Did the Whovians get back with you in regards to which “Doctor Who” episodes/series, I should attempt to watch!? I only ask as my time window to watch them is greatly reduced from a few weeks ago, and if I could start to watch them as soon as I can, it would be quite helpful! :) A general overview of their Top 5s and your ‘go to’ Who, would be extremely helpful…
And, so began this seemingly innocent introduction into “Doctor Who” as I decided it was high time that I get my tail into gear and sink into a tv serial that has consistently been recommended to me over the years! I remember that some of the interested parties attempting to convince me when the ‘right moment’ to watch ‘Who’ would be (generally it was ALWAYS a right now, don’t wait kind of talk!) engaged in such a lengthy discussion of who “the Doctor” is but without giving me anything truly tangible to hold onto! I would be given little curtain glimpses of who he was, what the series was about, but it was more OR less a conversation that frittered around certain terminological Whovian codes: TARDIS, time lord, screwdriver (that was a unique tidbit!), time slips and time travel, and other words I have long since forgotten but as I watch the episodes some of what I learnt over the years is coming back to me!
I never wanted to read too much about the series, as I kind of like the idea of getting to know a character (especially one of this particular nature!) through watching their growth over the score of a serial! I started to ILL (inter-library loan) BBC dramas and comedies (i.e. As Times Goes By, The Good Life, Rosemary & Thyme, Monarch of the Glen, etc) a little over three years ago when my local library was encouraging us to ILL the series that were not yet in our collection! I’ll never forgot how they ordered the Complete Serial of “As Times Go By”, including the Anniversary Specials whilst we were unable to fetch them through ILL channels! That simply rocked our (my parents & I) world! I had it in the back of my mind to start to fetch “Who” but I simply shrugged it off.
The few times I pitched the idea, I noticed that my Mum & Da simply weren’t into seeing ‘Who’ as much as I was, so I let it slide a bit, as we were starting to get into Downtown Abbey, Sherlock (with Benedict Cumberbach), and finishing through Monarch of the Glen! (in 2012) When SFN started to come together, I knew it was time for ‘Who’ once and for all! I mean, all those years of people referring me to this serial (who knew my heart lie with Roddenberry’s Starfleet and Lucas’ Star Wars) must have been a recommendation that I could trust! I decided that even though I am going to post ‘diary entries’ for the episodes and series I watch for SFN, I wanted to make this a family affair! Therefore, with the exception of All Saint’s Day, my Mum & Da are watching ‘Who’ alongside me! They were the original inspiration behind why I have a sci-fi heart which is why it makes sense that on the brink of discovering a ‘new serial’ we engage in it together!
The fascinating bit to watching BBC tv serials on serial dvd, is that for the most part my local library has grown their own catalogue of resources to this end at least tenfold since 2009! However, the few that are not yet available I must say that the consortium by which my local library is a member of is a great one to get ‘complete and whole sets’ through ILL!! I realise that dvds and most media materials are ‘not’ available at all local libraries for ILL. (the reasons vary, but generally its because they do not loan out the same materials themselves) For this one reason, I am extra thankful that despite an initial hiccup, our second attempts to get ‘Who’ in time for SFN has been successful! Ooh, I had forgotten to say, that the most fascinating bit to watching the BBC in this fashion is that you never know what your in for as you slip in the disc, sit back on your couch and settle into,… the unexpected!
When I first heard the ‘music’ of Doctor Who I was simply transfixed! You see, this is not the first time traveler I have come across as although I had limited feeds for “Time Trax” I always was endeared to the character and his quirky sense of humour! Dr. Beckett was my mainstay for time traveling which I touched on yesterday in my feature “Seventeen to Seven“. And, lest I forget to mention “The Traveler” from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” who had the greatest impact on Wesley Crusher!? Yet. My fascination and concentration of time bending characters doesn’t stop there! Ooh, no! There was the young boy in “Flight of the Navigator“, the curious hovering ships in “Batteries Not Included“, the quirky adventures of Doc Brown & Marty McFly in “Back to the Future“, as much as trying to keep up with my favourite Starfleet Captains in the original five series of Trek!
The music brought back an inertia of happy memories of my ENTIRE EXPERIENCE in the science fiction universe which is not even limited to the few serials I have already mentioned! At some point, they all start to blur a bit in my mind’s eye, because I have literally watched a science fiction or fantasy tv serial as long as I have been watching murder mystery serials! Between the two, I could fill a voluminous tome of a journal! Here were my first tick-tocking reflections as a bit of a beat of a clock was present in the overtures: upbeat, adventurous, exciting, exploding with curious perplexities, possibilities that lie in the impossible, and a gearing up for the unknown!
I’m a wide-eyed adventurous girl slipping herself into the Whovian universe, geared up for excitingly curious escapades spent traveling with a quirky Professor-like Doctor, whose as mysterious as any person she’s ever greeted in a sci-fi series! Let these first adventures be the start of many more to come in the near future! As time is temporal and constantly in flux!
And, without further adieu here are the select episodes I will be viewing in order to achieve:
[anything in bold was cross-suggested by the Whovians!]
