Another Special Milestone

250You probably didn’t know this, but tomorrow, on Monday, I will be publishing my 250th review.

When you say it like that, it sounds like a lot.  Yet it doesn’t feel like all that much: I read a book, I write a review.  A year ago I wouldn’t have dreamed of starting a book blog, but now I can’t dream of a time when I don’t read a book and share my opinion on it with the world.  Obviously I don’t have any plans to stop The Mad Reviewer, especially not with my one year anniversary coming up on January 13th.  I’m not one for giving up, especially when I’m only halfway to 500 reviews.  An impressive number when you say it like that.

Yet, once again, I have to thank you, my readers!  I’ve said it over and over because it’s true: without you, this blog and my 250th milestone would not be possible.  Thank you to the people who have stuck with me since the beginning and welcome to my new followers.  Hopefully you’ll stick around for my next big milestone.

As for what book I’ll review for my 250th review, here’s a hint: it’s the first book I’ve read by the author, despite following his blog for at least three years.

The Ballad of Sir Dinadan by Gerald Morris

The Ballad of Sir Dinadan by Gerald Morris(Cover picture courtesy of Booktopia.)

Dinadan rode out of the front gate of his father’s home, promising himself that he would never again enter those walls.

Young Dinadan has no wish to do any of the knightly things expected of him.  But he was born to be a knight, and knights, of course, have adventures.  So after his father forces his knighthood upon him, he wanders toward King Arthur’s court in the company of a misguided young lad named Culloch.  There Dinadan meets Sir Kai and Sir Bedivere, and the three find themselves accompanying Culloch on the worst sort of quest.  Along the way, Dinadan learns that though minstrels sing of spectacular heroic deeds, honor is often found in simpler, quieter ways.

The first four books in The Squire’s Tales have had humour in them, but they never reached into the realm of laugh-out-loud humour.  The Ballad of Sir Dinadan does because of Sir Dinadan’s attitude toward love and knights and because of the sheer craziness of some situations he gets into.  This is the most cynical, irreverent take on the Arthurian legends and I absolutely love it.  In some ways, it makes the first four books seem pale in comparison.

This is the first time we’re actually in the point of view of a knight.  The problem is, he doesn’t want to be a knight.  Dinadan is no good at sword fighting, jousting or wooing ladies.  He is cynical to begin with because his father knighted him while drunk, but he is also hopeful that the world outside his childhood home will be better.  But after an incident with a beautiful maiden, Dinadan turns full cynic and that attitude is proven correct time and time again throughout the story.  The ineptness of Culloch, the horror of discovering what his older brother Sir Tristram is actually like and the folly of Queen Isuelt…wouldn’t you be cynical too?

The plot of The Ballad of Sir Dinadan moves along fairly quickly and is mostly driven by Dinadan, who seems to get himself into all kinds of trouble.  He also solves a lot of problems and encounters a lot of people we now consider legendary in the Arthurian canon.  To some it will seem like Gerald Morris is going out of his way to be irreverent toward beloved figures, but when you think about it, these people (if they really existed) were probably like that.  I guarantee that Gerald Morris’ fifth book in The Squire’s Tales will change your view of at least one character.  If you’re looking for a traditional happy ending, you won’t find it, but the ending isn’t tragic either.  In the context of the story, it makes sense.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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The Best and Worst of November

It’s already December, so let’s take a look back and reflect on November, shall we?  For starters, I just want to say that overall traffic is down this month, likely due to the travelling madness Thanksgiving causes in Americans.  (How dare you people want to spend time with your family!)  However, the good news is that in October I had 5, 421 views while in November it was only slightly down at 5, 346.  Not that bad, considering.  So what articles were the most popular in November?  Let’s take a look:

1.  The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton

2.  The Hunger Games and Ancient Rome

3.  The Giver by Lois Lowry

4.  Matilda by Roald Dahl

5.  Ark Angel by Anthony Horowitz

If you’re thinking this sounds familiar, you’re absolutely right.  A quick look back at October shows that all 5 articles that were at the top then are still at the top now.  The only difference is the order.  So what about the bottom articles?

1.  The Historian by Elisabeth Kostova

2.  Skinned by Robin Wasserman

3.  The Horus Road by Pauline Gedge

4.  The Necromancer by Michael Scott

5.  Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Once again you’ll notice that the bottom 5 are rarely consistent.  Not one of these articles I listed above has made an appearance on the worst 5 before.  The only really surprising things are that The Necromancer and Uglies are part of the 5 ‘worst.’  I guess Michael Scott isn’t as popular now that his series ended and Uglies is an older YA book.  Maybe the current generation will discover it like I did.

That’s how my November went.  How was yours?

The Mummy, or Ramses the Damned by Anne Rice

The Mummy by Anne Rice(Cover picture courtesy of The Towering Pile.)

Ramses the Great lives…

Reawakened in opulent Edwardian London, he becomes Dr. Ramsey, expert in Egyptology and member of a group of jaded aristocrats with strange appetites to appease.  But searing memories of his last reawakening, at the behest of Cleopatra, burn in his immortal soul.  For he has drunk the elixir of life and is now Ramses the Damned, doomed forever to wander the earth, desperate to quell hungers that can never be satisfied.  And his most intense longing of all, a great love undiminished by the centuries, will force him to commit an act of unspeakable horror….

I’ve read a lot of Anne Rice’s books, but The Mummy is my absolute favourite, no question about it.  It has the perfect mix of tragedy, romance, history and emotion that Anne Rice pulls off so well, without any extra flab added to the story.  Compared to her other novels, The Mummy is incredibly short, with my version only being 398 pages.  Believe me, they read fast!

Maybe I’m a bit biased because I’ve always loved ancient Egypt and have been fascinated by Ramses the Great.  I’m not necessarily an admirer of him, but he does play a significant role in history and did have an interesting life.  Well, Anne Rice brings him to life in The Mummy and he is as charming, well-spoken and lecherous as one would expect.  But he also has a soft side, which is what makes it so easy for Julie and readers to fall in love with him.  Julie herself has a few too many modern sensibilities for the era, but she is an interesting character because she is so strong.  She’s the perfect match for Ramses.

Anne Rice showcases exactly what it is that makes people want to devote their entire lives to the study of Egyptology.  If you haven’t fallen in love with Egypt by the time you finish The Mummy, you likely never will.  I didn’t even catch any glaring historical inaccuracies.  Sure, some things were changed around if you believe in the traditional Cleopatra story, but Anne Rice presents a compelling alternative that makes sense in the context of the story.  Her vivid descriptions reveal the passion she has for ancient Egypt and that enthusiasm continues throughout the entire novel.

Her later Vampire Chronicles works seemed to lack heart, but The Mummy certainly does not.  It’s fresh, a fitting retelling of the very old, generally cliché shambling mummy coming back from the grave story.  Of course it has fantastical elements, but I don’t think they’ll be overwhelming for people who don’t normally read fantasy.  Anne Rice achieved perfect balance in The Mummy and it’s a book I would highly recommend to anyone.

Warning: This is an Anne Rice book.  Of course there are explicit sex scenes and gore that could be offensive to young or sensitive readers.  I would personally not recommend The Mummy for anyone under 14, but everyone matures at different rates.  Use your common sense when buying books.

I give this book 5/5 stars.

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World War Z by Max Brooks

Today it’s my turn to guest post for Caleb Flanagan over at 20four12, so I reviewed a book I read on my plane when I was travelling: World War Z by Max Brooks.  It was small enough to fit in my carry-on laptop, but long enough so that I wouldn’t finish it halfway through the flight.  So what did I think of World War Z?  Go on and check it out!