A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court ****

A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain extolls the virtues of 19^th-century Connecticut over sixth-century England. First, he presents the advantages of 19^th-century technology like guns and telephones. There is no contest here. He also attempts to replace the sixth-century feudal system and church with 19-century educational and political systems. Here the results are mixed.

 Mark Twain anticipates Arthur C Clarke’s third law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. The Yankee uses 19^th-century technology to defeat Merlin’s sixth-century magic.

 The Yankee brought 19^th-century technology to the sixth century. This included electrical generation, steam power, railroads, bicycles, telephone, telegraph, lightning rods, revolvers, Gatling guns, explosives, printing press, and newspapers. He also introduced factories, patents, public education, and universities. He brought modern finance including decimal money and fiat money (which was more like bitcoin than dollars).

 He also wanted to replace the feudal system and the Catholic Church with a republic and elected officials.

 He particularly disliked armor. When he wore armor, he complained about the heat, lack of flexibility, weight, the impossibility of scratching your nose, lack of pockets, etc. He defeated armored knights by dodging their weapons, with electric fences, a lasso, and a gun.

 A fun mixture of politics, humor, and fantasy

 Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations. 

 

The Masked City by Genevieve Cogman *****

The Masked City by Genevieve is the second is a seven-book series about Irene, a librarian spy, and Kai, her student assistant dragon. In this book, Kai, a royal dragon representing order, is kidnapped by Lord and Lady Guantes, a fae couple representing chaos. Kai is taken to the extremely chaotic city of Venice during Carnival. Venice is so chaotic, Kai’s powerful family can’t rescue him, so that job is left to Irene. A thrilling fantasy adventure.

The Library interconnects alternate universes and the Librarians monitor and maintain balance. Irene is a lower-level Librarian who travels to alternate universes on Library missions—which have unexpected difficulties and murders.

The world of The Invisible Library has two opposing forces. The fae, forces of chaos, imagination, and fiction. The dragons, forces of order and reality. The Library attempts to balance these two forces, either of which can bring the end to civilization. Many other races are part of this universe of universes: vampires, werewolves, mutations, superheroes, and impossible devices.

The Librarians travel between alternate universes collecting and moving books to keep everything in balance. They all have the superpower of Language. They can tell things how to behave: unlock doors, tie shoelaces, animate stuffed museum specimens, with the limitation: “When I use the Language to tell something to do something which is against its nature, the universe resists.”

The forces of good are Irene, protagonist and Librarian, with the cover name of Miss Winters; Kai, assistant and a dragon, with the cover name of Mr. Strongrock; and Peregrine Vale, 15^th Earl of Leeds in an alternate universe and a renowned detective.

If you enjoy this series, you will also enjoy the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde which also features a female literary detective and time travel. Highly recommended: https://amzn.to/3mvJJT5

A fantasy of magical spells, where no one is in real jeopardy.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations. 

 

The Invisible Library by Genevieve Cogman *****

The Invisible Library by Genevieve is a fantasy mystery about a reality with alternate universes where the Library’s purpose “is to preserve humanity from either absolute reality or absolutely unreality.” The Library interconnects all these alternates and the Librarians monitor and maintain balance. Irene is a lower-level Librarian who travels to alternate universes on Library missions—which have unexpected difficulties and murders.

The world of The Invisible Library has two opposing forces. The fae, forces of chaos, imagination, and fiction. The dragons, forces of order and reality. The Library attempts to balance these two forces, either of which can bring to end to civilization. Many other races are part of this universe of universes: vampires, werewolves, mutations, superheroes, and impossible devices.

The Librarians travel between alternate universes collecting and moving books to keep everything in balance. They all have the superpower of Language. They can tell things how to behave: unlock doors, tie shoelaces, animate stuffed museum specimens, with the limitation: “When I use the Language to tell something to do something which is against its nature, the universe resists.”

The forces of good are Irene, protagonist and Librarian, with the cover name of Miss Winters; Kai, assistant and dragon, with the cover name of Mr. Strongrock; Peregrine Vale, 15^th Earl of Leeds in the alternate universe and renown detective; and Inspector Singh, law enforcement.

The opposition includes Alberich, fallen Librarian; Bradamant, nasty Librarian, with the cover of cat burglar Belphegor; Lord Silver, fae, The Liechtenstein ambassador; and Lord Wyndham, dead vampire.