(Series One) Episodes: Rose, The Empty Child / The Doctor Dances, Dalek, Father’s Day
(Series Two) Episodes: The Christmas Invasion, The Impossible Planet / Satan’s Pit, Tooth & Claw, Army of Ghosts, Doomsday, School Reunion, The Girl in the Fireplace, New Earth
(Series Three) Journey’s End, Human Nature / Family of Blood, Blink, The Runaway Bride, The Shakespeare Code
(Series Four) Turn Left, Midnight, Silence in the Library / The Forest of the Dead, The Fires of Pompeii, The Unicorn & the Wasp
(Series Five) Vincent & the Doctor, The Eleventh Hour, The Time of Angels / Flesh and Stone (to be seen with Blink)
(Series Six) The Doctor’s Wife
(Series Seven) Nightmare in Silver
How far will I reach into the Doctor Whouniverse!? How much of his world and life will I understand when November starts to fade from view and the Christmas holiday season enters into view!? What beautiful things will I learn from the Whovians taking part in SFN?! Where will the conversations and discussions lead me next!? And, just how fast can I re-Que the entire series in order to watch each set in its entirety!? Join me on *Saturdays* during November to find out!!
Meanwhile, I am going to open up my first-ever discussion thread here on JLAS!
You have the option of sharing in your own blog post about how you came to know Doctor Who, which series stood out to you thus far, and/or you can focus on one or more of the episodes I will be watching from the above list speaking about why you are captivated by it yourself! Be sure to come back to this post to attach the link of your post in the comments! ONLY link directly to the post you created on this topic, DO NOT link to the main page of your blog! I will be checking! Thank you! I cannot wait to see what everyone’s post!! :)
This feature is brought to you by:
{SOURCES: Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing! SFN badge used with permission. SFN Feature badge created by Jorie in Canva.}
I am not even sure if I could properly explain when my initial attachment and curiosity that surrounds the genre of ‘science fiction’ first began, because I grew up in a family who was already wholly enthused with Star Trek (the Original Series), Star Wars (the Original Trilogy), and Battlestar Gallactica (the Original Series). Therefore, from the time before I even entered kindergarten, I had a working knowledge of the characters I would lateron become beloved within the Star Trek and Star Wars Universes. I still remember eager to return home from a boring day in elementary school, to see which episodes my Dad was able to tape from the Trek marathon as we ‘d sit and watch them together! I have a LOT of fond memories of seeing Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty through the eyes of my father! This sparked a pulling towards science fiction story-lines across multi-visual media outlets, which included but are not limited too: motion picture, tv serials, sound for motion picture, and literature. I appreciated the art of including science within the confines of the story arcs, as much as daring to push the breadth of what was readily known with the limitlessness of what theoretically could be plausible.
I am quite sure, that aside from an appreciation of MacGyver part of the reason I was keen on science from such a young age, was the fact I was a mainstay at the local science center whilst growing up! I was completely enraptured by the planets (early roots of seeking knowledge of Cosmology, Astronomy, AstroBotany, etc), solar system, the oceans, and the diverse ecological systems that are on Earth from one continent to the next; as much as how different each section of Earth can remain completely independent, yet co-dependent of each other. The inter-threads of connection were something that I picked up in the very beginning, but it was my yearning desire to understand not only the natural world outside my front door, but the upper atmospheres (i.e. Meteorology to Space Science) straight-through to what existed beyond our sphere and ventured into the dark unknowns of the galaxy where we see glintings of at night whilst peering upwards towards the constellations and moon. Whose assurance of presence is never forsaken no matter where we find ourselves positioned on Earth. You can change hemispheres, (North to South or vice versa) and even Coasts (East to West or vice versa) and you’ll still be exalted in the pure awe of what you will find once your eyes are cast heavenward. I learnt the outlines of constellations whilst participating in the planetarium and observation laboratory at the science center. I participated in a Young Astronauts Program as much as attend Space Camp (when it was quite an extraordinarily exotic place to visit and not just an exit on an interstate).
Through my pursuit of science fiction, the undercurrent desires of my heart and curiosity of thirst to understand how everything worked, kept revolving around theoretical science rather than finite or applied sciences. I used to joke around with classmates and teachers alike exclaiming, “There isn’t an ‘alogy’ that I haven’t met that I didn’t like or wish to know more of!” This was my cheeky declaration that hinted at the fact that I ‘collected’ an appreciation for more branches of science than most would dare think possible! It was in the sixth grade that I learnt the most about the oceans and the currents and how they intersected with the patterns of climate. How a shifting in the tides could cause irrevocable damage and how the patterns of our moon affected the tides. The greater sense of how each branch of science was one leaf towards the whole equation fascinated me to no end!
And, then you have science fiction in the background, etching these theories and fact into stories that leap alive before your eyes, jettisoning your imagination into hyper-drive as you explore the possibilities of what is limited and unlimited, what is conceivable and what challenges your perceptional irises. My eighth grade year, Quantum Leap was a tv serial that combined my passion for science and history. As it jumped like gangbusters into a new sub-genre where time travel, quantum physics, and the acceleration through historical actuarial data to right the wrongs of the past proved to be a tv serial that was unlike any other I had thus become exposed to. I liked the tenacity of the series mission and the depth of which the writers took the episodes.
