I don't know where I found this, but Halloween time seems like a good time to use it.

I'm not sure if it was a photo taken at a Star Fleet party, or an image from an unaired episode involving the Enterprise returning to earth circa 1800 and Kirk having difficulty remembering the finer points of that Prime Directive thing. 

In addition to writing a very satisfying chunk of the new novel, I caught a couple documentary movies on Prime, and finished a very good book. 

This movie was great if you're into history in general, and the French Revolution in particular. I didn't realize that it is the 2nd part of a two part deal. The movie appears to have been filmed in English--but is in French with English subtitles. It features Jane Seymour as Marie Antoinette, and Sam Neil appears briefly as LaFayette. There are others I recognize but I don't remember their names at the moment. Perhaps the first half provides more explanation; this part begins in the terror with no explanation about who is doing what or what the sides are etc. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it very much. It also reminded me of the "Slice-O" brand guillotine ad that a friend and I did for economics class when I was a sophomore in high school. On a more serious note, I think there are some present day parallels with the events and attitudes depicted. I'll leave you to watch it and draw your own parallels (if you have that sort of artistic ability--I can only draw flies). 

This film is more like a movie and less like a documentary. The Terror is shown is some fairly disturbing detail. The camera cuts away before the terrible contact of the guillotine's blade, the pitchfork's tine, or the skull to the wall--but the sound is still there. On the one hand, Robespierre eventually got what was coming to him; on the other hand, Danton's speech may have been the best part. The link to the movie is at the bottom of the page.

This movie was interesting. It's more documentary and less movie. I highly recommend it. The link to the movie is at the bottom of the page.

Book Review
Young Washington by Peter Stark

General thoughts: I can tell that I have a marked preference for a book when I neglect the other books that I'm reading in order to focus on only one. It's like having a plate full of various fine foods, and finding that you enjoy one of them so much that you consume it entirely and ignore the others. This book took me away from the other books on my current reading plate. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have only one criticism. The author does a lot of speculation about how Washington might have been feeling at various times, asking a lot of rhetorical questions and such. That annoyed me intensely. Fortunately, the bulk of the material is factual, historical, well documented, and presented in a manner that is clear and relates an exciting story.

Story in a nutshell: The young future president's commission to take a message to the French to vacate the Ohio River Valley results in a splitting headache for Jumonville that no amount of aspirin can cure. The young officer is forced to surrender to the French and Indians, and sets off a global conflict between the French and British. He whines quite a bit, acts heroically, and whines some more. He seems to be the lone hero of Braddock's debacle, but never could get himself appointed as a Royal Officer. He goes through experiences that undoubtedly helped prepare him to command the Continental Army.

Do I recommend it? Absolutely! Nonfiction is almost always better than fiction, but this history is better than much nonfiction as well. A quarter of the book is made up of bibliography, footnotes, index, and additional notes. The story reveals how busy Washington was; it sheds more light on both his character and his exploits than I was taught in any classes that I ever took. I rate it: Mandatory Meat for the history gourmand. 

The French Revolution: The Years of Terror

LaFayette: The Lost Hero

The four musketeers are painted. I must say that my painting skills occasionally soar to heights very nearly approaching the underbelly of mediocrity. This wasn't one of those times (I'll aspire to mediocrity another time), but sometimes it happens.

Aramis, Porthos, Athos, and D'Artagnan.

More importantly, the manuscript for Justice Resurgent is (I hope) being proofread by one of the extremely talented people who suffer though such things for me. But the most fun I had this week was writing on, not one, but two novels. A while back I started writing a new novel, but I felt guilty that I had not yet done the sequel to my YA Fantasy Finding Jack Book One The Orb (FJBOTO, or The Orb). More importantly, a particular fan of that book keeps insisting that I write the sequel right away. So, I decided to ease my conscience, get that fan off my back, and work on the sequel: Finding Jack Book Two The Rod (FJBTTR or The Rod). I can't stop the new novel either, so I have to do both. That's a rookie mistake, but it's how I wrote Smoke, Justice Resurgent, and The Orb--working on all three until I had to focus on each one in turn to write the last portion of each.

I had to re-read the last couple chapters of The Orb to get back into the right mindset, and to pickup right where the first book ends. I'm only a few thousand words into it, but it's a fun one to write.

Here are a couple excepts from The Orb, copyright 2016--used with the author's permission, of course--all other rights reserved. These are from the last third of the book. (Also, the paragraph indentation didn't transfer properly).

Nazanzires stirred. A familiar fragrance filled her olfactory receptors. A certain and distinctive incense lingered in the air. Her eyes snapped open as she recognized the scent…of sorcery. Magic had been brought, or wrought, within the confines of her den; a whiff of wizardry mingled with the usual odors of her habitation. Like an aromatic spice, the perfume permeated the entirety of the cavern.

She turned her head about, searching for a tell-tale stream emanating from the source of the odor. In a few seconds she had found not one, but three sources. One source she traced to the wall where she knew it had been for a time; but now it had been activated, and its odor aroused. There she also found the trace of two humans, each with the scent of sorcery upon them.

