploads on a nanochip through a wormhole into the past for Readers of God's email to create this new and better future.

Unfortunately, not everyone is excited about this prospect. The Illuminati is still around (because we can't have a good Science Fiction conspiracy novel without a certain infamous organization). They have a plan to destroy the email, kill God's message, in effect kill God, and create a dystopian society in which they will emerge as rulers.

What is particularly brilliant about this novel is its writing style. There have been other works written mostly or almost entirely in email or text form, e by Matt Beaumont, The Boy Next Door by Meg Cabot, Love Virtually by Daniel Glattaur, ttyl by Lauren Myracle, When You Read This by Mary Adkins among others. This is not a new format but in this context, it particularly works.

The Talk to Text Style throughout this book exacerbates the characters' sense of urgency and immediacy. They have an important message to share and need to get it sent. They are aware that they are constantly being observed and monitored by Illuminati members (some of whom they work for) and have to make sure that their uploads and God's email are properly uploaded. We don't have time for setting description, interior monologues, and other literary tropes. These protagonists are in a rush.

There are some suspenseful moments throughout the book in which the style really helps. For example, in one chapter two characters text each other and then a third enters the chat. It becomes clear that this person is not friendly and at odds with their plans. The two protagonists instantly switch to typical office chat and small talk.

A few other chapters feature the main characters listening in on the Illuminati's plans and becoming sickened by them. It's a heart thumping moment which reveals what could be lost in their current and former lives if they should fail.

The different fonts and writing styles are jarring at first but allow us to realize who is who, even giving us insights into their characters. Amina's font is very soft and curvy, like someone who weighs out her words and considers what to write. She writes long elegant phrases and summaries letting the world know what she, Fahim, and the others are doing so they can be heard and understood. She only stops once in a while to drop a casual informal reprimand to her brother revealing their close, loving, and teasing nature. She is the one chosen to write about and deliver the message.

In contrast, Fahim's font is short, dark, and concise. It is filled with grammatical errors and lower case nouns like someone in a hurry who doesn't have the time or interest to correct his writing. He is also prone to swearing and speaking out of turn showing his pride, quickness to anger, and impatience. However, he also writes in scientific terms and theories revealing his genius in the fields of science and physics. He is the one chosen to create the Hindsight program and the nanochip.

Rather than be a pessimistic book about the future, The Email From God shows a chance of hope. We don't have to turn Earth into a dystopia out of Orwell, Huxley, Bradbury, and Atwood. We have options and choices. Instead of creating the worst, we can make a clear plan to make the world better. 

New Book Alert: The Wynters Series: Harriet Disguised by Catherine Dove; Predictable But Fun Escapist Regency Romantic Adventure

New Book Alert: The Wynters Series: Harriet Disguised by Catherine Dove; Predictable But Fun Escapist Regency Romantic Adventure 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: "Meanwhile, back in stately Pemberley Manor…."

That's probably how most Regency Romances started, by the works of Jane Austen and her comedies of manners in which couples who swear that they are not suited for each other end up together. There usually is nothing more tense than a lover's quarrel and a frosty encounter during tea time with one's elderly, disapproving, or meddlesome relatives. All of this is resolved by the end.

Catherine Dove is no exception. Her Regency Romance, The Wynters Series: Harriet Disguised is full of typical Regency Romance tropes: brooding titled noble hero, spunky heroine who bucks traditions, conservative older relatives, usually aunts, that lecture the young ones about how things should be done, an upcoming Season, trips to inns, and misunderstandings and complications that result in the lovers quarreling. Of course, it ends with a romantic proposal and the promise of a happy marriage ever after.

However, Harriet Disguised also takes its cue from another popular genre: the adventure novel. Amidst the lighthearted romance between witty bickering lovers, Dove weaves a tale of missing inheritance, conniving ne'er do wells, treasure, disguises, and narrow escapes. Both the adventurous and romantic aspects give this book a pure escapist feel into that time period that inspired so many authors to explore it.

Sebastian and Harriet Wynters were raised by their archaeologist explorer parents. They had a unique upbringing in which they traveled the world, experienced different cultures and met many people, and were permitted to question everything and challenge standards. Unfortunately, their free spirited childhood and youth came to an end after their parents died and they ended up living in London with their staid aunt, while trying to fit into proper society.

 Sebastian learns that a stranger has a trunk of their late parents' things. Despite Harriet's objections and insistence that she go along, Sebastian goes alone. When he doesn't return, Harriet gets worried. She dons boy's clothes, takes on a male persona, and goes off to the country to look for him.

Meanwhile, a morose Lord Ashurst is out for a night on the town with his friends. He spends that night drinking, carousing, and bemoaning his arranged upcoming marriage to Miss Daphne Maitland. Wanting to get him to lighten up (and maybe sober up), Ashton's friends prank him by putting him in a stagecoach heading for the country. What an unbelievable coincidence, that coach is also carrying a boy with very feminine features and a soft voice who is looking for his missing brother! Yes siree, the other passenger is Harriet Wynters and our two potential lovers are off on a grand adventure.