I quirkly give a nodding to the first beginnings of my genesis towards a new height of understanding in the science fiction community, as the roots of what I appreciated began before I was seven years old, but that is the approximate age in which I started to stand my ground and assert what I liked or didn’t like about certain sci-fi media platforms. I knew my leanings and tendencies, and I was constantly seeking out new realms to explore. By seventeen, I had joined the Science Fiction Book Club, whereupon I was casting a net of discovery into seeking the very beginnings of the genre itself, as grandmothers and grandfathers of the literary side of sci-fi were spoken about throughout the monthly club mailings. I ate up the knowledge inside those pamphlets which afforded me a guide like a lost wanderer in the desert seeking a map to find the nearest nomad community. I didn’t have a lot of friends who appreciated this genre. Those that did I noticed liked other aspects of it more than I did which is why I sort of presumed outside of my family, I might run a bit solo in my pursuits.
Seventeen to Seven is my metaphor for realising that for each passion we carve a niche for out in our lives is a constant and ever-changing beginning and starting ground towards our full understanding of what that passion can yield. We will always have ground to cover whether that means uncovering which writers of the past exhume the context of stories we appreciate or whether that means we take a stand against ‘sequels’ and stand firm in line with the originals that we feel still have merit.
Whilst we walk through November together, you’ll start to find glimpses of where I fall in the science fiction world, where my feet amble around in the media choices we all have before us, and how I seek a course that is true and right for me to tread. I am challenging myself to seek out authors who write in the sub-genres of: Steampunk (as foretold in my inclusion of The Clockwork Carnival), Dystopian (as I have always been on the fence), and Time Travel (a closet interest that truly is one that I seek out the most). I wanted to push the limits of what I might perceive to be of interest to me, and challenge myself to dig into a genre like Dystopia which I have overlooked thinking there wasn’t a part of it that I would be keen to read (or watch).
As you root around my blog, you’ll notice that I am a blog tour hostess with Tomorrow Comes Media (which features books from Seventh Star Press), of which I have already posted a lovely assortment of science fiction and epic fantasy reviews throughout September and October! IF you’re keen to know which ones I am referring to, kindly scope out this indexed category: Seventh Star Press. I will be making cross-references with my experiences towards this regard, as they cross-sect my posts for SFN! I want to make a special shout-out for Stephen Zimmer who is looking for new hosts for Tomorrow Comes Media! Therefore, if you like the books I’ve reviewed on my blog, think about contacting him to be a tour host!
Join me, as I embark on a daily blogging challenge, where each new day that dawns this month will lead to 30! full days of science fiction ruminations that reflect and expand on my own interests in a realm that is as fascinating as considering the poem about heaven in a grain of sand! All posts will be archived on my SFN: November dedicated page at the header of my blog and indexed through my blog itself by the category: Sci-Fi November. Either way, you can always jump forward and back into which posts you might have missed whilst hopping through to the other lovely bloggers who are taking part in this wonderfully wicked sci-fi event!!
In the forefront of my blog each week you’ll find a book tour being hosted at the top of my blog. However, I am going to be blogging quite a heap of dedicated posts for SFN which will run underneath the header posts for the book tours! As much as posting about the first book in a fantasy book series: Finnikin of the Rock, which I meant to post about last month! There are a lot of curious things going on in November on Jorie Loves A Story, and I look forward to seeing who alights on my blog in the comment threads whilst Autumn swings into full force! And, to those who are ducking in and out from participating in Nanowrimo — WELCOME! I’ve been there, and I know how happy I was to take a reprieve!
My hat is tipped with warm gratitude to Rinn, of Rinn Reads, who set-up this event and brought all of us together!
Remember if your a tweater to engage in conversation on this channel: #RRSciMonth
And, for those of you who like to converse in the blogosphere, please take the time to sit a spell with each of us on your blog touring adventures, dropping us a note or two, returning back to see our replies, and helping us make this event a chatter-happy and friendly event where conversations and the mirth of sharing our conjoined passion for sci-fi possible!!
This feature is brought to you by:
{SOURCES: Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing! SFN badge used with permission. SFN Feature badge created by Jorie in Canva.}
Acquired Book By: Winning a contest adverted through “Shelf Awareness for Readers” bi-weekly newsletter, October 2012. I received the hardcover book direct from the publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt without obligation to post a review. When I started to work with Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours, I made a request to join this book tour, as due to different reasons I have not yet had the pleasure of reading this book! I thought it would be lovely to participate in a blog book tour on behalf of a book I was rather intrigued to start reading! I was thankful to be selected to participate on the tour! I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts herein.
Original Interest to Read: I originally had discovered the author and the book on Book Browse prior to seeing the contest on Shelf Awareness. I was swept away by the research, the passion, and the dedication Sharratt enfused into the book “Illuminations” as it was not only a historical biography of a woman very few of us would have uncovered without her efforts, but it felt like a living testament of how the strength of a woman can make a marked change on the world around her. I have always celebrated the lives of women who stand up for social injustice as well as indoctrinated wrongs that others’ might be too passive to attack themselves. As women, we’re given a beautiful gift of being able to use our enlightened minds for the power of positive change, and I felt as I read the synopsis and words on this book, that that is exactly the type of story that would envelope me if I read Hildegard’s story.