The location of the familiar item radiated a pulsing red hue of a scent. The other two streams smelled of latent, unused power; one bore a swirly pastel scent. The other struck her suddenly; even in its dormancy it burned with a steady white intensity.

Nazanzires reared back in pain and anger as the piquant white scent seared her nostrils. She felt an instinctive wave of wrath rising within herself. She opened her jaws and, with more than a hiss, but less than a roar, spewed her fiery breath at the area with the heaviest concentration of the stinging stench. She drew back to the far side of the lair. She ran her scaly tail along the wall, rapidly clicking the bony ridge scales against the rock. The action served as a sort of release of nervous energy, a calming exercise. She knew that smell. She knew its source. She would regain her composure before she left the lair to pursue the thieves, one of whom bore that baneful stone.

...

...

Jack closed his eyes, expecting to be consumed in flame. He opened them a moment later to see fire nearly engulfing himself and the stranger; but the fire turned away, unable to penetrate some unseen shield that protected the two of them.

“You’ve been rousing monsters. You won’t live long here!” the stranger shouted grimly over the sound of the pounding flames.

Jack didn’t have any response. He looked around. Vinto lay unmoving near the tree where the horses had been tied. The horses were nowhere in sight.

The flames stopped. Jack glimpsed the silhouette of the dragon rising from its swooping attack. The beast flew over them. As the dragon passed, the stranger rose, and ran toward a patch of trees, nearly a hundred yards away.

Nazanzires turned back toward the sorcery. Her first flaming onslaught had been ineffectual against the power of the stone. She knew that her fire could not penetrate that shield. She also knew somewhat of the workings of the stone. She knew that eventually her attacks would deplete the power of the stone. Then would the bearer be at her mercy.

As she turned, Nazanzires saw the bearer of the stone running away. She swooped back toward the retreating figure. The figure turned, holding a strange object in one hand, the stone in the other. The figure pointed the strange object at her. She stuttered in her flight as a force struck her. Delayed, but not deterred, she continued toward her target. Again the wave of force struck her. It was stronger this time, but she only shuddered under its impact without breaking off the attack. She dove downward, spewing flame.

Jack managed to roll to his stomach. He pressed himself against the earth, and the dragon swooped over him toward the stranger. Standing now, the stranger held the orb between himself and the dragon. The beast’s flaming breath beat upon the unseen shield without burning the stranger. But the stranger was being forced backwards, as if he were inside of a ball being pushed by a strong wind.

When her fiery breath stopped, Nazanzires did not turn away. She came straight at the stone-bearer. Only as she was about to impact the figure did she pull up to drive her talons toward her target. 

I note that The Orb is available now for only $0.99. That's real value!

No miniatures painted this week, very little proofreading, and little writing. I did get some reading done. I finished a book--review below. New books started include The Elven, The Red and The Black, Young Washington, and Napoleon: A Life. Le Loup Blanc remains on the list, but I didn't make any progress on it; The Colonization of North America is also in the currently reading file, but I didn't read much on that one this week either. I did autograph a few books on Saturday at the local coffee shop.

Sometime this week while wondering about words, I had reason to suspect a thing that I had not previously expected. In retrospect, I wonder, by way of a little introspection, why I had not considered the prospect. I inspected, and can only respect the results from Meriam-Webster Online:

Suspect:

Middle English, from Latin suspectare, frequentative of suspicere to look up at, regard with awe, suspect, from sub-, sus- up, secretly + specere to look at — more at SUB-, SPY

Respect:

Middle English, from Latin respectus, literally, act of looking back, from respicere to look back, regard, from re- + specere to look — more at SPY

Expect:

Latin exspectare to look forward to, from ex- + spectare to look at, frequentative of specere to look — more at SPY

Inspect:

Latin inspectus, past participle of inspicere, from in- + specere to look — more at SPY

Prospect:

Middle English, from Latin prospectus view, prospect, from prospicere to look forward, exercise foresight, from pro- forward + specere to look — more at PRO-, SPY

I hadn't thought to wonder about "spy," but all the --spect-- words pointed there so...

Spy:

Middle English spien, from Anglo-French espier, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German spehōn to spy; akin to Latin specere to look, look at, Greek skeptesthai & skopein to watch, look at, consider.

Mystery solved. It all looks Latin to me. I guess "spectacle" and "spectator" are also from the same Latin root. But when I type "spectacles" into Meriam-Webster, the result takes me to "glass."

But enough of the wondering about words. There's a book to review!

Stiger's Tigers by Marc Alan Edelheit.

General Thoughts: This book reminded me of Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe's Rifles. I enjoyed the entire Sharpe's series. The writing for Stiger's is deliciously lean on description. It's clear and plain without seeming elementary. I suppose the story has a bit of a grim dark edge to it, as well as being sword and sorcery, and military fantasy. Most of the story is military based. The presence of an elf is the tip-off that we're not dealing with the historical Roman legions. The story moves along and never bogs down. I got the ebook on special for free, or for $0.99.

