Cory Day’s Comments (group member since Aug 18, 2012)

Cory Day’s comments from the Reading with Style group.

15.1 – BtW – Constant Traveler

The Mark of Zorro by Johnston McCulley (pub. 1919)

+15 Task

Task Total: 15
Grand Total: 110

Karen Michele wrote: "Cory Day wrote: "I'm back :)

I just finished The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire and the world is based on Celtic mythology (basically fairies), but I'm not sure it'..."

No, the selkies have only a passing appearance, and I'm not familiar enough with the specific mythologies behind the characters featured in this one to know what she made up and what's based on "real" myth. Not a problem - it's just combo points :)

I'm back :)

I just finished The Winter Long by Seanan McGuire and the world is based on Celtic mythology (basically fairies), but I'm not sure it's enough. I found this interview where she basically talks about how she's pretty thoroughly changed a lot: http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/non...

But it's certain she's using the myths as the starting point: http://abackwardsstory.blogspot.com/2... and http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by...

Thanks!

10.8 Comfort Read

Magic Breaks by Ilona Andrews

Review: This is the seventh in what might be my favorite urban fantasy series, and in a lot of ways it just keeps getting better and better. This installment, as is mentioned in the forward, feels in many ways like the finale, but it’s really just the end of a plotline. The main character, Kate Daniels, has been in hiding for a long time, but her secrets aren’t as hidden as they once were. She’s known that the events in this book have been coming, but I don’t think she ever expected things to go down quite the way they did.

Kate Daniel’s world is completely fascinating. It’s a world where magic and technology are at war, where gods are sometimes real, and where something thought to be fiction might be a reality. It weaves a number of mythologies into a unique background I’ve never seen. In earlier installments there have been large plot points revolving around legends and fables that I’ve rarely or never seen in most literature – Indian, Slavic, Celtic, etc. – but the one that is woven throughout is actually based on a combination of Jewish and ancient Babylonian. That’s the one heavily featured in this book, although they do run into some creatures from other myths (like a wendigo) along the way.

This a great book in a great series – the authors have done a lot of build up to get here. The books definitely need to be read in order, although the first is the weakest of the bunch and probably could be skipped.

+10 Task ( I rated Magic Strikes 5 stars )
+5 Combo (10.9 – approved in help thread)
+10 Review

Task Total: 25
Grand Total: 95

Karen Michele wrote: "Cory Day wrote: "I just finished Magic Breaks and I KNOW it should fit this (for combo points, so not that big a deal...) but I can't find a really good obvious link... I just know ..."

Thanks!

20.1 19th Century

The Secret History of the Pink Carnation by Lauren Willig

Review: I’ve been on a Scarlet Pimpernel kick recently, and this was one of the top recommended similar books by some romance novel blogs I read. It took a little while to get used to the switching perspectives – one set in the current day following a grad student’s research about 18th/19th century English spies, and the others set in Napoleonic France. It was a lot of fun, even if it was a bit predictable – as most romances are. I do wish the historical romance part had been given a little more time to develop, but I’m looking forward to continuing the series and seeing where the modern day portions go.

+20 task (shelved as 19th century 18 times)
+5 combo (10.2)
+10 review

Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 70

20.6 Underrated
Kathleen by Candice Ransom

Review: When I was a young teenager, relegated to the paltry 1990s young adult section of the library, the Sunfire series of historical romances were some of my favorites. They don’t exactly hold up to my adult sensibilities, but I’ve tracked down all of them, even those that weren’t at my local library, and this was the last one I hadn’t read. The series has multiple authors and the books are not interconnected at all besides a basic plot similarity – 16ish year old girl is coming of age in a historic time period during which a major calamity is happening and has to choose between two boys while figuring out what her life should be. In this one, Kathleen is a victim of the Irish potato famine and finds herself emigrating to Boston after her entire family dies. The plot is just the same as pretty much all of the other Sunfire books, with Kathleen managing without major incident to overcome adverse circumstances with two boys courting her, but Ransom is one of the best of the authors. She integrates the history into her novels without being boring, and the story is at least basically plausible. I discovered my love of history by reading these stories, and it’s bittersweet to have read the last one. I only wish I’d had access to them all when I was young enough to overlook some of the silliness and just enjoy.

+20 Task (132 ratings)
+10 Review
+5 Oldies (published 1985)

Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 35

I just finished Magic Breaks and I KNOW it should fit this (for combo points, so not that big a deal...) but I can't find a really good obvious link... I just know from reading the book and its predecessors.