Author Biography:
The author of four critically acclaimed historical novels, Mary Sharratt is an American who lives in the Pendle region of Lancashire, England, the setting for her acclaimed Daughters of the Witching Hill, which recasts the Pendle Witches of 1612 in their historical context as cunning folk and healers. She also lived for twelve years in Germany, which, along with her interest in sacred music and herbal medicine, inspired her to write Illuminations: A Novel of Hildegard von Bingen. Illuminations won the Nautilus Gold Award for Better Books for a Better World and was selected as a Kirkus Book of the Year.
Book Synopsis:
Skillfully weaving historical fact with psychological insight and vivid imagination, Illuminations brings to life one of the most extraordinary women of the Middle Ages: Hildegard von Bingen, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath.
Offered to the Church at the age of eight, Hildegard was expected to live in silent submission as the handmaiden of a renowned, disturbed young nun, Jutta von Sponheim. But Hildegard rejected Jutta’s masochistic piety, rejoicing in her own secret visions of the divine. When Jutta died, Hildegard broke out of her prison, answering the heavenly call to speak and write about her visions and to liberate her sisters. Riveting and utterly unforgettable, Illuminations is a deeply moving portrayal of a woman willing to risk everything for what she believed.
Out of Darkness and Anguish,…
The opening bits of Illuminations, is guttingly honest and real, as Hildegard is in her elder years of seventy on the brink of eighty, whilst on the precipice of a vengeful storm requiring sufferance! Her longanimity of the impeding darkness that is about to swirl around herself and the daughters’ in her charge is of impeccable clarity! How she endeavoured to have the forethought to circumvent the discretion of a buried soul with the full knowledge of how severely the act would affect her, is beyond comprehension; except to say, her raw courage was fully illumine from a source greater than the wrath of man! The quotation that Sharratt used as preface to Chapter One, taken from Hildegard’s own writings on how she foresaw the Feminine Divine is stirringly moving to the point of feeling an inward sense of calm. Which you reflect upon whilst reading where we enter her life at such an arduous time that bespeaks a greater evocable merit of trust. I had a forbearance of knowing, that her humble protection of humanity will become the forefront of her life.
Her solitude of being cast into a brick tiered wall of the Anchorite chamber made me lament about how at such a young age of eight she was sent into darkness to seek out the light. Her anguish for losing her innocence and childhood vexed her as she grew accustomed to being shrouded in a tomb. Her only outside contact was through a grate and a window on high that allowed in bits of the outside world through its portal. I wondered how she fought her discourse to crave into an inward spiral and instead, constantly found the ability to dig deeper and seek out the light. I think if she had not been blessed with the orbs (visions), she might have lost herself in that dark space whilst she spent her young years on a sojourn for learning and knowledge. Her life lessons came to her abruptly at an age where most of us are still exploring our environments, testing the wills of independence, and finding our voice, confidence, and the path of interest we wish to walk as we age.
To illumine the mind and strengthen the spirit,…
I have always known of the interconnectedness of humanity, the natural world, and the realm behind the veil of this world which is the gateway to spirit world. Each of us is connected to each other and to what is not yet understood though believed to be in existence on faith alone. What I appreciated about reading Hilegard’s story is that she is touching on the elemental truths that each spiritual person comes to realise and accept: the circle of life and of time, the abundance of the interlocking connections, and how we are only in the infancy of our understandings of the greater whole that we strive to obtain whilst we walk Earth.
By examining her life through this biographic exposition, we are striving to become closer to understanding what she came to understand herself. Each of us are given gifts in life to share and pass down, small legacies of goodwill, hope, peace, love, charity, and grace. We tap into where our lifepath is leading us whilst we are openly receptive to where we are being guided to go next. Hilegard was unique in this, as she viewed herself as a flawed human who made more mistakes than deemed repentable, and yet, she could not help acknowledge that she had become a vessel of truth, as chosen as her destiny to give others’ insight that they were not privy too. She reminds me of women I have heard about prior to her, who never felt they were good enough to be placed in a position of importance. How humbling it is then, to realise that these are the women and spiritual beings who are called upon to do the most good during their lifetime!? To ingenuate a plausibility of which most of us might forego or bypass whilst caught up in the clatterment of living our lives!?
A wordsmith of Divine Grace:
The words in which consume Illuminations, are set on a higher keeling of intellect, that draw the reader forward and back into a time whereupon the essence of explaining the Divine in singular breaths of words was not as readily forthright to convey, as it was a time in need of edifying the truth by which was shown to the limited few who could hear the Voice. Sharratt has undertaken a gift for channeling the words of which Hildegard herself might have used to express not only the experiences of her life, but of the time in which she lived. The story begins in 1177, set on the cusp between the 12th and 13th centuries, in a time of harrowing and clandestine turmoil. And, yet Sharratt has a way of speaking through the essence of Hildegard as though we can be transported back into her timescape, wholly aware of her surroundings, and seeing everything unfold as it once did for her. Including glimmerments of her internal thoughts and emotional angst. There are poetic ruminations throughout the text that draw you into the story and let’s your imagination not skip forward off the page your eyes are consuming.
Hilegard’s humbleness is infused with her fortitude, for not only being a woman in high regard in her abbey but to have reached an apex of celebrity amongst her peers in the Church and Orders, due to her gift for visionary prophecies. Her elucidate nature of being a woman who thinks before she speaks, and one who doesn’t falter in will when she is taken unawares proves that she internally had strengthened herself long ago in her younger years to be anchored to her faith.
