Flashman in the Great Game - Chapter 14

Given the events in Chapter 13 you could wonder why this chapter even exists. Surely everything's been wrapped up.

It starts off that way with Harry letting people know what happened to the major players on both sides. Nana Sahib seemed to get away, he vanished somewhere on the frontier and they never seemed to catch up with him. I guess there have been shades of that in the more recent Afghan conflict, too.

Flashman visits the shrine that her people have set up to Lakshmibai, and she does enter the books roll of honour along with Lola Montez and Elspeth as women that Harry Flashman has genuinely been in love with. Lakshmibai is rather unique in that it's highly like Flashman never actually slept with her. The woman he met and had sex with earlier in the book was probably a nautch dancer or courtesan.

He also says that he did encounter Ignatieff again, but quickly adds that both times were diplomatic bunfights, for which he was grateful. I doubt he would have survived any other sort of meeting with the wily Russian.

Whilst waiting to go back home Harry reflects rather glumly that with titles and honours being handed out right left and centre he hasn't received so much as a commendation. He believes this is because Lakshmibai was killed and part of his mission was to get her out alive.

He receives a letter from Elspeth (most welcome) along with a book that Cardigan gave her and asked her to send on to Harry. Elspeth said she didn't much care for it, but sent it anyway, and doesn't seem to know why Cardigan wanted to make Harry a gift of it anyway. Harry stows it in his luggage and doesn't give it a second thought.

During a meeting with Campbell and Lord Canning Flashman is presented with a Victoria Cross, he's barely recovered from that shock when Lady Canning refers to Elspeth as Lady Flashman, which indicates that Harry is now Sir Harry Flashman. A knighthood is all that Harry has ever wanted. His life is almost complete now.

On the way to Calcutta he's bored so picks up the book and starts to read through it. The book is of course Tom Brown's Schooldays, and Cardigan sent it to irritate Harry, which it does. This packet ends with him threatening to sue Thomas Hughes, challenge him to a duel, horsewhip him...

Some of that last passage had a couple of possible continuity mistakes. Flashman indicates that he has not seen or thought of Brown since Rugby. Yet he meets Brown face to face in Flashman's Lady, which although it was published after Flashman in the Great Game, takes place before. He would have remembered the meeting because it was the catalyst for one of his strangest adventures. He also says that he would never admit to being the Flashman in the books, but mentions that he was once asked by Ulysses S. Grant, a fan of the book, if he was the same person, and he replied that yes he was and just to throw Grant referred to his times at Rugby as 'capital' days. I'm not sure which book that happened in. I think it would be either Flashman and the Redskins (book 7) or Flashman and the Angel of the Lord (book 10).

There are two appendices which concern the Mutiny itself and the Rani. Neither of them really add anything to the story, but clear up some of Flashman's errors and confirm other points made.

Flashman in the Great Game - Chapter 13

This, the lucky thirteenth chapter of Flashman in the Great Game starts the close of the whole crazy adventure. It's also one of the best chapters in the book in my opinion. It contains sections I've remembered better than a lot of others in this fifth of Harry's escapades.

Flashman is imprisoned at Gwalior on Lakshimibai's orders, although I think she expected Sher Khan to treat him better than he was. The soldier basically ignored Flashman for the entire two months he was held captive in a tiny cell in the dungeon at Gwalior, only occasionally checking to see that he was still alive.

While Harry was incarcerated the mutiny ground to a halt as the superior British forces began to clean up the few remaining hold outs and pockets of resistance. Flashman was unaware of this as he only rarely saw Sher Khan, and he didn't get any news.

To prevent madness Flashman had heard of prisoners performing mental exercises in their heads. Some remembered hymns or poetry, others did mathematical theorems. Harry freely admits he's not much for religion or mathematics, and the only poem he had ever committed to memory was one Arnold made him remember as a punishment for farting in church.

What Harry does is try to remember every woman he's ever had. From a maid when he was fifteen to a half caste at Cawnpore. His final tally is four hundred and seventy eight. It's a total that impressed even Flashman, especially as he wasn't counting return engagements. He was in his mid thirties at the time, and I'd be willing to bet that by the time he died in his 90's he'd probably more than doubled that amount.

