The Serpent and the Eagle by Edward Rickford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This historical fiction by Edward Rickford had many of the things that I tend to look for in a novel that includes real characters and events from the past. In addition it was interesting to discover much about the history of a war between Spain and Mexica, 1519 to 1521. I learned for example that Mexica refers to the people we generally call the Aztecs, and that several characters in the story who accompanied Cortes, such as Aguilar and Malintze, really existed. The author has to be applauded for the considerable research that has gone into the background of his novel.

I have to admit that my own interest in this story was captured initially through a memory of visiting a monument in Arizona known as Montezuma Castle. This was a few decades ago and I vaguely remembered that it had nothing to do with the Aztec emperor, more correctly named “Motecuhzoma” in this book. There are many such names contained within Rickford’s tale and I found it almost impossible to pronounce them out loud! However, it did not prevent me from becoming quite absorbed in the political intrigue and plotting involved through the machinations of Cortes and his cronies, as well as the intimate fears and hopes of some of the more minor characters in both camps. The author introduces a distinct code of conduct element as well as one that involves sexual desire and romance, neither of which are great enough to provide a distraction from the main plot: capturing land and gold while enforcing religious conversion. Notwithstanding these aims there is the ambition of Cortes achieving what became his notorious glory. I suspect most readers will wind up with their own like-hate relationship regarding Hernando Cortes. I can recommend The Serpent and the Eagle to all those readers who enjoy historical novels with a generous amount of authenticity.


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Acoustic Alchemy by Richard Gradner
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this contemporary fantasy story because of the strong characterisation of the main protagonist, Tracy Barnes. There are plenty of twists and turns in the story and its emphasis upon the secrets of the ancient civilisation and culture of Turkey reminded me a little of a Dan Brown’s book, Inferno, which I read last year. Tracy discovers on her 17th birthday that she has the powers of an oracle, like her grandmother, who is also well-written by the author. When she goes to Turkey with her archaeologist father they discover an ancient flute, which has magical properties. From this point in the story Tracy’s adventures begin at an ever increasing pace. She has an evil adversary called Sabine, with equal powers to herself and who is intent upon murder. The plot holds up well throughout the book and I found myself turning the pages to find out what happened next, even though I rarely read books in the fantasy genre.

I expect there will be many younger fans of fantasy books who will really like this book, particularly because of the dialogue between the teenagers in it. The author has included lots of contemporary idiomatic terms and expressions that are most probably used by teenagers day-to-day. As a reader of a much more mature age I can only speculate upon this but I greatly admired Gradner’s heroic efforts. It added an authenticity to the tale that I found bewildering at times but which is probably expected!


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Passages in the Life of a Radical, And, Early Days by Samuel Bamford
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

SAMUEL BAMFORD was an English weaver and poet, who was also known as a radical reformer. He was born in 1788 in Middleton, Manchester and lived to the age of 84. In this book he tells the reader about his compassion and support for the working classes of England at that time. He explains in some detail the reasons behind his organisation of a large group of working men into files of marchers to St Peters Fields for the meeting there about the reform of Parliament and the abolition of the Corn Laws. Before they set off for Manchester, Bamford makes it clear to the hundreds of marching workers that they are to maintain a dignified passiveness and not bear arms, or to react to taunts and provocative acts by the authorities. This is a clear illustration of his opposition to any activism involving physical violence, but despite this he was arrested, charged with treason and jailed by the British government in 1819. The evidence clearly showed he was not involved in the violence during the Peterloo Massacre, notwithstanding this, the judgement of the court was overruled by Lord Sidmouth, the Home Secretary, and so Samuel Bamford was found guilty of inciting a riot and sentenced to a year in Lincoln Prison.

Bamford’s poetry and prose was in support of working men, and it was passionately followed amongst the mill workers of Britain. While his poetry was mostly in ‘uniform’ English there are some in the local dialect, which showed understanding of working class conditions, and became much admired. His book also goes on to record his journeys to and from jail or to London for sentencing hearings. Several of these treks, often on foot, show the range of attitudes amongst people when he is hungry, without money or footsore – kindness and harshness are heaped upon him in equal measure at times. The support and courage of his wife when charged and later in prison are well described and touching. His relationship with Orator Henry Hunt and his one-time companion, ‘Doctor’ Healey, seemed to oscillate between loyalty and disappointment, unfortunately even hinting at betrayal at times.

This book is a major political work, documenting the various phases of radical social reform from an educated and eloquent worker’s point of view, during the early nineteenth century, when government was most oppressive and obdurate. Highly recommended to anyone interested in history and the struggle for universal suffrage told from the ‘horse’s mouth!’