Review of Illuminations:
Hilegard von Bingen was a Renaissance Woman ahead of her time, given the hour of her birth and the compass point of her life. Alongside da Vinci, she embarked on not only ascertaining a living truth of Latin and Religion, but of each interconnected subject and topic that would cross sect with an interest that was at the tip of importance for knowledge of what would become imparted to her through visionary grace. She was a formidable woman whose humble nature did not wish to extract her weaknesses, but rather shed light on them for what they were and to utilize her strengths when necessity demanded them.
As a young child growing up surrounded by the Crusades, she was given her first taste of the visions that would later set the course of her life. I was touched by how genuinely innocent they were and how frequent they would visit her, hoping to find a way for her to yield to her gift. I’d imagine that most youngsters at the age of five might rather attempt to ‘fit in’ than to be cast out as an enigma! For this, I musefully could understand her reasoning! How she drew upon a strength of resolve to survive her cast into an Anchorite Order at the age of eight, I do not readily know! Yet, she embodied a pure caste of curiosity, which strove for her to further her knowledge, and learn as much as her mind could encompass. In that regard, I believe her will to learn became her first saving grace whilst she was entombed as an Anchorite.
I was not quite prepared for how long her term as an Anchorite would last, as she was well into her mid-thirties when I realised just how long she had been in captivity! She even sacrificed her own freedom to save two young girls whose plight in life would have been doubly worse than had they joined her. My heart ached for all three of them, and for the fourth, Jutta who long ago had given up on living, wretched by a transgression made against her and blackened against all light and love. They had few moments of joy, but for the most part, their lives were endured by an endless see of ritual, rite, and prayer.
Hilegard’s inner resolve to find peace with her faith and with her lot in life is a testament to how we each struggle to make sense of the circumstances that arise that lay obstacles in our path. Each of us is walking our own path towards understanding, for where we are meant to live as much as how we are meant to live. Her solitude from the outside world provided her with wisdom that even she, I dare not think, could fully grasp or understand. She was given visions of knowledge that fall outside the realm of what we would regularly be led to see. Her maternal nature I think, is one of her greatest gifts, as she unearthed of all the attributes that we are bestowed it’s our ability to love and give love that counts the most on high.
In the midst of lost hope, she found liberty and justice. Her heart swelled for the freedom which she was finally granted to live as a proper nun, rather than an entombed Anchorite. I could relate to her attachment to the natural world and the calm balm of insight and mirth that walking in nature can give you. She found God’s light and joy nestled amongst the woods, herbs, and flowers. As much as basking in the glow of the warming sun. How I have oft found myself swept into warm embrace that walking in nature can afford! If we look keenly, we shall see His light wherever we turn.
Illluminations is an apt title to give this story, because it is also its central theme. The luminescent purity of God’s spoken word igniting itself into her mind, heart, and soul. And, yet, Illuminations also spoke to me of the whispers of truth and guidance that sometimes we try to sweep away, not willing to accept them for what they are and for the reason by which they were given to us. I think the best gift of her life is to remain true to ourselves, but yield to the will of God even if the path He is placing in front of us has its share of tribulations, it’s the bits we cannot yet see that come through on the other side of our discomfort that lead to our restitution.
A note of gratitude:
I am always fervently thankful for authors who conduct intensive research to breathe life into their stories with such an exquisite hand of probable narrative, that when you go to read a biographical fiction accountment of a life once lived, that there are enough pieces and fragments of the person etched into the text your reading. I am thankful to say, it would appear that Sharratt is one such writer who is happily consumed and entrenched in the work that goes into fortifying the story with historical remnants and facts. I haven’t read other biographies of Hilegard von Bingen, as this is the first book that tipped my hat of interest towards learning more about her, but the voice of Hilegard inside Illuminations is one that begs you to give her a chance to say her peace. She’s an unassuming woman whose faith tested her in ways that not all of us could have endured. She appears to have longed for a bit of normalcy even within the confines of her vows, which thankfully, if history and fact are correct in this account, she at least found a bit of that when the bricks of her hidden prison were taken down.
Sharratt gives you a lot to chew on whilst your reading, from the way in which she paints the visions to life, to the contemplations of the human spirit, the Divine Grace, and the elements of faith and spirituality itself. She gives you a hearty tome of reflection and presents a woman who lived in touch with the Feminine Divine. I marked this as “Inspirational Fiction” as I think it befits that declaration as much as “Historical Fiction” and “Biographical Fiction”, as religion and spirituality are at the core and heart of this story, yet the time in which she lived is so far removed from modern eras it’s historically inclined to be reflective of how we perceive the 12th Century through the modern lens we approach it by.
IF you want to follow the conversation by Twitter, please tune into: #IlluminationsTourThere is also a Twitter share button below this post for your convenience as well.