Possibly due to this Flashman had one of those marvelous nightmares that George MacDonald Fraser wrote so magnificently. He was hosting a ball for all of the ladies aboard the Balliol College. John Charity Spring conducted the orchestra and Elspeth danced with Lord Palmerston. Also in attendance, and mentioned by name were Lola Montez (Royal Flash), Josette and Judy (Flashman), The Silk One (Flashman at the Charge), Susie Willincks (Flash for Freedom!), Baroness Pechmann (Royal Flash) and even Nareeman (Flashman).

It's not long after that little trip down memory lane that Harry is taken from the dungeon because Lakshimbai wants to see him. There's a description of a battle at this point, and Fraser does do these very well, he seems to capture the chaos and confusion of a fight, and it all centres around his narrator. The Rani gives Harry his freedom, but he doesn't take it and sees her enter the battle, and is by her side when she dies. Harry doesn't elaborate on how she received her fatal wound, but the Notes indicate that it's believed to be the result of a bullet.

Worse is yet to come for Flashman. He's knocked unconscious during the battle and wakes to find himself strapped to the barrel of a cannon! I don't think this was the preferred method of execution, but a number of mutineers were killed this way. It's barbaric, but the soldiers seemed to think it was fitting revenge for the depredations of the mutineers in killing and cutting up British women and children. Harry manages to catch the eye of a lieutenant and have his gag removed. He knows one of the officers; a captain from the 8th Hussars, who was in the Charge of the Light Brigade with him, and displays enough knowledge to make them believe his claim to being the famous Harry Flashman. He then demands that the other mutineers be taken down and set free.

Tricked by Kevin Hearne

The fourth instalment of Kevin Hearne’s Iron Druid Chronicles actually begins with the ‘death’ of the main character. Fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and James Bond know that a good creator will never truly let their title character kick the bucket unless they’ve got a good out.

It’s certainly an audacious way to begin a book, and the shocks continue to come throughout the narrative. Hearne put it into 4^th gear and left his foot pressed to the floor the entire way through Tricked, and there’s rarely a chance for the reader to draw breath. Once Atticus is ‘dead’ he’s got the Norse gods off his back (they’re still ticked off about the whole Thor and Odin thing in Hammered), but he’s had to relocate and a key component of his ‘death’; Native American trickster god Coyote (hence the book’s title), wants a favour, and this is something that draws Atticus, Oberon and the druid’s apprentice Granuaile into what is possibly the most dangerous escapade of all four books.

I’m going to split this review into two sections: The Good and The Not So Good, because that’s largely how I read this. Half the time I was grinning and chuckling, and the other half frowning and shaking my head. It’s highly likely that because I’ve ‘shot gunned’ the Iron Druid’s I’ve od’ed a little, and that’s coloured my view of Tricked.

The Good:

Lots of Oberon, the witty wolfhound was absent for a lot of Hammered and my enjoyment of the book suffered as a result. More Oberon, always more Oberon. In fact on his behalf I’d like to know why these books aren’t called The Irish Wolfhound Chronicles?

More of Granuaile. I really like Atticus’ apprentice, and since being introduced in Hounded, she seemed to be sidelined in Hexed and Hammered on the grounds that she can’t necessarily protect herself. In some ways she’s more dangerous than Atticus himself.

Coyote. I like the trickster god and his habit of referring to Atticus as Mister Druid and Granuaile as Miss Druid, not to mention bringing sausages for Oberon is highly endearing.

The use of Native American mythology. One of the series’ strengths is Hearne’s way of viewing the better known mythologies and his willingness not to confine himself to those. I haven’t read a lot of urban fantasy that strays too far from the European mythologies and this was a welcome change.

Some of Atticus back story. One thing that has bugged me about the earlier books was that for a 2,100 year old man Atticus doesn’t seem to have much of a back story. He sprinkled famous historical names about the place, but that was about it. His story in Tricked actually allowed readers to get to know him a little better and that was appreciated.

The Not So Good:

Oberon got hurt L.