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The Autobiography of Samuel Bamford, Volume 1: Early Days by Samuel Bamford
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was an extremely interesting autobiographical account of Samuel Bamford’s life from being a small boy up until he became a weaver. His description of the way he and others of a similar class lived is both fascinating and sometimes surprising; he covers the regular but simple mealtimes and the various jobs he had to take on. Bamford’s literary ability and his total captivation by the well-known authors and poets of the time are covered in detail in parts, explaining his later life to some extent when he became more acknowledged by publishers and readers. He mentions Gibbons and Robert Burns for example and his struggles when presenting his own efforts at ‘versifying’ to others. There is a time when Bamford becomes a sailor and his encounter with the press gangs of the times is quite revealing. By the end of the book the Middleton weaver is married and the events during the wedding ceremony, when there is a difficulty passing the ring over the finger joint of his wife, shows a spirit in him that suggests what is to come later, as a ‘radical reformer’. He is not easily intimidated by men of a higher position and class to himself, such as the pompous clergyman who is marrying them. On the other hand Samuel Bamford’s strong sense of right and wrong encourages him to support and defend an alderman who is being beaten by indignant riotous workers. He places his own body between the men and their victim, suffering blows and bruises to his own arms and back. Such riots were being put down regularly by the militia at those times. I can recommend this book to anyone who enjoys history ‘from the mouth of the witness’, particularly during Georgian and early Victorian times.

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Hamartia by Raquel Rich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

When I started to read ‘Hamartia’ my initial reactions were: OK, here comes yet another dystopian novel, and then I thought, Oh no, it’s written in the first person about souls and it involves time travel! None of which I usually like or can believe in. But the plot appeared intriguing so I continued reading - and I was so pleased I did. The author’s ability to build realistic characters and dialogue kept my involvement and curiosity going from start to finish, although I found the abrupt ‘hook’ at the very end irksome. It always feels like a cheat if a reader needs to buy the sequel to get the ‘complete’ story.

The flawed character of the main protagonist, Grace, is so well drawn by Raquel Rich that I felt I knew her. Her feelings, confused thoughts and actions made painful sense and your sympathy can only lie with her. The inner battles she has in maintaining her friendship with Kay and her love for her estranged husband, Marc, came across well to me. Meanwhile, the nightmare of knowing that her son’s life can only be saved by her dubious, possibly homicidal, acts somewhere in a past decade is ever present. If the reader has any empathy at all they will inevitably understand Grace’s pain. The story gallops along at a breakneck speed and has you turning the pages to see what happens next, normally the sign of a well written book.

There were some problems for me in the timeline used for the to and fro of the time travelling. The ‘Metagenesis’ plague threatening all mankind should, logically, have been set much further into the future, whereas the setting of year 2000, for Grace’s and Kay’s adventures, was not accurate. Pagers, phone books and no mobile phones are things of the 1970s and 1980s or even earlier in time. However, putting those criticisms aside, I can still recommend ‘Hamartia’ as a gripping sci-fi tale, well-told by a talented new author.


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Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed reading this book and am looking forward to listening again to the audiobook version later. The author covers so much ground from all kinds of direction that I wish to contemplate some of the more controversial points again. There are statements made sometimes where you need to check whether it is merely Harari’s opinion or if there are facts or research behind those statements. At the start of the book there was a rather novel classification of our world’s timeline into the three disciplines we call Physics, Chemistry and Biology. He then describes the development of human cultures as history, with three significant sub-divisions, or Revolutions, that shaped that history: the Cognitive; the Agricultural and the Scientific Revolutions in that order. And then in fairly plain and simple, layman’s language most of the time, the author enlarges upon all of those categories in his own fascinating and engaging fashion.

The result is an intriguing and extremely readable history book, covering times, essentially, from the Big Bang to bionic life and artificial intelligence. At the end of the book there are many pages of notes and references so that the reader may check out some of the statements. It has to be the most interesting history book that I have ever read, if only because I am encouraged to discover more about many of the topics Harari covers, such as economics, religions, politics and the ancient tribe of Numantians! This for me is a truly remarkable feat of writing, all be it somewhat questionable in parts. The narrative throughout the book is understandably (in more ways than one!) appealing to anyone interested in the saga of humankind. This book is not an academic tome, which is difficult to penetrate, but a captivating tale of progress and failure, of the highs and lows, of human survival and endeavour; which sharply focusses now and then on the inevitable mistakes along the way.