Be sure to scope out upcoming tours I will be hosting with:
{SOURCES: Cover art of “Illuminations” as well as Mary Sharratt’s photograph and biography, the blog tour badge, and the logo banner for HFVBT were all provided by Historical Fiction Virtual Book Tours and used with permission. The book trailer by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt as well as the discussion guide via Scribd had either URL share links or coding which made it possible to embed this media portal to this post, and I thank them for the opportunity to share more about this novel and the author who penned it. Post dividers were provided by Shabby Blogs, who give bloggers free resources to add personality to their blogs. Blog tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs. }
I have an announcement to make! A wicked sweet event is about to erupt throughout the bookish blogosphere known as *Sci-Fi November* hosted by Rinn of Rinn Reads!! Everyone take a moment to clap and cheer as many of us have been lifelong appreciators of all-things science fiction and now we get a platform to share the lovely bits we admire so much as well as explore new territory which is what I will be doing with my book, film, and tv reviews! I might even throw in a few posts that are not on the schedule, so stay tuned! Meanwhile, during November I have *5!* exciting book tours that will be ‘sticky’ to the top of my blog, whilst *SFN* will be featured below them! I am also going to be working on my previous reading challenges as much as I can, which means there will be a wide variety of posts happening throughout November here on Jorie Loves A Story! My hiatus is officially null and void! My official post for SFN is not actually a ‘post per se’ but a newly created ‘page‘ at the top! I decided to make a dedicated page to house an archive of all the posts & features that will be alighting whilst I dig into new authors, explore new realms of literature, and soak up the joy of the other bloggers who are taking part and imparting their love and passion for science fiction whilst most of the world will be knee-deep involved in Nanowrimo! I wish all of us November writers a heap of happiness as we embark on making November memorable and exciting!
With Galactic Greetings,
Jorie
{SOURCES: Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing!}
Acquired Book By: I am a regular blog book tour hostess for Tomorrow Comes Media, whereupon in conversation with Stephen Zimmer about my appreciation for epic fantasy, I was offered to receive a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review direct from the publisher Seventh Star Press.The book released in April 2011. I did not receive compensation for my opinions or thoughts shared herein.
Intrigued to Read: When I first decided to become a (blog) book tour hostess with Tomorrow Comes Media, I am not sure if I ever expected to have such a wicked sweet journey unfold in front of me! Inasfar to say, the authors who I am coming in contact with are writers who create lush, living, and dynamically engrossing worlds that make you think about the content that your reading as much as to jettison your wings off into new directions of literary exploration! I am not sure if I ever mentioned to my friends’ how much I have always kept a keen interest in ‘dragons’, as mind you, I was one of the eager movie goers who could not wait for the release of “How to Train Your Dragon”!! Whilst I was growing up my two favourite dragons were in the motion pictures: “Pete’s Dragon” and “The Neverending Story”, of which I saw in such repetition I could nearly recite the dialogue and describe the scene sequences! In later years, “Avatar” held my heart!
I have oft dreamt of the day to simply carve out space to soak into popular dragon literature, as much as seek out new authors that might not always be mentioned by other readers! How thankful I am, then, that this particular book was offered to me to read and review!
About the Author | Jackie Gamber
You can read Gamber’s Full Biography, on her website, however, I learnt quite a few things about her whilst I was composing my questions for an interview! For instance, the essence of what she knew of dragons that originated from a dream she had that was the impetus to create “Redheart” shattered the misconceptions and perceptions of dragons, thus known in fantasy! She has a wicked sense for knowing which teas pair nicely with the books your palette is whet to taste! She took up knitting for its meditative qualities. If music is in the background whilst she writes, it has to be instinctively nondescript and ambient in nature, as if she hears a curious lyrical line it could shift her scene whilst its being penned! She is a retired servicewoman, secretary, and beloved Mum! She finds a keen balance between her writing and her family life. She adores the zoo beyond what words can express. She is a prolific short story writer. She runs a multi-verse platform for story-telling entitled: Allotrope Media, alongside her husband. Believing that a story has the freedom to express itself through multiple mediums. Insofar as being an accomplished playright and screenwriter! She excels at genre jumping but her heart is attached to science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
Dragons & Humans | akin to friendship:
I would nearly suspect that if I were to live in another realm, I would pick one with dragons who appreciate a living space where dragons and humans live harmoniously together! Who would want to bypass this beautiful interaction!? I oft think that inter-species communication and connection for me, goes back to my teen years whilst I was researching oceanography and marine biology for a novel I was writing. For me, singling out the interplay between whales, dolphins, and humans held fast and firm to the presumption that interactions between different species can yield insight that is limited without the connection formed at all! (An excellent film about dolphins and dogs interacting is “Zeus and Roxanne”!) In this way, I have always held a soft spot in my heart for reading and/or listening to stories of the animals who have learnt to communicate with us directly as much as the stories of inter-species communications I have uncovered from rather unique pairings of animals!
The natural world breathes its mirth of knowledge in gentle and slow breaths of enlightenment, which you can observe the more you’re spending time outside, keeping still, and reverently attune to what is being spoken around you! Gentle whispers of truth floating in the short bursts of wind, the kissings of the sun, the sway of the trees, and the noddings of clouds, as you walk into the depths of the natural environment; your perception of what is there is heightened by your presence being accepted by those who call the habitat your walking through: home.
Dragons to me, always felt to encompass human-like characteristics that gave you the impression that if any species could live in an accord with us, it would be the dragons! They are generally emotionally driven, feel things deeply with their hearts, and they have keen observation and hearing skills that make them in a position to have empathy and tolerance. I always had the sense inside me that a dragon is as curious in nature as humans, and oft-times could get themselves into a bit of trouble untoward that regard!
