The selection this month was the novel Bloodline by Kate Cary.
plot: John Shaw, having been injured in the war, finds himself returned home to London, but the events having left him plagued with nightmares. He can no longer tell if the visions he saw of beasts and wolves on the front lines are real or just his damaged mind trying to make sense of it all? While recovering, he falls quickly in love with Mary Seward, the young daughter of Dr. Jack Seward. After having secretly read John's diary, Mary Seward has reason to believe that what John witnessed was real, and fears her best friend Lily; John's sister, has fallen pray to the very monster John talks about in his diary. Quincey Harker. Whom Mary learns is the son of her father's friends. As lies become uncovered, Mary finds herself on a race against time which takes her to the very heart of Transylvania.
This is done in the same style of the original Dracula by Bram Stoker, told from the point of view of each character's diaries and letters. Nearly all the original characters are mentioned in one way or another.
Okay, I didn't love this, but I didn't hate it. I thought the story was great up until the last chapter. For me, the ending just didn't sit right.
For me, I kept waiting for there to be more linking it to the original. I loved the little wink and nod to Renfield's cell, and the fact the heroine is the daughter of Dr. Jack Seward. His appearance was the big highlight for me. I did not care for the sub-plot of the Mina Harker/Tepes character at all. For me, it pulled away from the how the rest of the tapestry was flowing. I also wasn't at all thrilled with the Count Tepes character. He felt like he was just tossed in to fill in a blank. He is mentioned more than a few times in the last half of the novel, but when we finally get any real evidence of him, he's dispatched too easily.
Normally, I find the more common themes and what I think the story was a metaphor for; but I didn't really get a whole ton out of this other than the idea of trust. Everyone seems to be lying to each other in one way or another.
Next month's selection will be Queen of the Damned by Anne Rice. I'll be back later in the week with the official announcement for it.
Sunday, April 28, 2019
Monday, April 22, 2019
The Nosferatu Adventures s13 p18
The Nosferatu Adventures
page 348, chapter 348
"My cellphone isn't working." Seward said as he waved the little machine. "Like nothing. No bars, no indication of anything." he looked around them nearly spinning in a complete circle. "Where are we? If we were in the warehouse when we went through the portal shouldn't we have returned to the warehouse when we came back through?" Our heroine was barely listening, as she brought her left hand up flexing her fingers before whispering and blowing on her palm. A golf ball size bubble appeared suddenly, a small butterfly held within. She moved her wrist slightly letting the bubble move across her knuckles.
"Wicked." she said wide eyed.
"How'd you do that?" the dark haired human asked just as the bubble disappeared.
"Shack." our heroine huffed. "It's a trick The Seer used to do all the time. I guess his bloodlink ran it's course. Any magick I had from him just ran out." the female banshee plunked down on the nearest patch of lawn, the canvas bag with the spellbook now in her lap. They turned to see Edric returning from just to the left of them. Neither had paid any attention to the fact the hybrid had wandered off in the last few minutes.
"I just found this." Edric said showing them a newspaper. "Look at the date." Seward and our heroine looked at the little black and white print.
"Oh my god! 1976! What the shack?" Seward threw his arms up . "Back in time?" he was still waving the little dead cellphone in his hand trying to understand. He spun around on his heels surveying the landscape suddenly. They were in what looked like a naked plot of land. Half of it was nothing but dirt, with bits of car parts and trash in the far corners by a wire fence. "Are we in a dump?" he shook his head blinking at what he thought were train tracks hidden under long weeds about thirty feet away. Walking over to them, he pointed. "This is where the warehouse should be. By the abandoned tracks."
"Figures." Nosferatu sighed linking her fingers together stretching. The weight of the spellbook causing the canvas bag to slide off her knees.
"What do you mean figures?" Seward was now holding his useless cellphone in both hands like his life depended on it, his knuckles bone white. He crossed back to them his shoulders tight.
"I think that was me. Not on purpose, but it's not the first time it's happened. No puns intended." the two males stood there waiting for more; Edric's eyebrows knitted in confusion and Seward looking like he was about to have a full on panic attack. His fingers were gripping the cellphone to the point they were leaving heat prints. "Way back when I was first in the Darkest Forest, the Seer and I opened a portal, only instead of going to another reality, we landed back a few years in the year 2000. Then another time I'd had enough of things with Dagan, and opened up a portal only I ended up in the 1400's. How I met Vlad actually." she frowned. "Come to think of it, when I escaped Bacchus's palace I ended up back in Rolf's kingdom with a wee bit of a 24 hour time difference." she held up her thumb and forefinger squinting. "Just a touch of jet lag on that point."