Here's what I say in my review: Kate Daniel’s world is completely fascinating. It’s a world where magic and technology are at war, where gods are sometimes real, and where something thought to be fiction might be a reality. It weaves a number of mythologies into a unique background I’ve never seen. In earlier installments there have been large plot points revolving around legends and fables that I’ve rarely or never seen in most literature – Indian, Slavic, Celtic, etc. – but the one that is woven throughout is actually based on a combination of Jewish and ancient Babylonian. That’s the one heavily featured in this book, although they do run into some creatures from other myths (like a wendigo) along the way.

Also, here’s a quote from the intro of the book: “For example, Abraham was one of his [Roland, the main bad guy]; they had some sort of a spat, and Roland exiled him until Abraham finally died later in poverty. Not exactly the way the Bible tells it, but there you go.” More about Roland can be found here: http://kate.ilona-andrews.com/players...)

Is that good, or do you need more?

Karen Michele wrote: "Cory Day wrote: "Karen Michele wrote: "I agree about vampire/shapeshifter lore fitting the description of myth and legend in general. Try to find a link of support that talks about the author's use..."

It is. This task reminds me of the Othello task from a couple seasons ago - simple on the surface, but more complicated than you might realize. A lot of myths have become such a part of our culture that their actual legendary connections have been muted.

Karen Michele wrote: "I agree about vampire/shapeshifter lore fitting the description of myth and legend in general. Try to find a link of support that talks about the author's use of the folklore/mythology if there is nothing in the Goodreads description that goes deeper than the fact that the book is about vampires, werewolves, etc. In the meantime, I will think about it some more, too."

It makes sense that we'd need a connection to the myth itself, not just the mythological creatures. I have a feeling I'll just read what I'm going to read and then see if it teaches me anything about a specific culture's mythology, then come back to run it past you :) A lot of the urban fantasy I read does get into myth and legends from real civilizations, but some simply use beings like vampires and create their own mythologies.

I'll be back! Sorry if I complicated things for you!

Thanks!

The Mark of Zorro was originally published as serial stories in 1919 but not as a book (novella) until 1924: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Curs.... Goodreads lists 1919, but which date should I use for this?

Ok, I'm trying to make sure I get things straight - I read a lot of fantasy, etc. so I may need to run a bunch of books through this thread.

If I understand the difference between a myth/legend and a fairy tale, a myth or legend would be part of a set of actual beliefs - part of a religion or used as explanation for things that happen that are not understood - but a fairy tale would be more superficial and less directly relevant to actual cultural events. It gets a little fuzzy when you talk about retellings - the lines are blurrier.

That being said, I'll start with a simple question: do vampire stories count? Vampires were used as explanation for disease, etc. in many cultures http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vampire.

I'll probably be back with specific book titles but this should start the ball rolling ;)

I agree with Liz, and am inclined to say no to the first and yes to the second. A pen name is very often used to distinguish between writing styles, so a Rowling book and a Galbraith book would be different. However, you can often follow editors of collections expecting a similar vibe. So, 1) No, 2) Yes, 3) No.

15.10 (2nd round) – AtA:

Children of Scarabaeus by Sara Creasy

+30 Task

Task Total: 30
AtA Completion Bonus #2: 50
Mega Finish #2: 200
Grand Total: 2385

Phew. Done!

Great challenge everyone!

10.5 Sounds of Summer

Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein (Lexile 940)

+10 Task (YA nominee)
+5 Multiple
+20 Combo (10.2 - Katy rated it 5 stars, 10.3 - born 1964, 10.9 – published 2013, 20.9 – takes place 1944-1946)

Task Total: 35
RwS Completion Bonus #2: 100
Grand Total: 2105

20.10 Austria-Hungary

The Good Master by Kate Seredy

+20 Task (set in Hungary)
Lexile 640, no styles

Task Total: 20
Grand Total: 1970

20.5 Financial
Scaramouche by Rafael Sabatini

+20 Task (in Historical Fiction section)
+5 Multiple
+5 Combo (10.2 - C.nick rated it 5 stars)

Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 1950

15.9 (2nd round) – AtA:
Perdition by Ann Aguirre

+30 Task

Task Total: 30
Grand Total: 1920

20.1 Tea

Baksheesh by Esmahan Aykol

+20 Task (born in Turkey)
+5 Multiple
+10 Non-Western (born in Turkey, splits time between Turkey and Germany)

Task Total: 35
Grand Total: 1890