Ned Hayes's Blog, page 14

Christmas Chuckle

A little holiday humor for you, for everyone who likes books, whether or not you celebrate Christmas.

“I am the Ghost of Christmas Future Imperfect Conditional,” said the Spirit. “I bring news of what would have been going to happen, if you were not to have been going to change your ways!”

#Scrooge #Ghost #MerryChristmas

Christmas Chuckle was originally published on Ned Hayes

Winter Reading

I’m reviewing some of my favorite wintertide comfort books for the holidays….

The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper was one of my childhood pleasures in reading fantasy. It was dark, horrific, enthralling and otherworldly. Also, very English, which is what Christmas time should be, in my heart of hearts.

What’s most interesting about the The Dark is Rising is that as I’ve re-read it as an adult, the glory of what Cooper accomplished here grows. It is fundamentally a fantasy novel about a boy who discovers that he is a reincarnated “Old One” and that he has a role to play in a centuries-long battle between the Light and the Dark. Ok, so far so good…. and in the hands of a lesser writer, this would be a trite piece of throwaway fantasy.

However, what Cooper does with this basic plot is to invest our hero — Will (great name for a novel focused on free will and choices) — with so much human verisimilitude, and family issues that he is a fully fleshed human being before he ever encounters anything otherworldly.

Then when the supernatural begins to intrude, it touches Will’s life in small ways — not overt, not too much. Just strange beggars who seem lifted out of the middle ages, and symbols that mean something, but he’s not sure what. And then, in a culminating chapter of perfect wintertime fantasy, Cooper crafts a morning on which every thing is frozen in white snow, even Will’s family (caught in a deep sleep). On this morn, when Will wakes, he walks out of his house into a snow-covered Middle Ages, where the struggle between Light and Dark is overt and very real. And here he begins to encounter the truth of his new reality.

The beauty of Cooper’s work here is that she never uses the word “magic,” never has the lazy writer’s device of a simple McGuffin, and never makes any of this high fantasy into something easily explainable.

After Will begins to find out his destiny, Cooper then adds layer on layer of subtle updates that demonstrate how true evil worms its way into the hearts of those Will loves and holds dear. The stakes are high here… this is not a fantasy world that one returns from, as one jumps from a wardrobe, to find your world unchanged. No, this is a fantasy world with consequences on the family Will holds dear, and Will’s secret life cannot affect them, without disastrous consequences. Will must make choices between family, loyalty and what is right, and the moral grayness of the choice is pitched exactly right for an adolescent reader trying to understand the complexity of the adult world. It’s still pitched exactly right for me as well.

Society briefly breaks down under the weight of a horrific snowstorm, and the people are forced to flee to the Manor House…. a wonderful device to show how the story is gradually stripping the modern world down to the base requirements for life. Cooper uses the ancient Celtic roads, the idea of a Lord (or Lady) protecting their people, and the ancient tradition of the Wild Hunt to wonderful effect in her novel.

Cooper’s invocation of ancient British traditions I think is echoed today in Susanna Clarke ‘s masterful Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell.

And I have never read a better fantasy description of the Wild Hunt than Cooper’s haunting moonlit-driven winter hunt.

Writers as varied as Michael Chabon and Neil Gaiman have cited Cooper as an influence, but I do not think either of them have captured the magic that Cooper puts between the pages of this well plotted, precisely written book.

One of my favorite winter-time novels. The beginning is a little slow… but keep going, it’s worth the journey. The sequels to this book are well written, but are not as chock-full of good ideas and flashes of brilliance.

Even as I’ve become a writer myself, I hearken back to Cooper’s simplicity and genius for inspiration and for winter-time solace.

Winter Reading was originally published on Ned Hayes

A post in honor of Jane Austen’s birthday. December 16, 1775

A post in honor of Jane Austen’s birthday. 

December 16, 1775

Huffington Post - Winter Reading (Sinful Folk)

The wonderful writer Jeb Harrison  published a great intro to my novel SINFUL FOLK
in the Huffington Post Book section!

Tales of Hard Winters Long Ago

The writer Richard Adams, in Watership Down, said that “Many human beings say that they enjoy the winter, but what they really enjoy is feeling proof against it.” Proof in the crackle and pop of burning logs in the fireplace, a cozy blanket, thick wool socks and furry earmuffs, a full length wool overcoat and a long cashmere scarf; proof as you might feel in a soft leather onesie lined in sheep’s wool with UGG inscribed on the bottom; proof in the form of a steaming mug of creamy cocoa and a book where the characters are freezing their miserable butts off.