Actually the high adventures are some of the best parts in the book. There are great moments of suspense such as when Sebastian executes a dangerous escape from his captors. 

Ashton and Harriet assuming disguises and identities while facing potential threats to the Wynters family seems to come out of something like the Scarlet Pimpernel. The plot of these works usually involves a disguised well connected clever hero who takes down some nasty usually titled do badders with sinister designs on some yet to be discovered wealth, maybe an inheritance or treasure. The only major difference is that the disguised hero in this book is a woman!

There are also some interesting moments of plot contrivances where characters converge into the same location such as an out of the way inn which somehow becomes a magnet for all parties involved. The protagonist and antagonist pile up is humorous but has its moments of tension as some characters just barely avoid being found by others and miss the people that they are supposed to catch up with.

The adventure is a bright spot but the Romance, while predictable, has its good points too. Yes we know Ashurst will see right through Harriet's disguise. We know that they will fight constantly and then share a kiss. We know that Ashurst will be drawn to Harriet's spiritedness because she's unlike any woman that he's ever met. We know that Harriet will find the hidden heart inside the brooding nobleman. We've seen it all before and somehow that's comforting.

This isn't the type of book that veers on surprises and it's not supposed to. There are some disappointments towards the end such as when the heroes and villains confront each other and it's hard to keep track of the various schemes and betrayals. Also a final unnecessary complication drags out a final chapter between Ashurst's proposal and Harriet's answer. But for the most part, those flaws can be forgiven in favor of the adventure and romance.

 Harriet Disguised is what it is, a sweet suspenseful romantic adventure in its purest escapist form, a reminder of days gone by of fancy dress, etiquette, swordfight, balls, witty banter, a kiss or two, and the feeling that everything will be alright in the end.

 

Weekly Reader: Nightfall Gardens (Nightfall Gardens Series Book One) by Allen Houston; Memorably Eerie Mysterious Novel Tribute To The Dark Gothic YA Novels of Our Youth

 

Weekly Reader: Nightfall Gardens (Nightfall Gardens Series Book One) by Allen Houston; Memorably Eerie Mysterious Novel Tribute To The Dark Gothic YA Novels of Our Youth

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: While I read Nightfall Gardens by Allen Houston, I kept picturing in my head the illustrations of Ed Gorey. Nightfall Gardens is that kind of deliciously wicked Gothic YA novel. It evokes the writing style of books like The House With A Clock On Its Walls by John Bellair, Bedknobs and Broomsticks by Mary Norton, or A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. It's that type of book where eerie things happen in a dark and imaginative setting to some young children. The best YA books are the ones that remind us that dark magical spooky things can happen even to young people and aren't afraid to give their young Readers a bit of a scare. Allen Houston excels at that.

Lily and Silas Blackwood are part of a family of traveling actors. They haven't exactly achieved success, because of dwindling audiences, leaky theaters, and a lead actor who is a full course ham sandwich. After their latest lackluster performance, Lily encounters a very sinister looking man who frightens her on sight and reveals that he is her uncle Jonquil.

Jonquil has reunited with his brother's family to inform them that his mother, the guardian of the mysterious Nightfall Gardens is dying. Nightfall Gardens needs a new female heir or all hell will break loose, literally, and to keep the family tradition going, Lily is selected for the position. After Lily's parents turn the offer down flat,  Jonquil and his men kidnap Lily to take her to Nightfall Gardens with Silas in tow. The children have to be prepared for Lily's new role as Guardian and Silas' as a Rider (or security guard for the Gardens and the people inside the manor). The Blackwood children are introduced to their eccentric grandmother, Deiva, and the Gardens' creepy denizens including ghosts, fauns, werewolves, gargoyles, and Cassandra, a sardonic girl with green skin and a huge grudge against the Blackwoods. Oh and should they want to leave, well they can't. The Nightfall Gardens are cut off from the rest of the world including Lily and Silas' parents.

Nightfall Gardens is one of those memorable settings that are found so often in children's literature: brilliantly imaginative, at times sinister, but knows how to capture that wonder and zeal. Think Wonderland, OZ, Never Land, Hogwarts, Fantastica, The Labyrinth, or The Woods in most fairy tales. We may be stretched by our wonder and imagination. We might love to visit these places but we never forget that there are often dark mysterious forces at bay.

Nightfall Gardens is like every haunted mansion that has ever existed and considering its backstory, it could be seen as the original haunted mansion. (I won't spoil the surprise but let's just say that it involves a certain Greek woman and a certain box which should not be opened.)

