Summary & Review of Nora Robert's The Awakening

Cover of The Awakening.
Photo by April

 

Well, I never thought that I’d actually enjoy a book by Nora Robers, after all I do not typically like romance novels, but this book proved me wrong. In The Awakening Nora Roberts introduces a strong female lead into a traditional high fantasy with a modern twist.  

The Woman, The Key 

We first meet Breen Kelly as an unhappy middle school teacher, something she hates and only does because it was what her mother wanted. Breen has been kept down and told she was less than average by her single mother. This is only compounded by how terrible she is at teaching. Teaching does not suit her and only causes her to doubt herself more. 

The only bright spots in her life are her friends Marco, Sally, and Derrick. Marco works at Sally’s bar and Sally has become a type of mother to Breen over the years. The three have been constant companions for her over the tough years and difficult times dealing with her mother. 

The Surprise discovery 

One day while Breen is cleaning and taking care of her mother’s home, she notices some papers with her name on them. Upon closer inspection she realizes that they are banking documents worth thousands, if not millions. In an out of character move she contacts the agent only to discover that her father, whom she thought had long forsaken her, had been sending her thousands of dollars annually. She now had enough money to do whatever she wanted, at least enough to quit her job! 

The split-second decisions 

Upon this discovery Breen tells her best friend, Marco, who encourages her to do something crazy or that she always dreamed of. With this encouragement she chooses to take a trip to Ireland so see if she can find her father and/or his family. She also quits her job as a teacher after the end of the year to leave for an extended vacation in Ireland. 

The Man, The Taoiseach 

Keegan O’Broin is a young man when the former taoiseach was killed in battle and a time to select a new leader comes. Keegan while well-trained is not certain he would want to take up the sword and scepter. The day finally comes and he along with many others join in and dive to find the sword hidden in the lake. On that day fate chooses Keegan to make a choice, will he accept the sword and honor the man who helped train him? 

 The Trip-Ireland and Talamh! 

Breen and Marco head off on their first-class adventure to Ireland and discover just how charming everything is.  

Strange encounters 

While on the way to their summer cottage, Breen encounters two unexpected old ‘friends’. The first is an old man with silver hair whom she has seen over the past few weeks around Philidelphia, her home town and she spots at a castle they are visiting. The second is even more unexpected, a falconer named Morena and her falcon Amish. These two encounters leave Breen confused but also strangely at home.  

Discoveries 

While Maro is there they stay at a castle and then find the small cottage they rented. Their time is spent exploring the sights and taking time in the nearby villages. In one village they meet a pub owner who knew her father and even gives her a picture and shares stories.  

The Puppy 

While out for a walk one day, after Marco returned home, Breen finds a puppy, who she assumes is lost. While tiring to find it’s home she follows him into the woods to a fascinating tree. Upon reaching it she notices something strange but carries on because the dog knows where he is going. Just as she passes it, she faints or falls on the road outside a family farm. Upon waking she is introduced to the owners of the home and the land of Talamh! She also discovers that they know her grandmother, someone important to the area. 

The Family 

Upon regaining her strength, she is escorted to meet her grandmother! Everything happens so quickly and she is excited. That is until she learns that her father passed away. But that is just the beginning of her adventures in this new world with much mystery! 

The Expectations 

One day Breen convinces her grandmother to take her to where her father is buried. While on the way there they discuss what happened to her father. Upon reaching the grave they plant flowers and this allows for Breen to use one of her unexpected talents, magic. Breen not only is Irish but is a Fae of Talamh! Along with this her father was the previous Taoiseach and was looked up to, even after leaving to join Breen and her mother in their world. He died protecting all the worlds from a fallen god. Breen is expected to take up the fight and save the worlds. 

The Key and the Taoiseach 

However, magic and the story were not the only shock in store that day for Breen, her grandmother and puppy. While quietly preparing to leave a dark Fae sweeps down and captures Breen taking her to the sky! Things appear hopeless until a dragon, yes that’s a dragon, appears with a ridder to free her. As he rescues her the rider lands and scolds her grandmother. This rider is none other than Keegan, the taoiseach of Talamh! Breen is introduced and they arrange for him to train her to ride and fight. 

The Training 

Magics-protection and healing 

Breen proves to be a natural witch and learns quickly advancing far beyond expectations easily. She easily masters circles, casting, and even healing. Some struggles do come but mostly because she does not understand her own power or is caught in a vision unexpectedly. 