I don’t like what’s happened to Leif, and unless it pays off in a future book I’ll be asking myself why this was done.

No, Mrs McDonagh. Okay she was in it, but in a vastly altered form, and I liked her before.

I always thought Atticus’ cranky arms dealing neighbour Mr Semardjian had comic potential, but he was pretty much dropped in Hexed and hasn’t returned, although he was mentioned in Tricked.

Atticus himself bugs me a little. The Irish college boy humour and manner worked in Hounded, and to a lesser extent Hexed, but it’s becoming rather tiresome now, and I prefer reading about Granuaile and Oberon.

Atticus’ character inconsistencies remained.

I’d just gotten used to him being based in Tempe, Arizona and then he ups stumps to Kayenta.

Atticus is becoming a little too indestructible.

I think my biggest issue with Tricked is that at only 4 books in the books are becoming a little formulaic. However Tricked does seem to be an end to the opening character arc, and the sneak peek I read of Trapped confirmed this and I think it may take the series in a slightly different direction.

I once said this about the Dresden Files, and I think it applies even more here. The Iron Druid books are a little like the literary equivalent of fast food. They look appealing and they’re easy to digest, fine in moderation, but you wouldn’t want a steady diet of them. Despite my criticisms I am hooked, and by the time Trapped appears on book shelves I’m sure I’ll be ready for some more of Atticus and Co.  

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

Ursula Le Guin’s classic A Wizard of Earthsea was one of those books on the list that I had read before. However I read it many years ago when I was a child, more than once I believe, but I couldn’t remember a huge amount of it, beyond that the main character was called Sparrowhawk and he had attended a school for magic.

This time around it was a lot gentler and less exciting than I remembered. As it was originally written for a younger audience it does seem rather light in tone, not big on the description, but there’s a lot of darkness in it, and Sparrowhawk himself is not a particularly likeable protagonist for much of it, although he does pay a heavy price for his earlier hubris and does his best to put it right.

The plot is simple and easy to follow. A young man grows up in a remote community, shows some aptitude for magic is initially instructed by a local female, and then fostered by a gruff old wizard, eventually being sent to a thriving metropolis to a college where he can hone his abilities. He unleashes a darkness upon the world and spends the rest of the book trying to put right what his actions have caused.

It’s very much a coming of age book and it deals with complex and interesting characters who are neither all good or all bad, but a combination of the two. It’s deeply atmospheric and Le Guin uses her words with economy. The book is one of those that can be read by young or old alike and appreciated for different reasons.

The world was, for the time, rather unique. Earthsea is a collection of islands of varying sizes with their own histories, languages and cultures. Geographically it reminds of the Philippines or Indonesia. Further books explore more of the islands and their culture.   

At the time when A Wizard of Earthsea was published (1968) not many genre books wanted to stray too far from the ground broken by earlier writers. Le Guin dared to do this with her Earthsea concept and it was a welcome change. I rate A Wizard of Earthsea as importantly in the genre as The Lord of the Rings, and I think it’s been almost as influential.

It’s take a long time, but over the last 20 years authors have begun to look to A Wizard of Earthsea for inspiration as much as they used to look at The Lord of the Rings. If you wanted to read more of Earthsea, A Wizard of Earthsea is often thought of as a trilogy along with The Tombs of Atuan and The Farthest Shore. A fourth book; Tehanu, came along in 1990, 18 years after The Farthest Shore, and it does largely complete the story begun in A Wizard of Earthsea, although all the books can be read as standalones. Although Tehanu is titled The Last Book of Earthsea, two further books; The Other Wind and Tales from Earthsea (a collection of short stories) came out in 2001. Many say that Harry Potter was significantly influenced by A Wizard of Earthsea, and the idea of a magical college is certainly present, although I think Hogwarts owes it’s creation as much to the British novels of the early to mid 20^th century that spoke of boarding school life (Elinor Brent-Dyer, Angela Brazil and Enid Blyton were prominent authors of this type of work) as much as it does to A Wizard of Earthsea. Patrick Rothfuss’ The Name of the Wind contains a section at a magical college which reminded me very much of the same scenes in A Wizard of Earthsea, and Lev Grossman’s Magicians also takes place in a magical college. The latter two are fairly recent publications and owe a great debt to Le Guin’s ground breaking work.  

