Russian Fairy Tales, Holmes with a Twist, and the Lusitania

[quipxotic]

Last week's stress reading was The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden. I hadn't heard of the book or author before and only listened to it at all because it was offered as part of a "buy one get one free" sale. I'm glad I did, however, because it was delightful. Vasilisa, the main character, reminds me of a Russian Tiffany Aching, although Arden's style is more realistic and less humorous than Terry Pratchett's. The book is full of Russian fairy tales, national and family politics, the conflict between Christianity and older folkways, descriptions of both city and country life, and above all the consequences of the Russian winter. There's probably nothing groundbreaking in any of this, but it was an enjoyable distraction and it's the first book of a trilogy. I may try to pick up the other two books later.

This week I listened to A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman, another book I got on sale and story I've read previously. Normally I really like it when Neil reads his own books and he did a fine job with this one, but while listening I found myself wishing an actor had read it so there would be more variety to the character voices. Knowing that most of you are Holmesians, I won't bother telling you about the story - you've all probably read it before too.

I've now started Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet, but has a lot of interesting, humanizing details about major and minor political and military players during World War I, as well as the people associated with the Lusitania. And, for whatever it's worth, if I ever need to write fan fiction set in a World War I era German submarine, I think I could based just on the information Larson includes.