Riding and Swords 

While riding comes more easily, Breen struggles with fighting. Keegan is also not the easiest teacher, most of this is due to him being scared of honoring the vow he made to her father to protect her and train her. Breen does learn and improves, especially as she gains confidence over the summer. 

The Parting 

At the end of the summer Breen choses to leave Ireland and return home. At least to say goodbye to old friends and finish what she started, wrapping up obligations; she has already given her heart to Talamh, and perhaps a few of its inhabitance. Her leaving though upsetting to her friends and grandmother is understood. Keegan, who has become a lover as well as teacher, is upset and angry with her not understanding why she needs to go. He not only is upset as her lover but as the leader and protector of the world. She is needed but can't stay, and he must stay. The worlds she lives in are vastly different, what will be her ultimate choice? Will she choose to continue learning and protect Talamh or depart and carry on in Philadelphia? 

Review 

I would not have normally picked up a book by Nora Roberts (and only did because of the dragon on the cover) but I’m excited to read book 2 in The Dragon Heart Legacy! The story is fast paced and exciting, weaving modernity and fantasy seamlessly. The world of Talamh is built on the high fantasy of such worlds as Avalon and Camelot. Though I see hints of other worlds as well. The dragon riders remind me of Paolini’s Inheritance Cycle. The world that is created beyond the portal is magical and fascinating full of unique peoples, who are familiar archetypes to fantasy fans. 

The story itself is well done and hits home for the writer of this review. Breen is having a “quarter-life” crisis and wants to know if she can ever have more. The familiar song of those who long to see what they can be but are kept down by what is expected. Roberts (2020) details the despair found when one is unhappy with life and has been told forever that they are not good at anything. The desire to escape to a fantasy world, even one so torn by troubles, is delightfully detailed in the telling. As one who grew up reading Narnia, I feel this story captures that desire and makes it real and grown up! 

The novel has a bit for everyone. There is adventure and excitement with peril from other worldly foes. The story also includes some romance, hinted at first and yes fully detailed but only on a few pages. The romance element is easy and natural to the story not thrown in the readers face; it develops over the course of months not suddenly. Breen goes on a journey of self-discovery and comes out the better for it, she is neither a helpless damsel of fantasy or a heroine who can’t see help or romance. The characters are balanced and real. Breen is shown struggling and succeeding. She knows when to accept help and when she needs to work harder to succeed. Keegen is also shown as not only a hard trainer but a caring companion to Breen not wanting to take advantage but being kind and allowing her to make decisions. This applies even when he desires her to return with him to Talamh to save everyone, finally realizing that she must make the decision on her own. 

The story is easy reading and well developed. I can’t wait to read the next chapter of the lives of Breen, Keegan, Marco and Talamh! 

Reference 

Roberts, N. (2020). The Awakening: The dragon heart legacy book 1. New York: St. Martin’s Press.  

Review of The Dark Archive by Genevieve Cogman

“A mysterious archive A powerful enemy And a cunning plan” (Cogman, Cover)

Cover of the Dark Archive

The seventh book in Genevieve Cogman's “Invisible Library Series” detailing the exploits of a magical Librarian named Irene and her quest to save worlds from chaos and order, Fae and Dragons!

At the end of the last book we left the worlds of the Invisible Library in a delicate truce between many powerful entities. Dragons (master's of order) and Fae (lords of Chaos) had struck a tenuous truce with the Library to stop harming each other at the cost of humans (and worlds).

At the beginning of this volume the truce is new and a still questioned by unseen forces...also a new aspect has arisen, the Fae want to find a way to have one of their own join the ranks of Librarian (a never before accomplished feat). The Lord Silver (the Fae treaty representative and bane of Irene's, Librarian and main heroine) has offered his niece, Catherine, as an apprentice to Irene, for if anyone can get a Fae into the Library it would be her, the one who had a Dragon apprentice and saved the Library from their worst enemy, Alberich.

However, this treaty is not the only struggle that the team of heroes face in this new adventure. Many mysterious old enemies are reappearing seemingly out of the mists, including one who is definitely dead, Lord Guantes, killed by Irene while rescuing Kai on their last adventure. Along with old enemies there is jealousy brewing among the Dragons, particularly Kai (Irene's onetime apprentice and now lover) and his older brother Shan Yuan. This feud seems to cause problems but yet be helpful in ending the troubles they find themselves in. Shan Yuan is both the cause of their capture and a means of escape.