Disappearing Nightly by Laura Resnick

Before reviewing Laura Resnick’s Disappearing Nightly I need to give a quick explanation as to why despite having enjoyed the previous Esther Diamond adventures I’m only reading the first one now in 2012, rather then in 2006 when it was originally published.

Disappearing Nightly first came out in 2005, and was published by Luna. For various reasons Luna and Esther never really clicked, and she didn’t find another home until DAW picked up the series a few years later. The series has gone from strength to strength under DAW, beginning with Doppelgangster, continuing with Unsympathetic Magic and last years Vamparazzi (I believe the 5^th book; Polterheist, is due out later this year). However Laura Resnick didn’t get the publishing rights back to Disappearing Nightly until fairly recently, then DAW had to repackage it to fit with the rest of the series, and so it didn’t find it’s way to me until a couple of weeks ago.

I’d always been eager to read Disappearing Nightly, as although Esther quickly recapped the events from the book in Doppelgangster, this was where the actress met her friend, the 350 year old European magician Max Zadok, and her on again, off again love interest; Connor Lopez. Both Max and Connor are pretty major parts of Esther life and her adventures so seeing how they first came onto the scene is important for any fan of the books.

Esther was happily working as a wood nymph, understudying the lead actress, in an off Broadway (way off) production called Sorcerer! when the lead actress, a former teenie pop star with the ridiculous stage name of Golly Gee (Lopez refers to her as Gosh Darn at one point, and I didn’t buy his explanation that he was only joking), quite literally disappears. Because Esther is her understudy, and therefore gains from the disappearance she’s considered a suspect, and then she starts receiving warning notes, cryptically signed MZ.

Other people start disappearing, and before Esther can say abracadabra, she finds herself teamed up with Max, a team of highly enthusiastic drag queens, a conjuring cowboy and his perky daughter and a young banker who has been rail roaded into the financial industry by his family, when all he really wants to do is perform magic. They all think they’re helping. Lopez is of the opinion that what they’re doing is hindering his investigation and if he could find grounds he’d arrest the lot of them, except maybe Esther, who he wants to date.   

Because I’d already read the later books in the series I already knew who was behind the disappearances and roughly why, so the mystery of trying to work out whodunit wasn’t there in this one. It didn’t however detract from my enjoyment of the book. The fun of the Esther Diamonds is with Esther herself and the somewhat combative relationship she enjoys with Lopez. He was better drawn in this than I feel he has been in some of the later books, in this one he wasn’t afraid to make gentle fun of Esther and being openly disbelieving of her, not something he still does. Considering that some of the seemingly less likely things she suggests actually come to pass, this may be why he isn’t as skeptical of her now.

The books have a knack of introducing one off characters that intrigue me, this time it was Max’s boss, the Anglo Indian Lysander Singh from that well known hotbed of evil; Altoona, PA. He kept reminding me of the officious Nigel from The Watchers Council in Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Season 5, Episode 12, Checkpoint. Oh yes, I know my Buffy the Vampire Slayer). It was highly amusing to watch Max and Esther simply ignore most of what he said and blunder on regardless. Like Lucky Battistuzzi (Doppelgangster) it’s unlikely he’ll appear again, but he is there waiting in the wings if the author decides he’s required.

The Esther Diamonds are a little hard to classify, they’re definitely urban fantasy and the Lopez/Esther relationship kind of strays into romance territory, although there’s not a lot of it. The author herself refers to them as comedic urban fantasy, so I’ll go with that, I kind of like it as sub genre classification actually.

I think I’ve said this with nearly every review I’ve done of the books, but no one seems to be paying attention to me, so I’ll close by saying it again. These books are simply screaming to be made into a TV show. Someone please make this happen!      