"So what you're saying is you can time travel?" Seward asked his chin down eyes wide hands now out at his sides, the cellphone still clutched in his left hand.
"Not on purpose." our heroine picked at a single blade of grass having noticed how it was yellow and split down the middle where as all the others around it were still deep vibrant green. "It's one of the reasons Bacchus is so determined to have me. Well, not have me-have me..." she went quiet for a long pause as she thought about it. Tilting her head to the side she raised an eyebrow as if answering a question to herself. "...at lest that was never hinted at as part of his deal. Anyways, it's one of the reasons Bacchus wants me to rule by his side as the High Priestess Queen of his Bacchae. Because of the portal time thingie. I don't move through the realities in any liner fashion."
"And you're just telling us this now! After we followed you through the portal to begin with and back to what was suppose to be home! You couldn't have said anything oh I don't know, like twenty minutes ago when we were still safe in 2018 in the warehouse?" Seward was standing on his toes red faced getting hysterical.
"Don't you dare!" the female got up to face him. "I never asked you to jump through the portal with me. You did that! That's on you." she bent down snatching up the canvas bag, slinging the straps over her shoulder as she stormed off towards the nearest street.
Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me (straight up story. Yes, it was 2018 still in the story's modern timeline when they went through the portal.)
page 348, chapter 348
"My cellphone isn't working." Seward said as he waved the little machine. "Like nothing. No bars, no indication of anything." he looked around them nearly spinning in a complete circle. "Where are we? If we were in the warehouse when we went through the portal shouldn't we have returned to the warehouse when we came back through?" Our heroine was barely listening, as she brought her left hand up flexing her fingers before whispering and blowing on her palm. A golf ball size bubble appeared suddenly, a small butterfly held within. She moved her wrist slightly letting the bubble move across her knuckles.
"Wicked." she said wide eyed.
"How'd you do that?" the dark haired human asked just as the bubble disappeared.
"Shack." our heroine huffed. "It's a trick The Seer used to do all the time. I guess his bloodlink ran it's course. Any magick I had from him just ran out." the female banshee plunked down on the nearest patch of lawn, the canvas bag with the spellbook now in her lap. They turned to see Edric returning from just to the left of them. Neither had paid any attention to the fact the hybrid had wandered off in the last few minutes.
"I just found this." Edric said showing them a newspaper. "Look at the date." Seward and our heroine looked at the little black and white print.
"Oh my god! 1976! What the shack?" Seward threw his arms up . "Back in time?" he was still waving the little dead cellphone in his hand trying to understand. He spun around on his heels surveying the landscape suddenly. They were in what looked like a naked plot of land. Half of it was nothing but dirt, with bits of car parts and trash in the far corners by a wire fence. "Are we in a dump?" he shook his head blinking at what he thought were train tracks hidden under long weeds about thirty feet away. Walking over to them, he pointed. "This is where the warehouse should be. By the abandoned tracks."
"Figures." Nosferatu sighed linking her fingers together stretching. The weight of the spellbook causing the canvas bag to slide off her knees.
"What do you mean figures?" Seward was now holding his useless cellphone in both hands like his life depended on it, his knuckles bone white. He crossed back to them his shoulders tight.
"I think that was me. Not on purpose, but it's not the first time it's happened. No puns intended." the two males stood there waiting for more; Edric's eyebrows knitted in confusion and Seward looking like he was about to have a full on panic attack. His fingers were gripping the cellphone to the point they were leaving heat prints. "Way back when I was first in the Darkest Forest, the Seer and I opened a portal, only instead of going to another reality, we landed back a few years in the year 2000. Then another time I'd had enough of things with Dagan, and opened up a portal only I ended up in the 1400's. How I met Vlad actually." she frowned. "Come to think of it, when I escaped Bacchus's palace I ended up back in Rolf's kingdom with a wee bit of a 24 hour time difference." she held up her thumb and forefinger squinting. "Just a touch of jet lag on that point."
"So what you're saying is you can time travel?" Seward asked his chin down eyes wide hands now out at his sides, the cellphone still clutched in his left hand.