Story in a nutshell: Legionary captain whose name carries some baggage is transferred to a new unit. He must whip them into fighting shape, stay alive, avoid political problems, and assault the castle.

Do I recommend it? Yes. It's a worthy emulation of the Sharpe's books with the fantasy Roman-esque legions substituting for the 95th Rifles. Although it is predictable, the story is fun, and seldom lacks for action. I liked the military adventure aspect better than the fantasy aspect; it could have been a fine book even if the fantasy element had been eliminated. I don't recall much by way of character development. The main character is already as he is likely to remain in general. Some development of the relationships between the main character and the supporting cast occurs--but this is a book about military men doing mighty things, not some namby-pamby story about feelings with tears and tea cups. This is a story of sharpened swords, heavy shields, and pointed spears moving forward through the mud, the blood, and the fear--but there was no boy named Sue in this story. I rate it: A Rollicking Romp.

I've had some musketeer miniatures from Redoubt Enterprises for some months and have never got around to painting them. One reason being that I'm not a gifted painter. My paint jobs are best observed from a distance in dim light. I did three this weekend. Below are Rochefort, Richelieu, and Aramis.

Only about 20 more of those to go.

Last time I mentioned this movie.
Empires Collide - That's not actually the title; it's what I remember of the title.

It's really a documentary with a lot of computer animated sea battles; there is also some live action that's not particularly well done. As entertainment it's only a couple notches above a cat video. As for being informative and interesting, a Ken Burns' film it's not, but I liked it very much. A year or so ago, I was wondering about the fall of the Dutch Republic. While this documentary doesn't address that particular question, it does explain the Anglo-Dutch war(s) and how the Dutch traded New Amersterdam (New York) for England itself. Of course, that's not exactly true, but the Dutch did lose that colony, and William of Orange invaded and became king of England. I recommend it.

Book Reviews:
Fatemarked by David Estes

General Thoughts: Based on the reviews and sales, lots of people liked this book. I'm not one of them. I got the book for free either on Prime or some other special. I don't remember. There are some 1 and 2 star reviews. One of those reviews mentioned that the best thing about the book was the cover. I have to agree.

Story in a nutshell: There are 4 kingdoms (I think) and the prophesy says that 8 kings will die. People with special marks on them have special powers: healing, death, and I don't remember what else. The story follows these marked people, jumping around from one to the other, without ever piquing my interest...and therefore I don't know what they ever did. I bailed somewhere short of halfway through.

Do I recommend it? No. The 1 and 2 star reviews seem to sum it up pretty well. A confusing story line and uninteresting characters are the main complaints. It seems to be marketed for both teens and adults, yet is suitable for neither. I couldn't take the incessant inner whining in which the characters wallowed, and the talking-it-all-out to discover the respective traveling companion's inner pain. I rate it: Wading Naked Through Broken Glass with a Side of Salt for Your Wounds.

Faerie Tale by Raymond Feist

General Thoughts: This was a find at the local used bookstore after I read some online recommendations at a page for fantasy genre readers. Published in 1988, this book reeks of the 80's. That's actually what I liked about it. No cellphones, no internet. One of the characters is a writer and gets his first word processor. Reading it was like watching an 80's movie based on something from Stephen King. Many years ago, I read and enjoyed Feist's Rift War Saga.--and I remember nothing about it. I had high hopes for this one.

Story in a nutshell: A family buys a house and weird things start to happen. A hidden key, a hidden room, a secret map, a strange wood, and an ancient and powerful organization, collide to culminate in a showdown with evil.

Do I recommend it? No. The book is over 400 pages long. It moves slowly, finally building to the climax that has become inevitable. Two characters are 8 year old twin boys. I don't think the author had spent much time with 8 year olds. These two don't act like 8 year olds; they act at least 12 in most respects. I didn't find those two (who are critical to the story) to be believable characters. I also wasn't persuaded that their mom was a real person either. Although, when you're talking about visitors from, and to, the Faerie world, that seems like a bit of a strange thing about which to complain. And yet, I do because if the reality part doesn't ring true, the fantasy part just rings hollow. Additionally, the sex and profanity detracted from a potentially good story. By the time the story concluded, I felt like the destination hadn't been worth the journey. I rate it: Pandora's Box--best left unopened.


It seems like my last few reviews have not been favorable. I'm going to have to post the review of Treachery of Daimyo--which I really liked. I should probably be reading the last two books in that series instead of getting cheap books that disappoint me.

Speaking of cheap books. Look at this:

I read this book some months ago. I had read and enjoyed the Spellsinger series up to that point when I was much younger. I couldn't remember if I had read this one. I read it and remembered that I had, and why it was the last one that I had read. I didn't care for it. But my point here was the price of the paperback: $975.66????? I got it from the used bookstore for $2.00--but that's probably the mass market paperback. I have no idea what the edition is that goes for nearly a grand.