Temples On The Other Side by Sylvia Browne (Book Review)

From inside cover:

“Once again, Sylvia Browne brings you fascinating information from the Other Side that can help your earthly existence. This time she explores the many temples and halls “beyond the veil,” explaining how they all hold wisdom that can dramatically improve your life right now. With the aid of her spirit guide Francine, Sylvia uses her gift of trance mediumship to discuss the role of each of these wonderful places and gives you the opportunity to experience the beauty and wonder of your real Home.

“Sylvia includes easy yet effective meditations to help you access exquisite edifices, including the Temple of Learning, the Hall of Healing, and more—each of which serves a particular purpose. And not only will you feel as if you’re actually visiting these special sites, but you’ll also gain insight into how their attributes can help you overcome challenges—and enrich your life in ways you never thought possible.”


This was my first Sylvia Browne book, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised during the reading of it. Her writing style is easy to understand, while providing indepth explanations of each of the temples and halls. Some may find this pure ‘fantasy’; however, the world is full of mysterious things that cannot be explained by ordinary means. Many people already see and converse with angels as well has having the ability to see them.

For those who are curious about the Other Side this is the book to read. Just before getting this book I had a feeling or image presented intuitively of a Greek-style temple in cloud-like formation sitting on a platform floating along. Once I got into the book I realized there were answers here that I had been looking for. Though I tend to take a ‘grain of salt’ with any metaphysical book, this one became quite intriguing when I came in contact with one of the Council Elders. After that occurrence the rest of the material was read with an objective view that there are different avenues to provide insight in this area.

For those readers wanting to explore each of the meditations within: go with an open mind rather than a skeptical one.


Book format: hardcover, 274 pages
Publisher: Hay House, Inc.
Author website: Sylvia Browne

Available at:

Amazon.ca

Chapters.indigo.ca

Amazon.com

The Uncertain Places by Lisa Goldstein (Book Review)

From the back cover:

“When Berkeley student Will Taylor is introduced by his best friend Ben to the mysterious Feierabend sisters, Will falls for enigmatic Livvy, a chemistry major and accomplished chef. But Livvy’s family—vivacious actress Maddie, family historian Rose, and their mother, absent-minded Sylvia—behave strangely. The Feierabend women appear to believe that luck is their birthright. Will and Ben learn that generations ago the family made a contract with a powerful otherwordly force, and they are now all entangled in an ages-old fairy tale.

“First discovered by the Brothers Grimm, and then inexplicably suppressed, the story of the Bondsmaid had been lost to the world for hundreds of years. The sacrifice of the Bondsmaid kept what little magic long supplanted by science, left in the world. Will must unravel the riddle of the supernatural bargain in order to save Livvy from her predestined fate.”


The story revolves around the time of 1971 just after the Hippy Revolution, including references such as a car with a choke. It was a nice step back down memory lane for me combined with fantasy in tantalizing bits keeping the story fresh throughout. It delves into the known mythological history of the faerie realm: glamour, dancing, elves, witches, wars between magical groups similar to the Wild Hunt. There is also a reference of kissing frogs, one of my favourite stories from childhood.

An entertaining read that kept me spell bound from the first chapter. It takes the concept of fairy tales and provides a fresh look. Everything is well detailed including the use of dimensions that overlap and the consequences of traveling between them. An ancient bargain for family fortune has its pitfalls for any family member who meddles.

LISA GOLDSTEIN is the author of novels and short story collections. Her novel The Red Magician won the American Book Award and she has been a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards.


Review copy provided by Charlene Brusso, with many thanks.

Book format: paperback, 240 pages
Publisher: Tachyon Publications
Author website: Lisa Goldstein
Available: June 2011 ISBN 978-1-61696-014-8

Amazon.com

Amazon.ca

Chapters-Indigo.ca

The Road to Bedlam by Mike Shevdon (Book Review)

“There’s been an accident. It’s your daughter.” These are the words no parent ever wants to hear.

“Learning to cope with the loss of a child is only the beginning of the new challenges facing Niall Petersen. An old enemy has returned and Niall already knows it’s not a social call. As the new Warder of the Seven Courts he will be forced to choose between love and honour, duty and responsibility.”

This is the second book in Mike Shevdon’s The Court of Feyre series which follows SIXTY-ONE NAILS, when Niall Petersen discovered via a heart attack on the London underground that he had inherited ‘fey powers’,. This introduced Niall into the hidden world of magic and the Courts of Feyre, of which the Untainted are the darkest of the Seven Courts.

Following on the heels of SIXTY-ONE NAILS, Niall Petersen becomes a new Warder with the responsibility of protecting the High Council of the Seven Fayre Courts, and cleaning up after individual Fayre who go beyond their bounds.

Alex, Niall’s daughter, is involved in a terrible school mishap when her fey powers go out of control. Thinking her dead, Niall grieves; yet, through an unexpected communication through a bathroom mirror he learns that Alex is still alive.