"Not on purpose." our heroine picked at a single blade of grass having noticed how it was yellow and split down the middle where as all the others around it were still deep vibrant green. "It's one of the reasons Bacchus is so determined to have me. Well, not have me-have me..." she went quiet for a long pause as she thought about it. Tilting her head to the side she raised an eyebrow as if answering a question to herself. "...at lest that was never hinted at as part of his deal. Anyways, it's one of the reasons Bacchus wants me to rule by his side as the High Priestess Queen of his Bacchae. Because of the portal time thingie. I don't move through the realities in any liner fashion."
"And you're just telling us this now! After we followed you through the portal to begin with and back to what was suppose to be home! You couldn't have said anything oh I don't know, like twenty minutes ago when we were still safe in 2018 in the warehouse?" Seward was standing on his toes red faced getting hysterical.
"Don't you dare!" the female got up to face him. "I never asked you to jump through the portal with me. You did that! That's on you." she bent down snatching up the canvas bag, slinging the straps over her shoulder as she stormed off towards the nearest street.
Tune in again for another installment of the Nosferatu Adventures starring your heroine...me (straight up story. Yes, it was 2018 still in the story's modern timeline when they went through the portal.)
Saturday, April 20, 2019
Random movie - Happytime Murders
Movie: Happytime Murders
starring: Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph
genre: comedy, crime,
year: 2018
format: Netflix Canada
plot: When the former members of a beloved sitcom start to turn up dead, an ex-cop turned detective is forced to team up with his old partner to solve them and figure out who's framing him.
This is a buddy-cop movie plain and simple. The classic odd-couple styling slapstick this time between a human and a puppet. It plays as expected as far as the crime-story goes. As far as the storyline goes, there's nothing new to it.
The theme is clear that it's about prejudice. You can switch out the puppets for any minority and the basic theme would still play the same.
I have to admit, when I first heard about this last year, I was looking forward to it, but this felt like such a let down. The characters are a bit thin and one dimensional. (The tv show Angel did a puppet episode back in it's 5th season called Smile Time that was more thought out.)
Here's hoping the company have a few more films in the works, because the idea was there, with this new sub-genre of puppetry, it just wasn't fleshed out as well as it should have been.
starring: Melissa McCarthy, Maya Rudolph
genre: comedy, crime,
year: 2018
format: Netflix Canada
plot: When the former members of a beloved sitcom start to turn up dead, an ex-cop turned detective is forced to team up with his old partner to solve them and figure out who's framing him.
This is a buddy-cop movie plain and simple. The classic odd-couple styling slapstick this time between a human and a puppet. It plays as expected as far as the crime-story goes. As far as the storyline goes, there's nothing new to it.
The theme is clear that it's about prejudice. You can switch out the puppets for any minority and the basic theme would still play the same.
I have to admit, when I first heard about this last year, I was looking forward to it, but this felt like such a let down. The characters are a bit thin and one dimensional. (The tv show Angel did a puppet episode back in it's 5th season called Smile Time that was more thought out.)
Here's hoping the company have a few more films in the works, because the idea was there, with this new sub-genre of puppetry, it just wasn't fleshed out as well as it should have been.
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
April 2nd book club
Spudguns!, we are 212 Days till Hallowe'en, and into a new month. And that means it's time for the April Night Bleeds selection.
I've picked Bloodline by Kate Cary for this month.
As usual, you need a blog to join in. The deadline is the last Sunday of the month, which in this case is Sunday April 28th 2019.
If you decide to join me, just read the book, write a blog post about it, and if you're inspired to cook/bake/craft something because of it, add that to your post. Then link back to either this post or on the day of, my book club review post. And let me know in the comments that you joined in with a link etc.
The post must be current, in this cause done within the Month of April 2019.
And as always, if you're in the Thunder Bay area and would like to join me for the physical book club, just let me know.
I've picked Bloodline by Kate Cary for this month.
As usual, you need a blog to join in. The deadline is the last Sunday of the month, which in this case is Sunday April 28th 2019.
If you decide to join me, just read the book, write a blog post about it, and if you're inspired to cook/bake/craft something because of it, add that to your post. Then link back to either this post or on the day of, my book club review post. And let me know in the comments that you joined in with a link etc.
The post must be current, in this cause done within the Month of April 2019.
And as always, if you're in the Thunder Bay area and would like to join me for the physical book club, just let me know.
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