For readers of medieval and Middle Ages historical fiction, winter may conjure images of castles, animal trophies hung on the stones above the blazing hearth, never-ending banquets with bottomless casks of wine and mead, noblemen, clergy, knights and squires, maids and maidens gathered to pay homage to the lord of the lands.

But what of the peasants and their winter’s tales? What of the struggles of the common folk and their utter lack of proof against the winter? What of their stories of the whistling icicle winds on the frozen heath and the tragedies they carry?

In the 14th century, human beings were anything but proof against winter. Books of historical fiction set in those days of emergence from medieval times are likely to have characters freezing off this or that body part and leaving it for the dogs. For those that like to take a dose of reality with the tales of knights, dragons, giants and round tables, novels about those very real times are often apt to delight, enthrall and send the chills of winter up the spine.

Novels like Barry Unsworth’s Morality Play, or the wondrous series of novels: The White Queen by Philippa Gregory, or the non-fiction classic A World Lit Only By Fire by William Manchester give the reader of flavor for what life was like outside the castle walls. Now we can add Sinful Folk, by Ned Hayes, with illustrations by Nikki McClure to this esteemed list of novels set in the Middle Ages.

It’s December 1377, and four children have been burned to death when the croft house they inhabit goes up in inexplicable, unquenchable flames. The livid villagers take to the King’s Highway for hundreds of miles to demand justice. Among them is Mear, a former nun who has lived for a decade with her son disguised as a mute man. Now she grieves, but on this winter journey her true history comes to light, keeping readers and listeners up late waiting for the next revelation. (it’s also available on audiobook)

But above all Sinful Folk is a winter’s tale of centuries long past. As bestselling author Brenda Vantrease wrote about the book: “Dress warmly before beginning this perilous journey across a winter-blasted medieval landscape of fire and ice. Your heart will shiver and not just from the cold.”

SINFUL FOLK, by Ned Hayes, with illustrations by Nikki McClure.
* Starred * reviews from BookList, BookNote, Historical Novel Reviews.

           
      

Huffington Post – Winter Reading (Sinful Folk) was originally published on Ned Hayes

Wilderness of Mirrors - David Huddle Endorsement

“A considerable achievement… powerful and elegant… morally complex and challenging.”

Wilderness of Mirrors is “about the events of 9-11 and the War on Terror, but of course it’s also generally about many other topics—religion, history, international politics, the American intelligence community, the psychological make-up of a dedicated intelligence agent, conspiracy theory, and American foreign policy… the novel provides a scathing critique of the CIA and the NSA and their roles in moving the country toward the precarious place it now occupies in international affairs.”

– DAVID HUDDLE, former military intelligence specialist and award-winning author of The Story of a Million Years and My Immaculate Assassin

Wilderness of Mirrors – David Huddle Endorsement was originally published on Ned Hayes

Marvel 1602 -- Gaiman's masterwork in superhero time travel

(received this for Christmas — a couple spoilers inline here)

Neil Gaiman’s Marvel 1602 re-creates the Marvel universe as it might have been if it wasn’t born in 1950s America, but instead in Elizabethan England. I found 1602 to embody all the pleasurable characteristics of a good graphic novel — as Gaiman writes in his afterward, it was designed to be the perfect “comic book” to read on a long summer day, and really lose yourself in an alternate world.

I’m a big Dr. Strange fan, and it was also nice to see his occultic powers front and center in the story — featured alongside Nick Fury, as only Gaiman could do him justice.

One of the greatest pleasures of the book is that uncanny and exciting moment of recognition when you espy an old Marvel hero or villain in seventeenth century garb, and living a very different life that occasionally has nothing to do with their heroic life in our time. Examples include Daredevil Matthew Murdo

ch as a blind bard singing songs of the four lost heroes that sailed the ship Fantastick to a strange where they gained strange powers and then were lost forever (this is a red herring, as it turns out that Count Otto Von Doom has them prisoner of course, in his castle). Then there’s Sir Nicholas Fury who manages Queen Elizabeth’s spy network and disbelieves in occultic powers and yet has a grudgingly respectful relationship with a bald, crippled man by the name of Carlos Javier, who is gathering together those “cursed” to be “witchbreed” at a secret school. A young man named Peter Parque has not yet discovered any powers… but he is fascinated by spiders, while King James has a capable assistant named Bruce Banner who schemes to make the world a better place, and at the end of the novel encounters some gamma rays. And there’s a native American, with blond hair, who has superior powers. Meanwhile, there is a powerful Inquisitor who seems to have powers over metal…. but I say too much.