This is not the most shocking element of the tale nor is it the major plot. Irene must once again discover who is powerful enough to shape worlds and capture not only Dragons and Fae but Librarians, who have powerful Language magic. Irene is faced with only one seemingly logical answer, yet he too is dead, again killed by Irene. So not only is Lord Guantes seemingly alive, her arch nemesis is as well!

Will these heroes survive yet another scrape with death! Who can they trust? Will the new Fae Library Apprentice be trusted or did she betray them, after all she is a Fae subject to her archetype?!?

Reveiw

This book is an action packed edition to an already delightful world where Libarians are much more than simple guardians of books and knowledge. Cogman has created a colorful world that blends many fantasy and sci-fi elements seamlessly to form a whole new world. Irene is a great heroine and can stand alone but chooses to work with a team and knows when she needs support, though often needing reminders to not take unneeded risks by Kai. The blending of Western archetypes and Fae magic with that of the Eastern Dragons is done well and creates many new opportunities and juxtapositions. I highly recommend the entire “Invisible Library” Series to lovers of fantasy, dragons, and libraries. Cogman's storytelling has elements of fantasy, romance, and adventure which will delight many fans, including those who love high fantasy adventures tales.

For more reviews by me about the Invisible Library see (in order of books):

April Librarian: The Invisible Library [Review] (aprillibraian.blogspot.com)

April Librarian: The Masked City: A Review (aprillibraian.blogspot.com)

April Librarian: Review of The Burning Page (aprillibraian.blogspot.com)

April Librarian: The Lost Plot: Review (aprillibraian.blogspot.com)

April Librarian: Review: Cogman's The Mortal Word-An Invisible Library Novel (aprillibraian.blogspot.com)

April Librarian: Review of The Secret Chapter by Cigman (aprillibraian.blogspot.com)

Reference

Cogman, G. (2020). The dark archive. London: Pan Books.

Cover image taken by author of this post of the book noted above. All rights to the cover art belong to Pan Books.

Brief review of The Personal Librarian [audio]

This audiobook recounts the story of Belle da Costa Greene, the world-renowned Personal Librarian to JP Morgan at the prestigious Pierpont Morgan Library. 

Cover of the Personal Librarian

Disk one of the audiobook 

This historical fiction written by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is based on the life and accomplishments of Belle de Costa Greene, the librarian to Mr. Morgan (2021). This exciting tale shares the many fortunes and heartbreaks of Ms. Greene in New York in the start of the 20th century. Benedict and Murray capture the time and people of Belle’s life with vivid color for the reader. And as this was an audiobook which I read the reading of Robin Miles brings Belle to life in a way that reading it alone would not. Each element presented draws readers along on an adventure. Though I was disappointed in the sudden summary of the life of Ms. Greene following the death of JP Morgan, while her early years at the library were told in detail the final shift from a private collection to public seemed quickly summarized in a quick paced afterward to the main tale.  

The story follows both Belle’s public and personal life, which each have their own secrets that were never to be reviled to anyone lest she fall from grace. The cast of her life is full of powerful names, as she went from being a reference librarian in the Princeton library to a confidante of one of America’s most powerful men.  

I enjoyed listening to this tale and could feel the emotion being conveyed. Robin Miles brings Belle and her inner dialog to life in a way as to make it feel that one is sitting with Ms. Greene. The artfully told story shows the skills of both Benedict and Murray to research a woman who was little know and bring her to life for the common person. I highly recommend picking up this book, even if you do not enjoy historical fiction, simply for the wonderful storytelling. 

Reference 

Benedict, M. and Murray, V.C. (2021). The personal librarian: A novel [Audiobook CD]. Penguin Audio. 

Images taken of CD case & CD by blog author of images owned by Penguin. 

Summary & Review of Snoopy: A Peanuts Collection

 

This collection of Peanuts comics focuses on Snoopy and his relationships with the other characters in the strip by Schultz. Snoopy is ever getting himself into situations with the others in different ways. He is often seen in his own imagination, and everyone can find themselves in him. This collection is wonderfully illustrated by Charles Schultz and other authors. It offers readers a familiar look at old friends (including some often unseen Beagle siblings).

The strips themselves show the love and care that Schultz took in each character, they have personalities. The stories in this collection show a range of emotions from excitement to disappointment. Each tale invokes a new emotion for the reader through text and image. The Peanuts gang and their triumphs, failures, and sweet moments are familiar friends to many people.

My Favorites in this Collection

I enjoyed the book as a whole but had favorite stories as anyone would. Particularly after the crazy few weeks I've had. Snoopy provides a familiar friend with some relatable situations and silly antics.