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From Elsewhere by Sarah Baethge
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The word that immediately sprang to mind when I started to read From Elsewhere was ‘quaint’ because it was a very similar 1950’s plot about an alien species that is stranded on Earth, and who looks very much like humans. There was a hint of excitement when this alien, a Sharill, has a device that extracts information from Sean’s brain so that the Sharill may speak and behave much like the other earthlings who live here. This slight thrill increased a little when another alien from a different planet, a Kisleem, arrives on Earth in pursuit of the Sharill, who is a rebel. This Sharill is also considered to be a criminal by the Kisleem, as he stole one of their spaceships. But then the excitement fizzled out and the story became very pedestrian and even quainter, since the characters who subsequently arrive on the novel’s stage spend page after page talking about what has happened. They do spend some time discussing what they might do about the incident and the effects upon Sean in various situations – again and again. They even get transported aboard a Kisleem spaceship that is orbiting Earth and we learn that there are other aliens, identical in many ways to homo sapiens, already present in numbers living undetected here on Earth. This scenario promises to be something that could be explored in endless ways for the rest of the book, but sadly it isn’t.
The main problem with the story is that it is not exciting, which most sci-fi fans expect, or scientifically challenging through ‘new’ or imaginative concepts introduced by the author, also expected by most sci-fi fans. Many discussions become rather tedious after a while as they repeat what has been stated earlier – on the same page or very soon afterwards. Dialogue is mostly used here to ‘tell’ the story when ‘showing’ it through the characters’ actions usually makes the plot much more engaging. Unfortunately, the whole book needs re-editing or to be run through a spell-checker since numerous spelling and grammatical errors are present: e.g. ‘grown’ when it means ‘groan’ and missing speech marks after some of the dialogue.


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Dead Man Dreaming by Uday Mukerji
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Dead Man Dreaming is a remarkable fiction that feels like an autobiography throughout. Written in the first person, David describes disturbing changes in his future prospects in respect of his career ambition and his relationship with Chloe, the girl of his dreams, due to the discovery that he has Huntington’s Disease. Painfully aware of the mental and physical suffering his father went through before he died, and from whom he inherited the condition, the young doctor had been avoiding the possibility previously. Like a slap in the face David is stunned by the shock; his plans are ended, and for a while his emotions are wrenched back and forth.
The way that he confronts the situation and attempts to build a future life is inspirational and believable. It promises to be fulfilling and rewarding in so many new ways and this is due in no small part to the help, faith, and indeed love, he finds through a chance meeting with Jessie, a fellow student from his high school days. But of course, for the reader to get something from a book, it also needs skilful writing of the plot and character development by the author. And it has that in spades! Not only was the concept of hereditary disease screening interesting and intriguing to me, but so was the developing relationship between David and Jessie. His journey from start to end within the novel’s narrative was fascinating and emotionally challenging. Dead Man Dreaming is ‘a good read’; recommended for anyone who enjoys contemporary literature.


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Feral: Rewilding the Land, the Sea and Human Life by George Monbiot
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What an amazing book! I really liked it but only after about 5 or 6 chapters - because there seemed to be too many personal musings and angry thoughts about the author's lost opportunities to catch (endangered?!) fish or become a member of an African tribe etc. There was even a chapter about people who thought they had seen a black panther on various moors in the UK. Quite interesting and amusing but its relevance escaped me.
However, if you can get through those earlier bits then the author proceeds to provide a wealth of information about the loss of habitat, extinction of various species and theories about the causes. Inevitably homo sapiens figures as the main culprit over the many millennia in his quest for superiority over all other species on Earth. There is an impressive volume of research with pages and pages for reference at the end of the book.
It is vexing for anyone interested in rewilding our planet to read about obvious things that can, or could, be done but ignored by most governments and organisations with vested interests in clearing forests, scrubland, peat moors etc, thus maintaining a damaging status quo! Not enough people it seems are aware of the real damage to the Earth and the loss our children and grandchildren will find later - too late! Monbiot's book was written several year ago and its importance cannot be overstated.

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The Private Life of the Otter by Philip Wayre
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I started reading this fascinating book about a year ago while on holiday in a cottage on the Isle of Skye. It was the usual thing; I picked it out from the various genres on the shelf of books left for visitors who found the weather particularly 'unfair' one day and wanted something to read. I was unable to finish it before leaving but managed to obtain a used copy on returning home. Apparently otters are more common on the west coast of Scotland and we felt lucky to see them more than once swimming in the various bays around Skye. Thrilling for everyone in our party of four adults and two girls, and which increased my desire to find out more. I had previously read Gavin Maxwell's 'Ring of Bright Water' and 'The River People' also by Philip Wayre, the author of the book in Skye.

Wayre must have been one of the most expert people in the world on the subject of otters, and not just the European species. He and his wife established the first British Wildlife park in 1971 where they set up a very successful breeding project in order to re-introduce otters back into the wild. Both of his books include all sorts of details about otters: amusing tales about his own close-up experiences with those he kept; intricate details and measurements recorded for studying them further, and in this book, lots of amazing black and white photographs. The pictures may lack the amazing clarity and colour available to almost anyone in these digital times but the photos, taken in the late 1960s and early 70s, were so poignant and somehow underlined how terribly persecuted these wonderful animals once were - almost to extinction in the UK. There is advice for readers who wish to study otters further although Wayre and others have set up important otter trusts that will be far more efficient in my opinion. There is always the danger that well meaning individuals may do more harm than good, or even, unknowingly, cross the legal lines involved in caring for wild animals like otters, polecats, badgers etc. Notwithstanding all that this book is a Tour de Force! Highly recommended to lovers of wildlife.

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