The Book of the Damned by Tanith Lee

Ahhhh Must Read list your selections so often amuse, surprise and on occasion frustrate me. The K’s had Anna Kavan’s Mercury and the L’s bring me Tanith Lee’s The Book of the Damned. I’ll say right off the bat that I thought The Book of the Damned was more readable and enjoyable than Mercury, but it’s still an odd selection.

Tanith Lee has written right across the spectrum of SFF, she’s a moderately important writer, but I’m not sure why they chose the first book of her Paradys series to represent her on the list. It’s not really fantasy, more gothic horror, but I didn’t make the list, I just read it.

The Book of the Damned is 3 stories, they’re novella or novelette length. The three stories:  Stained with Crimson, Malice in Saffron and Empires of Azure are all vaguely linked by being set in the city of Paradys and in the themes that they deal with.

All of the stories seemed to deal with gender switching, in some cases it was real, other cases imagined and I think there was one actual hermaphrodite.

Tanith Lee uses her words well and carefully and paints a vivid picture with them. Paradys; a dark, alternate version of 19^th century Paris, is extraordinarily atmospheric and it’s a wonderful setting for these gothic tales of damned individuals, it’s even possible that the city itself is some sort of hell dimension, it’s certainly devoid of simple enjoyment.

The stories overall seemed however to have very little plot, and I did find myself asking more than once what was the point of it all? The characters are both unlikeable and shallow, so make it hard to engage with them or feel much sympathy for them.

There are apparently 3 more books that make up the Paradys series, but I have the feeling they’re all like The Book of the Damned, and not something that would hold my interest for another 3 books, nor do they have a huge amount of appeal for me.

I kept thinking of two other authors or books while I was reading The Book of the Damned, one was Angela Carter's The Bloody Chamber, the subject matter is vastly different (Carter’s book retold fairy tales in a rather dark way), but the use of words and creation of atmosphere is not dissimilar. It also made me recall The Serpent, the first book of Jane Gaskell’s Atlan series, mainly because of the gender switching, as this was also a key theme of The Serpent, with the main character occasionally altering her gender mentally and emotionally, if not physically.

Tinker by Wen Spencer

I'd seen Tinker and picked it up a few times before I finally purchased it, and I think that purchase was driven by seeing a new entry in the series, so I thought it would be worth trying.

I think the concept is excellent. A part of our world (Pittsburgh) in this case ends up in another reality where elves and other magical creations are real and regularly interact with humans. The concept and setting are an interesting mash up of science fiction, urban fantasy, fantasy and paranormal romance. In some ways it's not dissimilar to Nancy A. Collins Golgotham duology (Right Hand Magic and Left Hand Magic), and I did enjoy that, so I thought Tinker might be fun.

This sort of mix of styles and genres can work really well if done right, however if not the results are pretty dire. Unfortunately Tinker falls into the latter. I did like the idea behind the book, and I thought both the elves and their enemies, the Asian influenced onis, were well drawn and handled overall. The elvish society was also slightly Asian influenced, the naming conventions (one family or tribe/clan all had a reference to wind in their name, another flames) became a little tedious and was overdone.

Where Tinker fell down was in the writing, a lot of it was really clunky, the action was done competently, but descriptions were often overly flowery, the sex scenes read like something I'd expect to find in a trashy romance, and sometimes the description went over the top. The dialog was frequently short and choppy, rather like a TV script filled with lines the writers thought were snappy and snarky.

The other thing that was really off were the characters. I loathed Tinker, she was one dimensional and perfect, except when the plot needed her to be stupid. For someone with her upbringing and life style she was remarkably naive. The transition of the cop Nathan from concerned local law enforcement to aggressive, abusive boyfriend was also completely unbelievable and very ham fisted.

There's a blurb on the front of the book from a Publishers Weekly review that fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer would find a lot to enjoy. That's a pretty lazy comparison, it's also totally inaccurate. A lot of Tinker (the execrable romance and sex scenes aside) reads like an off the wall Saturday morning cartoon. It has largely the same amount of character development and dialog.

The author has done a few sequels, so they must have a readership. It didn't work out for me. If anyone did like Tinker, or the concept, I'd advise them to give Nancy A. Collins Golgotham books a try, a lot of what Tinker got wrong, it does right.