Nightfall Gardens gives an unmistakable eerie yet seductive aura from the moment that Jonquil and the Blackwood children enter and face a group of violent Pans. (Not cookware, Pan the satyr from Hellenic mythology. They were the wild feral creatures, half men and half goats, who loved to play their pipes, frolic in the woods, and do unspeakable things to ladies).

 It's the kind of place where that shadow that you swear is a rack of clothes really is a monster in the closet. "Dark is never far and is always looking for a way in," Jonquil says and he is not kidding. It is always dusk or dark around the Gardens. The Gardens themselves draw magical creatures towards it, making living there an unpleasant but enchanting home for the Blackwoods and all who inhabit it.

It turns out that the Pans are just the opening act because Nightfall Gardens is full of surprises. The very ground has weeds and vines that appear to trap and scratch the unwary traveler until they bleed to death. Rooms appear and disappear and mirrors show ghastly reflections instead of the person looking into them. That's not counting the animals and humans, or those that appear as such, that surround the place.

Shades, or Ghosts, take the form of Lily to trap Silas and almost succeed. The White Garden, where the Shades live, is also home to Demons, Banshees, Succubi, Lords of the Underworld, and Wicked Crones. Grandma Deiva is forever waiting for the ghost of her late husband, the children's grandfather, to escort her to her death. Before that, the children have close encounters with him. 

There are some enigmatic figures called The Smiling Ladies that Lily and Silas are advised to just stay away from ("Someone you don't want to meet unless you want eternal sleep," a character somberly says). These creepy creatures are all there, lurking in the shadows, waiting for something, and are ready for the moment when they can strike and shed some blood.

Nightfall Gardens is the first book in the Nightfall Gardens Series, so it does what most first books do: sets up the world. Houston makes the Gardens an unforgettable place that the Reader wants to explore at least through writing. (This Reader is too much of a coward to go to a place like that for real.) Like many, the first book isn't so strong in plot as it is in tone. Plot points are introduced, but due to the book being part of a series, are not resolved by the end. This suggests that these will be ongoing struggles, motifs, and themes that will occur throughout the series rather than being resolved by Book 1.

Besides setting, Houston does a good job in characterizing the Blackwoods. This is a family that has a tremendous burden. They don't want to do it. They have often fought against it, but they know that they have to. Many of them are willing to sacrifice their own personal happiness and welfare to remain in this haunted and disturbing estate for the larger picture of protecting the world.

Since Lily and Silas are new to this responsibility, they try to fight it. Lily in particular is somewhat narcissistic and longs to return to the legitimate stage so she can become a star. When she hears about a possible loophole, she spends some time looking for it so she and her brother can be freed and not have to suffer the burden that their ancestors did.

Silas is more pragmatic and realizes that his own protective nature towards his sister was the reason for his arrival. He wasn't supposed to come and just forced his way in. However, now that he is here, he is determined to do what he can to protect the Gardens and especially Lily.

Nightfall Gardens is one of those literary locations that you will never forget. You might be too scared to visit and you certainly wouldn't want to live there. But you don't mind reading about it, so you can get a good old fashioned Gothic scare.

 

New Book Alert: The Leviathan Trial by Oliver Madison; Suspenseful Clever Mind Twisting Thriller About Breakable Family Ties

 

New Book Alert: The Leviathan Trial by Oliver Madison; Suspenseful Clever Mind Twisting Thriller About Breakable Family Ties

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: Oliver Madison's The Leviathan Trial is an odd combination of The Hunger Games, Battle Royale, The Purge, and "The Most Dangerous Game," meets the Hatfields and The McCoys. It involves a sadistic game of life or death, but the participants are children in one very large, rich, multi-talented and incredibly screwed up family.

Father Benedict Lancaster is a very eccentric billionaire/recluse. At 90 years of age he lives the high life. He has homes, cars, thriving businesses, fame, infamy, and a tragic backstory to go with it. At 12 years old, he was the sole survivor of an accident that claimed the lives of his entire family leaving Benedict a very sad but wealthy young boy. (He was the sole heir to the family fortune.)

Upon adulthood, Benedict was a childless confirmed bachelor until abruptly in his 70's, he decided to adopt a child. Ultimately, he adopted 12 children from different countries.

The Lancaster children are raised in very unusual circumstances. They were left largely isolated, educated by a bevy of tutors, teachers, and coaches, until they attended the nearby Preparatory Academy where they are the subject of scrutiny, speculation, and gossip. They are ordered to socialize only with each other and to excel in one specific field.

 Benedict is hardly ever home leaving their care to an array of house servants and each other. He only returns to evaluate their performances and to reward or penalize them if they fall short of his expectations. Okay a wealthy, but distant father who expects his children to become overachievers. Nothing weird about that until they start talking about the Leviathan.

