The Dragon Seeker Saga: a review

After reading Douglas "Dag" Rossman's The Dragonseeker Saga: A Tale of the Nine Worlds, I was well pleased. I have read a reference book of his called The Nine Worlds: A Dictionary of Norse Mythology and have another of his books, which I will get to soon. He has inspired me.

Rossman, a former Biology professor, has a lot of passion for the Norse myths, as do I, and has a knack for storytelling. The prose reads like he is a skald of olde telling it to me face-to-face. It is whimsical, has great imagery, is personable, and authentic-sounding.

I know the Norse myths fairly well and was happy to see him cleverly weave the tales into his fiction, like the saga of Volund, for example.

The story is told in first person and follows the trials of a young story-teller named Dag. His parentage is semi-divine and he goes on a voyage of discovery. He experiences all that life has to offer: love, happiness, pain, and adventure.

As a work for young adults, I think it holds a lot of action, mystery and thoughtfulness to engage the reader, and as the character grows, the reader does as well.

I highly recommend this book as a supplement to Norse myths. It is 139 pages of an enjoyable read.

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The Privateer: A review

I just finished reading The Privateer by Josephine Tey, and I enjoyed it very much.

It is a historical fiction about the rise of Sir Henry Morgan (yes, the same guy in the red coat on Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum). I found it to be well written and the story moves along at a good clip. It is not bogged down with romance, as pirate stories may prone to be. Rather, it follows his life from released indentured servant to Lietenant Governor of Jamaica.

The distancing of the author and the character came in and out of focus. Sometimes Ms. Tey was in the mind of Morgan, sometimes in the mind of Spaniards and sometimes a history professor. But it all balanced well with her choices.

At first I wondered if the Morgan portrayed in the book would have been real. He seemed to be a chivalric knight on a crusade against Spain. Perhaps he was, perhaps he wasn't. The book does make me want to research Morgan more.

The story is a heroic one, in which a man uses his wits to become a strong leader of men and accomplishes great deeds against the odds. It is stirring to read the narrative of his exploits, albeit fictional ones... but well researched.

I liked the references in the book to Exquemline and his book The History of the Buccaneers of the Americas. I own it and read it years ago, so it was a nice reflection. In the authors note at the end, she cites a book that I want to read by Brigadier-General E.A. Cruikshank: The Life of Henry Morgan. Seemingly it paints a different picture of the buccaneer turned givernor.

If you are interested in historical fiction, and particularly pirate fiction, see if you can grab this out-of-print book from the Library or Yahoo. It is worth the read.

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Book review

Louis L'Amour's Ride the River (1983)

Every so often, I like to don the mental cowboy boots, pretend I have a six-shooter at my hip, hear the jingle of spurs with my strides to my teaching job and crack open a western on the train.

This time, I read the ever prolific Louis L'Amour. I have read two other books by him. The first was 12 years ago when I was workign on a ship. It was predicatble and a shoot 'em up and I was not so thrilled.

I then read High Lonesome (which I have in my book collection from a used book store) and I was a little more engaged. The plot was simple, but entertaining.

Ride the River (which I had also acquired at a used bookstore) finally called to me and got my attention, and I realized that I have not given L'Amour enough credit for his efforts. It was well written.

The story is about a girl named Echo Sackett, a mountian girl who goes to the big city to claim a sizeable inheritance. Shifty lawyer and a couple of thieves look to relieve her of her money which she needs to improve her way of life back home. The chase her down and try to get the money. Little do the scoundrels know, that little lady can take care of herself and can shoot the nose off of a squirrel at 100 yards.

The viewpoint that he used was first person ,though in the story he (by necessity, I suppose) switched to third person to get into other characters perspective. The language of Echo Sackett, as some mountain girl of 16 was genuine and authentic sounding. I praise L'Amour for finding a believeable voice (with particular vernacular and cadence) and maintaining it consistently throughout. He did his research well, too, in that the locales had names which I could probably find on Wikipedia (or if not, he convinced me of their existences).

His characters were engaging, both the protagonists and atagonists. I only hoped more would have been given about the antagonists.

The ending was ok, but could have been better with higher tension raised. The whole book sucked me in and had me follow along with the characters who are being stalked by thieves.

I am looking forward to getting some more L'Amour. I would recommend Ride the River.

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Book Review: Cowboy Culture

I just finished a wonderful book about cowboys.
(Yep, that's right. Y'all read that correctly. Cowboys.)

The work is titled Cowboy Culture: A Saga of Five Centuries by David Dary.

The work is in 14 engaging fact-filled chapters with an epilogue, notes and an index in the back.

The history starts off with the Spanish presence in New Spain and chronoligically (and topically) follows the evolution of what becomes the American cowboy. It ends with the way of the open range ending, as Eastern Americans throw up barbed wire fences and limiting cattle movement. It reminded me of the Kevin Costner movie "Wide Open Range" (which was a good movie).

Dary dispells myths protrayed by Hollywood and fiction and paints a picture based on facts. Illustrations and contemporary photos are sprinkled within the book to give clarity, featuring the people, the locations and the cowboy's equipment of the trade.

Chapter one of the book inspired a short story from me called "Vaquero", about a young man who is faced with a bandit problem and his cattle in 16th century New Spain (Mexico). I hope you will be able to read it in a magazine soon. I will inform you when it is available.

The rest of the book is full of stories, annecdotes, eye-witness accounts and facts about cowboys which are providing me with inspiration for other short stories and possibly some longer works of fiction. There is something alluring about that time period and location. Perhaps I have been a victim of Hollywood, too, but a romanticized view is OK. It is like sailors. There has been a romance with the sea and life at sea.

Being a cowboy or sailor was a difficult job with low pay, potential danger everyday, boredom beyond measure, forced to deal with a group that may not be exactly cordial, and short careers (if not lives). They also share a solitary practice in the vast expanse of openess. Perhaps people like me long for the solitude once in awhile and think how nice it must be to do that job.

But, having worked on ships, a life of solitude is a lonely one, indeed. So perhaps the position of cowboy is reserved for a few.

Fiction writers and film makers have embellished what a cowboy was, but as with most fiction, there is a grain of truth to art. It is true that they lowly in position, yet there was a certain nobility about them in their trade, with a code of honor and conduct which would be the equivalent to any medieval chivalric code and something people could aspire to follow today.

If you are a fan of history and wonder about life in the West for the cowfolk, please read this book. Enjoy it, as well as any books, for reading is a wonderful experience.

Carpe diem.


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