Lucy Yells at Snoopy

The first tale I enjoyed was about the Daisy Hill Puppy of the Year Contest. In this tale Charlie Brown has Snoopy enter a contest to make him Puppy of the Year, however they need to find five references to say how great Snoopy is. Of course Charlie Brown writes one but who will do the others? This leads the characters on a journey including blanket snatching blackmail, puppy dog eyes, and even Schroeder playing a dinner concert for Snoopy all for letters. The one who refuses to write a letter to no ones surprise is Lucy, as she simply doesn't want to and at one point even says “Some people think HAPPINESS IS A WARM KITTEN!” (Schultz, 2017, unpaged), a reference to one of Schultz other works Happiness is a Warm Puppy.
Though in the end we see a rare shared moment between Lucy and Snoopy as she explains why she wouldn't write a letter. This tale shows just because someone may not always be kind or their for you, you do have an impact on their lives. Snoopy and Lucy may not always see eye to eye but they like each other, at least sometimes.

The second story I liked was all about World Famous Authors, and how of course Snoopy is one of them. It features Snoopy and Woodstock (as the assistant). Snoopy is once again writing a master piece,

Snoopy upset at Woodstock

using the typewriter on his dog house, and dictating to Woodstock, who is once again late. As they try to figure out the best starting line Woodstock attempts to suggest lines that do not revolve around a hero dog. finally leaving. In the next panel Snoopy hears something, when he investigates he finds that Woodstock is writing his own tale. When shown the work Snoopy hates each idea...well, that is until Woodstock starts writing about dogs and not birds...This story shows an interesting aspect of the twos friendship which while not always great is typically seen in good light. Woodstock tries to show what he can do and Snoopy is upset by this. How often do we get jealous of our friend. Relatable right!

My collection of Flying Ace Items

My favorite “character” in Peanuts is actually all in Snoopy's imagination, the WWI Flying Ace
, is also featured. However, unlike other versions where he fights imaginary foes, particularly the Red Baron, he must face the neighborhood children! Of course the Flying Ace must have his Root Beer served by none other than a French waitress (Marcie) and then things just get worse from there. Eventually he just decides to quit and hide in his dog house! A twist of this strip is that instead of remaining in Snoopy's imagined world we see the havoc wreaked by Flying Ace in the other characters real lives as he attempts to sneak back from behind enemy lines to his Sopwith Camel (dog house). The story is well executed and demonstrates the vast stylings of the various artists/writers of this little volume. The unique view offered provides a fun back drop to the character of the Flying Ace instead of seeing him as he typically is accomplishing his many feats.

I still find the fact that Peppermint Patty and her friend, Marcie, believe Snoopy is a kid funny. In the previous tale Snoopy is said to be “handsome” and then in the next Peppermint Patty seems to think he can enter a wrist wrestling tournament. However, there is only one problem...dogs don't have wrists!

Peppermint Patty Registers Snoopy

However, Peppermint Patty is looking for a champion and who else would she chose but Snoopy, though she first mentioned that maybe Charlie Brown should enter. This leads to him training and winning but only by a sneaky kiss to the unbeatable champion. This silly trope is one seen throughout Peanuts history, one other one I remember is “Joe Cool” an alter ego of Snoopy's in various comics and cartoons. This delightful story about Wrist Wrestling also shows Lucy once again as the antagonist who is outwitted by Snoopy and a YUCK DOG GERMS! moment with Lucy.

Memories Last Forever

The final tale I'll mention is all about loss and moving on from the past. In this story Woodstock needs to migrate as it's winter and that's what birds do...but he doesn't want to go alone. Snoopy decides to go with him, at least at first. After a bit they stop and decide it's far enough to turn back home....but not before Snoopy realizes they are near where he was born, the Daisy Hill Puppy Farm. This story shares how different people process loss and the past. Each one of Snoopy's siblings is shown as having a
different reaction from him. The story ends with the realization that while places may be gone we never lose the memories, thanks to Charlie Brown! What an important reminder in changing times, as many have lost something or someone.

Conclusion

In the end this is a great collection of memories and nostalgia that will be appreciated by old and new fans of Peanuts. Charles Schultz was a great cartoonist and the artists who helped create this collection did a wonderful tribute. Remember each of us will have different reactions to events and can all make a mess of things, just ask “Good Ole Charlie Brown” and the Peanuts Gang.

References

Schultz, C. (2017). Snoopy: A Peanuts collection. Kaboom.

Images taken of the book by April Martin. Photos of above book published by Kaboom!