In Redheart, she opens the door for a dragon to be incapacitated to care as he’s shut off his emotional heart, and would rather wallow in his self-pity than to admit that he still has something he can give and achieve, if he only gave himself half a chance! She writes his character flaws well, giving light to his physical discomfort as much as his reflective mannerisms that paint the picture clearly as how you would expect to find him if you stumbled across his cave! His anguish for his deceased parents is soul-wrenching because you can tell he has not yet traversed through his grief and emerged on the other side. He grieves as though they had only just died and his blinded sight of this sorrow is part of what is holding him back. Kallon gives the adjective ‘downtrodden’ a whole new meaning, as you can nearly see his disheartened sighs as he shifts into the floor of his cave and kicks up dust as he snorts, whilst entering his domain!
I think originally when the worlds of the dragons and humans were more intermixed, the relationships and friendships they built together was easier going than it is at the time we enter the life of Kallon and Riza. Fear has changed the landscape, and greed has nearly shattered the natural environment. Yet. Dragons and humans are akin to friendship because it’s part of the wiring of who they are. They are community entities that thrive best whilst surrounded by others’ rather than isolated as recluses. With friendship, each day is a bit more special than the last, because there was someone there to share the experience, the adventure, and the conversation of simply ‘being in the moment’ as it came to pass!
Wordsmiths are my favourites next to research enthusiasts:
Ms. Gamber has a way of weaving the opening bits of this tale in such a way that your hungry for each new sentence that alights in your mind! She has a way of showing the interactions between a freaked out of her skull human and a disgruntled and reclusive dragon as though this were an ordinary tale, set in an ordinary time, and one that would easily be taken as ‘written’ and ‘true’. Her ease of giving the reader the chance to soak into her narrative is brilliant when you consider this is an epic fantasy, with a world created fully unknown to the reader who picks up the book!
Next to (writers who are) research enthusiasts, my next favourite writer is the wordsmith! The one who uses a palette of words to paint the portraits of what evolves into the stories that light up our imaginations with such a vigorous intensity! They use words in a fashion that infuses emotion, heart, and observation in a way that is both poetic and brilliantly unique. And, being emotional beings (dragons), I would wager could lead to disappointments, misunderstandings, and grievously difficult emotional keels! She eclipses the depth of their personality with deft skill! Soulful! Dragons to me, have always come across as being ‘soulful’, filt to the brim with an ageless wisdom and a mission to seek out understanding in things that they do not always understand at first.
Trust, Determination, and Faith:
Three of the most difficult lessons we all face during our lifetimes is trusting what is happening will eventually turn around and become resolved. Staying determined that what ever befalls us will not define who we are or what we are capable of achieving. And, having the faith to encourage the strength needed in order to carry onward when our paths are not readily known or easily seen. I find these attributes at play in Kallon and Riza, who independently have to come to grips with the fact that their lives are taking a few left turns. Each of them are reluctant to admit that they are hesitate when it comes to trusting others, and each other for that matter! Slowly, as they start to spend time in each others’ company, they realise what they are missing by staying solo and isolated from companionship.
Review of Redheart:
What I feel Redheart is truly about is that a single act of courage and sacrifice is what can separate you from a crowd of maddening prejudice. It can also be the spark of the last true gift a father can bestow to his son at the time of his death. The true miracle is not allowing yourself to turn cold-hearted, to where you can no longer see what your heart is hoping you can! Our eyes are only one vehicle of sight, and if we are blinded in our hearts, we experience true blindness by not being able to see what is right in front of us. We’re surrounded by little bits of fragmented knowledge that speaks to us in the ripples of life that bursts and simmers wherever we walk. It’s knowing how to acknowledge where our lifepath is leading us to venture is the true source of understanding the greater whole of our life.
In the opening sequences of the story, the startled out of her wits human presents a classic encounter where the principal character is plucked out of her environment, taken into a new place, and has to sort out how to live where she’s planted! The fact that her rescuer is a reclusive dragon, makes the story ever more endearing, because oft-times you only hear of bold, confident dragons who are never absent of courage, or you encounter the battle-torn dragons who fight more than they alight in joy. Riza has to yield to trusting strangers in order to effectively change her stars and walk forward into a future of her choosing rather than the one that is expected.
Whilst reading the back-story of the dragons, I started to notice the similarities with their ancestral past and those of Native Americans. I grew up surrounded by Native American culture, art, and tradition as my parents always encouraged me to learn about cultures different from my own at a young age. Some of my fondest memories are the conversations I had with a Cherokee gentleman who owned a lovely art gallery and bookshoppe! Through his conversations, I have always been endeared to their cultural heritage, and as I read about Kallon’s dragon legacies of the ages, I started to recognise the underpinnings of cross-references.
An effective insurrection of power is happening in the background of Redheart, as you are introduced to such a garish brute as Blackclaw! His entire being is consumed with a thirst for blood, power, and control – to where he cannot think of anything else except the execution of engaging Dragonkind into a war with the humans! He is the complete opposite of leaders, who previously were vowed to encourage peace and civility with the humans. There is a sideline mystery about the causes of the environmental destructive patterns that are encroaching on the lands of each societies, which gives root to where the distention might have originally began.
