The Man From Snowy River

Ten years or so past I went looking to find the poem that inspired the Tom Burlison movie, The Man from Snowy River. After a Google or related search discovered I could download Banjo Patterson’s book for free from Gutenberg Press. The .zip file led me to download and install µBook Reader to cope with the file. After reading the titular poem I put the book aside until just recently. Anyone who has sung Waltzing Matilda whether drunk or sober knows that Aussies particularly those in the Outback where these poems are set have unique colloquial expressions many of which only loosely translate into common English and Patterson uses a lot of them. The poems are written in rhyming couplets a style that seems all to quaint in this age of blank verse. They benefit from being read aloud. No one will mistake this verse for Tennyson or Wordsworth but it is well worth a read.

The Legend of Devil's Creek

This book is one part ghost story, one part serial murder investigation,
and one part college philosophy class discussing the true nature of
evil. It is not until half way through the book that the reader begins
to get hints as to how the three fit together and who the perpetrator
might be. The philosophical discussions are on a level that make me wish
I'd have had a professor such as Bacavi when I studied the subject. This
is s good read though I do wonder that friends would continually refer
to one another by their last names.

Legon Restoration

Third in Nicholas Taylor's trilogy. The grammar in this outing is
somewhat improved. Recommended for those who have read the first two
books in the series. Book three builds steadily to the war foreshadowed
in Book two. Magical creatures wage war in nightmarish ways. The
gruesome descriptions make this a book not suitable for children. It is
no fairy tale.

Legon Ascension

So much fantasy writing is derivative of JRR Tolkien's Lord of the Rings
that it is refreshing to find writing in the genre that is original.
After the slow start in book one of this trilogy the writing picks up
and so does the plot. Humans it seems can transform into elves and elves
can become dragons and return to elvan form. Taylor's elves are
immortals leading to an extremely stable society but also one that
doesn't change. Imagine discovering the lad of 25 across the table from
you is 3000-years-old. For those such as myself unfamiliar with the
tradition of fairies or elves the books play on the supposed elvan
ability to make things grow and introduces us to buildings made of
living wood and seamless boats that can draw sustenance from the ocean.

The warfare and violence inherent in the storyline make this an adult
read. The book suffers from repeated words, awkward constructions, and
unclear wordings that mark writing that could use some judicious
editing. Proper spelling, grammar, and syntactical construction seem to
be a thing of the past. In the context of the novel the title leads one
to assume that Legon will become a dragon but the author keeps us
waiting the entire novel for the event.

Over The Edge

As Seth’s wife Caillie arrives on the scene in book 3 we discover that she’s a rootin tootin cowgirl Winchester rifle, six-shooter and all. The story begins with a bang. In an age that predates knowledge of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by at least a century Seth has a case severe enough to have forgotten a wife with whom he sired a child. Don’t expect great literature here but the characterizations are apt and the language not X Rated. The plot lines if predictable carry one along with enough action/adventure to keep it interesting. The book could use some careful editing but it’s better than average for these days. Enjoy!

In Too Deep

I hate being manipulated but after reading the first free volume in the Kincaid Trilogy I was motivated to buy book two and will probably break down and get book three, Over the Edge, as well. The genre is action-adventure western with a touch of romance thrown in. Although the author describes some advanced petting the books are refreshingly free of elaborate bedroom sexual gymnastics. The setting is Pikes Peak in the Colorado Territory in the period the storyline is set a rough and ready lawless frontier. There are, alas, the usual grammatical and spelling errors but fewer than usual and no profanity. People do get shot and injured and there is violence; it was a violent era. I have enjoyed the read or I wouldn’t be contemplating book three.

River On Fire

Randall is an orphan who lives in a small 8-client orphanage for boys run by a husband and wife and her cousin. As care-givers go the people who run the place are kind but the man believes in corporal punishment. They also believe in God but the boys receive no love and never any token of affection. At 18 or high school graduation they get cast out into the world on their own with no support and no preparation. One of Randall’s buddy’s joins the marines and since this is the 60ies promptly ends up in Vietnam where he is killed shortly after arriving. Randall isn’t long in learning the stigma attached to being an orphan nor has he had any preparation in the social skills needed to deal with the opposite sex.

The book is written matter of factly from Randall’s point of view in the first person. It incorporates the events of the sixties: the Vietnam War, the various assassinations, Woodstock, forced school integration. Through it all Randall highlights the discrimination unique being an orphan. Strange to think that joining the army would be seen as a step up in life. The book has some editing errors but overall it’s a good read.