Complicating matters are the return of Lord Altar, and two guests, Raffmir and Deefnir, wraithkins of the Seventh Court. Being the Untainted, they have a determined agenda to rid the world of all part human-part fey ‘mongrels’. To alleviate tensions Garvin, the Head Warder, sends Niall on a special assignment acting as a journalist to investigate missing girls in a northern seaside location in England. While there Niall, whose paternal cares threaten to overwhelm him as he struggles to maintain his Warder training against searching for his missing daughter.

Blackbird, who had rescued Niall in the underground in the first book, returns as his new partner. She is heavily pregnant with their first child who will be part fey/human. Aware of her vulnerability during pregnancy, with no magical powers, she assists Niall where she can.

Raffmir is a magnificent antagonist and despite his charming mannerisms is utterly ruthless. He lures Niall into assisting him in rescuing Alex from her confinement. Rather than to go into too much spoiler detail, their activities in the lead-up to the ending is superb, racheting up the suspense.

The pacing and attention to detail are spot on, with assorted exciting incidents within that are certain to please the reader. A few such scenarios were: Niall’s encounter during a dream-state of carnivorous plants in a forested glade; and discovering a vicar had inherited ‘power’. All sub-plot threads were tied up at the end except for a few that will obviously be dealt with in the following books of the series.

Mr. Shevdon’s expertise in martial arts rings through with the sets of swordplay and developing the concept of other realms in the void beyond our known existence. Books 3 and 4 of the series are being published by Angry Robot Books, of which I look forward to reading.

The review copy was provided by Lee Harris, with many thanks.

Book format: paperback, 528 pages
Publisher: Angry Robot Books
Author website: Mike Shevdon
Available: November 2010
Also in ebook.

Chapters.Indigo.ca

Amazon.co.uk

Amazon.com

The Third Bear by Jeff VanderMeer (Book Review)

From the back cover:

“The creator of a child-swallowing manta ray struggles with office politics: a parasitical collective of co-workers, his (literally) flammable supervisor, and the hazardous whims of the fiftieth floor. A broken-hearted sharpshooter travels to a dusty border town, searching for the elusive floating city where her husband has vanished. A dissolute author – equipped only with two pearl-handled pistols, a rockhopper penguin, and plentiful vodka—is dispatched to Lake Baikal, where he hunts for his metafictional redemption.

“The Third Bear is the much–anticipated first collection of critically-accalimed author Jeff VanderMeer’s surreal and absurdist short fiction. VanderMeer, whose work has been compared by critics to Borges and Kafka, evokes exotic beasts and eccentric scenarios from the uncharted depths of our innermost psyches."

Tthese are stories about the inexplicable, and the reader ought to consider the imagery within each of the stories. Mr. VanderMeer's early exposure to the sea play upon several of the stories: to read those of a sea-faring nature brings the reader right into the story itself. There are many hidden things within the lines of each story. The genre elements of horror are mingled with fantasy and every day realism. Many of the stories have disturbing elements to them.


The Third Bear

A forest village is plagued by brutal killings by a bear. Despite repeated attempts to send hunters, the villagers turn for assistance to the witch in the woods. An intriguing aspect of this story was the door to the witch’s abode.

The Quickening

An orphan living with her Aunt in Florida acquires a white rabbit: who talks. An engaging story of growing up.

Finding Sonoria

A stamp collector hires a PI to find the place “Sonoria” from the name on the stamp. After an unfruitful search, the PI begins thinking he can see the trees moving in the wind on the mountain. Then his dreams begin.

Lost

A man slips into another reality after the death of his wife.

The Situation

Warped victimization of working in a futuristic office where the office manager is flammable.

Predecessor

Utterly creepy story of a scientist in an old mansion with bizarre experiments.

Fixing Hanover

A piece of machinery is washed up on shore which a man names Hanover when he is asked to repair it. An alarming incident occurs when Hanover speaks.

Shark God versus Octopus God
(based on a Fijian myth)

The Shark God, Dakuwaga, rules his portion of the sea by relentless blood lust with his army of 10,000 sharks, considered invincible. One day, Dakuwaga decides to battle the Octopus God for Kadavu Island, learning the aspect of mercy from a powerful opponent. An excellent story.

Errata

The first two sentences in this short set up the reader nicely:”I am writing this sitting in the waterlogged lobby of a rotting, half-finished condominium complex. I am surrounded by cavorting freshwater seals and have two pearl-handled revolvers in my lap, a bottle of vodka in my right hand, ahuman body in the freezer in the kitchen behind me, and a rather large displaced rockhopper penguin staring me in the face.” By the way, the penguin’s name is Juliette. Thus begins a tongue-in-cheek mission to change the future. Good fun.

The Goat Variations

A future America where the separatist evangelists have divided the country with the government fighting them. Deep beneath the Pentagon REM-stage images have been collected from segregated adepts: a collective message of a future event. A time machine is built to convey users to alternate realities.