Gamber weaves spirituality into her story with subtlety, as she begs the reader to consider the wider view of the story as a whole. To look inside our own hearts and minds, to reach past what we were expecting of the story and to see what she was trying to impart as the message that she has given us all to bear witness to. Living through faith and by faith alone is not an easy task, nor is seeing without the aide of our senses. Friendship is akin to love, and love is akin to friendship, thus so is faith akin to trust without sight.
Gamber has written a hypnotic tale that lulls you into a dreamy state of ethereal bliss, as you enter into the world of the Leland Dragons! It’s a story that you do not want to rush through, as you wander around slowly, taking in each scene and each piece of the world she’s created for the reader to become wholly enthused inside.
A Dragon Hunter with a curious complex of character!
When Jastin Armitage first comes onto the scene in Redheart, I am inwardly suspicious of his motives and of his leanings for dragon | human interactions. I gathered the sense that he was on the ‘opposite’ side of the spectrum from where I stood myself, and it came as no surprise whilst I learnt the hard truth that he ‘hunts dragons’ for a living! That aside, I found it rather curious when Gamber didn’t create the stereotypical ‘hunter’ character, but rather, gave him a bit of a working up as a man who is in conflict and attempting to be a better man than he might endeavour to represent! His gruff attitude towards Riza softened when he saw her up close, and it led me to believe that there is more to his heart than his persona as a rough-and-ready take no prisoners dragon hunter! I smirked and suppressed a giggle when I came across the scene in the The Brown Barrell where he rather cheekily gained information about the dragons he was seeking! I like cheeky humour in epic fantasy, because it helps keep the pace in-between the serious events a happy calm! He is definitely a character you are eager to read more about, with an arched eyebrow and a furrowing crease of your forehead whilst you realise he’s just this side of dangerous!
And, the story continues,…
I am in full gratitude that this is only! the first installment of the Leland Dragon series, as not since Kate Elliott’s “Crown of Stars” series and the aforementioned “Ave” series by Stephen Zimmer, have I settled into such a wonderfully wicked epic fantasy world! All these years I’ve been seeking where I should go next as far as which series to attempt to sink into and which world of whose characters would charm me with their endearing personalities,… It’s not a lightning bolt on anyone’s desk to realise that I adore full-bodied and fully realised worlds to etch myself into and soak straight into the context of the stories that draw me into their realms! The Leland Dragon series thankfully has a second installment already available, and I am hopeful, the third is shortly going to be released as it’s one of those series you are not inclined to want to put down for very long! I found a rumoured note that Book Three delves into Murk Forest whereupon dragon hunter Jastin Armitage becomes the hunted! I say ‘rumoured’ as I cannot find any mentionings online for when Book Three will drop, but I did come across the news that it marks the final installment, making Leland Dragons a trilogy! I can only hope once I reach that part of the story, I am ready to say “Good-bye”. For this story is a powerful one, that encourages you to move your fingers gingerly page to page, daring not to know what is revealed next, and yet, willing you to read where the story is leading you to go!
All I can say, is that I hope there is more ‘flying amongst the clouds and over the trees’, as being free to explore the land and sky in this way I think is every dreamers ultimate wish! Rock on, Ms. Gamber for giving me such a wicked sense of pure joy and sense of adventure by capturing how it would feel to be ‘in flight’ without the security of being in a plane! I would fathom that being astride a dragon is similar to that of a horse, as there is a co-companionship that emerges that turns the journey into a conjoined experience.
Be sure to catch the second half of this showcase on JLAS:
Jorie interviews Jackie Gamber, author of the Leland Dragon series! This review was made possible by Seventh Star Press! They have my full gratitude!
IF your a reader of dragon lore and fiction, which books and series stand out in your mind as the next ‘best’ read for me to engage in!? I’ll compile a list, and when I go to sit down with more books of this nature, I will pull your suggestions together and see how many I can read! I do have copies of “Eragon” & “Brisinger” on my self as much as I am curious about: the Temeraire series by Naomi Novik, the Rain Wild Chronicles by Robin Hobb, Pern by Anne MacCaffrey, and the Enchanted Forest Chronicles by Patricia C. Wrede, of which I have stumbled across thus far! IF you’ve read any of these, which were your favourites!? And, what warmed you to the story of Redheart, as I reviewed the story!?
{SOURCES: Cover art of “Redheart” by Matthew Perry and Jackie Gamber’s photograph were all provided by Tomorrow Comes Media and used with permission. Seventh Star Press logo badge provided by Seventh Star Press and used with permission. The book trailer by Seventh Star Press had either URL share links or coding which made it possible to embed this media portal to this post, and I thank them for the opportunity to share more about this novel and the author who penned it. Blog tour badge provided by Parajunkee to give book bloggers definition on their blogs.}
{SOURCES: Sci-Fi November Badge provided by Rinn Reads for participants to advert the month long event and to encourage people to follow along with those of us who are contributing! SFN badge used with permission. SFN Feature badge created by Jorie in Canva.}
Author Biography:
most extraordinary women of the Middle Ages: Hildegard von Bingen, Benedictine abbess, visionary, and polymath.