If you enjoy this series, you will also enjoy the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde which also features a female literary detective and time travel. Highly recommended: https://amzn.to/3mvJJT5

If this were a movie, it would be an action-comedy.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations. 

 

Tightrope by Amanda Quick ****

Tightrope by Amanda Quick is another mystery set in Burning Cove (#3/4) prior to WWII with some familiar supporting characters. Amalie Vaughn is a circus trapeze artist, flyer, who is stalked by a couple of serial killers who like to see flyers fall to their death. When Marcus Harding forced her to the top trapeze platform to have her fall to her death, she outwits him, and he dies instead. After this, she moves to Burning Cove and opens the Hidden Beach Inn where she becomes involved with Luther Pell’s (from the previous books) friend Matthias Jones. Together they work to recover an encryption engine (based on the German Enigma).

 As with the previous books in this series, the romance between Amalie Vaughn and Matthias Jones is heavily featured along with the chapter-long sex scene.

 A subplot is starting up the business at Hidden Beach Inn. Business issues include cash flow and publicity. When Amalie can’t get people to book rooms because of the bad publicity from guests that seem to die with some regularity, she found a way to turn her bad reputation into a positive cash flow and eventually rescued the business.

 The history of espionage between the two World Wars and the Enigma machines is well researched. If you’re interested in that history, try the non-fiction book The Women who Smashed Codes by Jason Fagone. (https://1book42day.blogspot.com/2020/08/the-woman-who-smashed-codes-by-jason.html)

 A fast-moving mystery with spies and serial killers. More romance than mayhem.

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The Other Lady Vanishes by Amanda Quick ****

The OtherLady Vanishes by Amanda Quick is #2/4 in the Burning Cove series. Adelaide Blake is an heiress who has been committed to an insane asylum by Conrad Massey who intended to steal her fortune. Once incarcerated, Dr. Harold Ormsby and Dr. Ethan Gill use her as experimental Patient B to do research on a new drug (imagine LSD). She escapes and assumes a new identity (Adelaide Brockton) in Burning Cove, a fancy resort on the California coast in the late 1930s. Along with the attractive Jake Truett, she solves several murders while avoiding getting murdered herself. A mystery with women in most of the roles.

The secondary characters from the first novel reprise their roles and the protagonist makes a cameo appearance. You can read these two books in any order. Like the first book Hollywood and espionage are featured, along with synthetic drugs.

Vera Westlake is a rising Hollywood star who is inexplicably dating Dr. Calvin Paxton who sells a diet tonic. Madam Zolanda is an old friend of Vera who has not been able to break into movies but is doing well as Psychic to the Stars and part-time blackmailer. Her assistance is Thelma Leggett. Raina Kirk is a recently arrived private detective with a shadowy past. Since Raina and Adelaide are both recent arrivals to Burning Cove with hidden pasts, they become good friends. Florence Darley runs the Refresh Tearoom in Burning Cove where Adelaide took a job while in hiding. She is a waitress and formulator of specialty tea and tisane mixtures.

 Like the first book, this one also includes an entire sex chapter.

 If you like women as heroes and villains with a few supporting men for entertainment and comic relief, this is the mystery for you.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations. 

 

I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg ****

I Still Dream About You by Fannie Flagg is a story of two real estate agents in 2008. Margaret Anne Fortenberry was Miss Alabama, but now her goal is to commit suicide without inconveniencing anybody. Her friend Brenda Peoples wants to be the first black woman mayor of Birmingham Alabama. In a story where the good are exceptionally good and the bad are very few, virtue is rewarded, and evil is punished. Maggie, one of the good, is constantly thwarted and forced to delay her carefully planned departure.

The 2008 narrative is interspersed with historical flashbacks to the 18^th century development of Birmingham Alabama, once second to Pittsburgh in steel production, also to the post-World War II era, and Civil Rights. From an historical point-of-view the book praises the 1950s and regrets the bad reputation Birmingham received during Civil Rights. Written in 2010, you can see the nostalgia that might have led to the MAGA slogan.

 A happy story of memorable characters and intricate plots.

Check out https://amazon.com/shop/influencer-20171115075 for book recommendations.