As I write this, I realize that in the hands of a lesser writer, all of these references and alternate histories might seem just too “cute” to be read or believed.

However, Gaiman is no common comic book writer, and his ability to stitch together myth, story, and historical research creates a stunning masterwork, that is only enlivened by one’s knowledge of the Marvel universe.

Gaiman weaves together these disparate origin and historical stories into a seamless, perfectly plotted whole and makes it hum like a tightly tuned engine.

As another reviewer pointed out, Gaimain really does resurrect the fun I’m sure readers had in the 60s reading and watching as Lee, Ditko, and Kirby brought these icons to life the first time around.

The art is also incredibly complementary to Gaimain’s storyline, with beautiful scratchboard covers and digital “painting” that echoes the classic painting techniques of the 17th century.

Fantastic comic, great read!

Marvel 1602 — Gaiman’s masterwork in superhero time travel was originally published on Ned Hayes

Booklist Review - Sinful Folk

Good news on the book front… novel SINFUL FOLK reviewed in 100-year-old BOOKLIST — the magazine the New York Times calls “an acquisitions bible for public and school librarians nationwide.”

 

*Starred Review*

“In December of 1377, five children are burned in a suspicious house fire. Awash in paranoia and prejudice, the fathers suspect it is the work of Jews and set out to seek justice from the king, loading the charred bodies of their boys onto a cart. Unbeknownst to them, among them is a woman, Mear, who has been hiding out in the town for the past 10 years posing as a mute man. It is a treacherous journey, for their rations are spare and the weather is brutal. And always, they are haunted by the question, Why were their boys in Benedict the weaver’s house, and who would do this to them? Mear, ever resourceful, not only watches for clues to unravel the mystery but also provides invaluable aid in finding their way, for she has traveled this way before and is the only literate one among them. The reason for her false identity is slowly revealed as the villagers are chased by bandits and must overcome numerous obstacles, hunger and fear among them. Brilliantly conceived and beautifully executed, Hayes’ novel is woven through with a deep knowledge of medieval history, all conveyed in mesmerizing prose. At the center of the novel is Mear, a brave and heartbreaking character whose story of triumph over adversity is a joy to read.”

 

— BookList Reviewer Joanne Wilkinson

 

LINK TO BOOKLIST (for subscribers)

Booklist Review – Sinful Folk was originally published on Ned Hayes

A quote for the birthday of C.S. Lewis(November 29, 1898)

A quote for the birthday of C.S. Lewis

(November 29, 1898)

How to Get a Signed, Personalized Copy of Any of My Books, Shipped Anywhere in the World!

The wonderful owner of my local bookstore Browsers Bookstore (Andrea Griffith) here in Olympia, Washington has volunteered to fill orders for signed, personalized editions of my novels for the holidays. I get down to Browsers at least once a week, so I’ll drop in regularly between now and Christmas to sign and personalize book orders you place with Browsers for The Eagle Tree, Sinful Folk or other books. Books make fabulous gifts, and Browsers can ship anywhere!

To order a signed personalized book, call Andrea at

1-360-357-7462 or email her at andrea@browsersolympia.com

(Fun Fact: my first reading for The Eagle Tree was at Browsers back in spring 2016!)

How to Get a Signed, Personalized Copy of Any of My Books, Shipped Anywhere in the World! was originally published on Ned Hayes

HOW TO GET A SIGNED, PERSONALIZED COPY OF ANY OF MY BOOKS, SHIPPED ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!

The wonderful owner of my local bookstore Browsers Bookstore (Andrea Griffith) here in Olympia, Washington has volunteered to fill orders for signed, personalized editions of my novels for the holidays. I get down to Browsers at least once a week, so I’ll drop in regularly between now and Christmas to sign and personalize book orders you place with Browsers for The Eagle Tree, Sinful Folk or other books. Books make fabulous gifts, and Browsers can ship anywhere!

To order a signed personalized book, call Andrea at

1-360-357-7462 or email her at andrea@browsersolympia.com

(Fun Fact: my first reading for The Eagle Tree was at Browsers back in spring 2016!)

HOW TO GET A SIGNED, PERSONALIZED COPY OF ANY OF MY BOOKS, SHIPPED ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! was originally published on Ned Hayes