The Leviathan is a mythical creature who is their family spirit. The Lancasters pray to the Leviathan before meals and bedtime and swear total allegiance to this strange creature. Benedict often inspires and even thrives on competition between his children and allows rivalries and cliques to form because that is the way the Leviathan wants it.There are plenty of rumors that the Lancasters children are actually brainwashed members of a cult with Benedict as their leader and those rumors might be right.

The Lancaster children are a bizarre but fascinating bunch. Madison excellently personalized each character and how they interact as a family and as individuals. They are:

Pearl-The oldest at 19 and first to be adopted. She was adopted from New Zealand and is a champion skeet shooter. She is the de facto parent and mother of the group. Some believe that she is the closest thing Benedict has ever had to a wife.

Hiroshi-At 18, he was the first adopted boy. From Japan, he is a wrestling champion and the most physically athletic and strongest of the kids.

Blake-Also 18, he is from Iran and is an academic all-star. A chess champion, Blake has a sardonic attitude and often schemes against his siblings.

Cynthia-17, she is from Brazil and is an accomplished software engineer and computer programmer. She is very quiet and is known to hide her true feelings and keep to herself away from the others.

Allister-Also 17, he was adopted from Uganda. Like Pearl and Hiroshi, he is also an athlete though this time a champion fencer. He has a bad temper and somewhat inflated ego.

Zara-Also 17, she was adopted from India. She is the most star struck and is an accomplished actress, dancer, and model. She can be vain about her appearance and accomplishments describing herself as the Lancaster "family triple threat."

Troy-16, the only one adopted from the United States, he was from a Native American family. He is a culinary expert and gourmet chef. He is usually friendly and even tempered.

Levi-15, adopted from Kenya. He is very verbal as a debate champion and bookworm. He is also the book's Every Kid as he serves as the main third person narrator. Even though he is protective of some of his siblings, he isn't shy about becoming rivals with others particularly Blake and Allister.

Eden-Also 15, she is from Russia. She is a philanthropist and has organized a family foundation and charity that provides aid and assistance to underprivileged children from around the world. She has a reputation as the family do-gooder.

Mauve-13, she was adopted from Cambodia. She is a bright philosophy student but is going through a Goth stage. She is very rebellious and antagonistic towards Benedict and the other sibs.

Sion-Also 13, he was adopted from Puerto Rico. He is a founder of the chemistry club at his school and is very scientific and analytical. He is also a mischievous prankster and a bully, whose bullying sometimes extends to family members.

Helena-7, the youngest of the Lancasters and baby of the family. She was adopted from Norway and is mute. She may be autistic (though she has not been officially diagnosed, Benedict and the others just suspect that she is.) She is a complete mystery to her siblings except for Levi with whom she has developed a deep loving bond.

Yes the Lancasters are super talented, super strong, super brilliant, and super competitive. All of that plus their strange upbringing is a simmering cauldron that explodes into something super terrible.

The explosion occurs after the death of the family patriarch. Upon viewing his video will, the children learn that only one will inherit the family fortune and the title of The Great Leviathan. Who will it be? Well, it will be resolved by the children fighting each other in their locked mansion to the death. The one who is left alive will inherit the lot. Oh yeah and should they refuse, a poisonous gas will spread throughout the mansion killing everyone inside. So it's either 11 die and one lives or they all die. It's not too long before greed and survival instincts kick in and the Lancaster children become a bloodthirsty vicious bunch ready to kill the rest of their family.

The Trial itself is a truly suspenseful section as the children separate first into groups of three to outdo the others then turn on each other. There are some pretty heart stopping moments where some characters try to use physical strength to subdue each other physically while others hide in the shadows, mentally playing the different ends before they make their moves. They are also practiced at using their specific skills as means for attack and self defense.

 This is the type of book where people's real motives and ambitions come out under stress, ambition, and terror. Suddenly, that nice sweet sister of yours with whom you shared secrets will use those secrets as collateral damage before she willingly slashes your throat. Suddenly, that protective big brother who always defended you from bullies will now use that awesome strength and physical prowess to choke the life out of you. It's also the type of book where no one truly comes out clean. Even the seemingly nice characters aren't above scheming and fighting against siblings that they had long term rivalries with but are now seen as obstacles to their survival and fortune. There are even hints that the one who makes it will become as ruthless and power hungry as Dear Old Dad. 

The Leviathan Trial has some pretty clever and gut wrenching twists none of which will be revealed here but they subvert expectations and cause the Reader to rethink what had gone on before. There are some flaws notably the presence of Kitty Choi, a potential love interest for Levi that gets accidentally thrown into the Trial and does very little to advance the plot. She really only serves as the eyes and ears of the Reader to give some much needed exposition and an outsider perspective to this very odd family. If Kitty's presence was part of one of the many plot twists, it may have made sense for her to be there but she is simply a missed opportunity.

Mostly, The Leviathan Trial is a great novel that reveals that some family ties can be broken and shattered.