Three Days in a Border Town

The descriptive images of desert sand and ancient buildings provide an intriguing backdrop for a woman-looking for her missing husband. In each of the border towns she discovers another clue about the illusive City in the desert.

The Secret Life of Shane Hamill

A humourous look at a bookstore employee who builds a Roman galley. There’s a nice twist at the end.

The Surgeon’s Tale

This story is a variation of the Frankenstein theme.

Appoggiatura

(Fragments from the legendary city of Smaragdune’s Green Tablets)
Short stories within a larger one with vivid imagery in the prose along with bits of some of the previous stories in thus anthology.


Despite the sinister undertones in the majority of these stories there is something here for every fantasy reader.

Jeff VanderMeer is the award-winning author of City of Saints and Madmen, Finch, and Veniss Underground. He has recevied two World Fantasy Awards and an NEA-funded fellowship.


The review copy was provided by Matt at Tachyon Publications.

Book format: paperback, 384 pages
Publisher: Tachycon Publications
Author website: Jeff VanderMeer

Available: August 2010

Amazon.ca

Chapters-Indigo.ca

This photo is of the Bow River at Canmore, Alberta.

Of late I've been stricken with a nasty infection that has decided to loosen it's hold. Thus, I'm on the road of repair and better health. And, just maybe, I'll be able to enjoy a walk in this lovely forested area again.



Photo Credit: 2BFotoguBkarten CC=nc-nd-flickr.

My Town Monday - Going in Style - Part 3

Browns’ Limited Catalogue of 1906 covered all the usual items any settler or towns person wished to purchase:ladies’ and mens’ clothing, furniture, wall paper, floor oilcloth and linoleum, carpets and various sundry goods.



I particularly liked the different styles of rugs which are quite similar to those today. There were different types: runners of 27” and 36” wide included Axminister, Wilton and velvet, Brussels and English Tapestry, Wool and Union, Japanese Straw Matting, Cocoa Matting; parlor rugs with or without fringes, lining, reversible wool Smyrna rugs (with attestation of the wearing quality of two rungs, never curl an dlie perfectly flat on the floor), hearth rugs.











Other floor coverings popular at the time were oilcloth and linoleum used in kitchens.













Wallpaper all had upper borders illustrating a different design or pastoral scene. One particular listing states: “High class, gold tinted wall paper, the colorings are not loud but have a character that cannot but be appreciated,” and “Baronial wall paper is a high grade paper in a rich ground color of red, cannot fail to embellish libraries, dining rooms and halls.”

Window shades came in coloured cloth often with lace trim or fringe.






















Many accoutrements necessary for running the household included: piano drapes, pillow cords, cushion girdles, linen collars, foundation collars, dress shields, black valenciennes and net lace, torchon laces and insertions, elastic, hari brushes, dressing combs, hose supporters, notions, shirt waist sets, ruchings and frillings, various styles of gloves, steels, spools and feather bone,corset clasps, table oilcloths and American leathers, flannelettes.

These particular furnishings and those in the earlier sections were the main stay of households throughout Canada.

Other participants to My Town Monday can be found here.

Click to enlarge any of the photos.

My Town Monday - Going In Style - Part 2

Last week Part 1 focused on ladies clothing in 1906, available through Browns' Limited catalogue in Portage La Prairie, Manitoba. Today’s post covers sturdy oak furniture in styles that might suit some tastes to differ from modern contemporary styles .The furniture was touted as being stylish, best quality, well made while some pieces were massive others sported a more dainty appearance as not to appear cumbersome. Most were solid pieces of furniture. My grandfather had purchased six dining room chairs, a round oak table that had two leaves to extend it and a buffet cabinet from a similar company which he used as “settler’s effects”. These items he took by rail from Toronto to central Alberta in 1904.




1906 Hall Furniture






















This furniture was more suited for a house in town or a larger municipality, or a large prosperous land holder. Most farmers or settlers in western parts of Canada had more modest living arrangements, often a two room house which additions were added later.




Parlor Furniture with Morris Chairs






















The Parlor furniture consisted of a settee or loveseat with four variables in armchairs and chairs, some with rockers and couches. The Morris Chairs were obviously meant for the “man of the household”—nothing dainty about those massive chairs.


I have always liked the “couches” of this era: quaint pieces of furniture with embroidered velvet coverings on neat little legs with roller feet.


.





Parlor Cabinets






















Intriguing pieces of furniture to display one’s collectibles with “British plate mirror”.


Book Cases and Musi Cabinets






















Most of the music cabinets were made from mahogany.






Parlor and Dining Room Chairs




















The better chairs were sturdy made from oak while kitchen chairs tended to be from another hardwood or pine.






Parlor Tables




















Those necessities in every home for plants or tea services.

I really liked some of the designs of the cabinets and hall furniture while wondering if there were manufacturers today who were able to make replicas or fashion their stock after these.

Next week is Part 3.

For other participants of My Town Monday go here.