History Book Review: The History of Hell by Alice Turner

Pros: overview covers pre and post Christian ideas of Hell, several pages of colour illustrations

Cons: overview of some sections is cursory, no endnotes 

This is an interesting look at the development of the idea of an underworld, how it morphed through Christianity into a realm of punishment, and how that idea has evolved into the modern era.

The first few chapters give the barest explanations of mythologies that predate Christianity, but from which Christianity borrowed some ideas, and how they viewed the afterlife.  These chapters help show how ideas developed over time.  In some cases, like Egypt, from whose mythology Christianity borrowed quite heavily, more detailed information would have been appreciated. 

The middle focuses on the Christian development of Hell, which is fascinating.  Several pages of colour photographs help illustrate how the view of Hell changed over the centuries.

The end again covers aspects of history that don’t include Hell but show how other things, like philosophy and horror, began to replace the idea of a place of punishment after death.

Turner mentions several texts that deal with Hell, more influential ones, like Dante’s Inferno, in more detail than others. 

There are no endnotes which makes checking her sources for clarifying information difficult to impossible.  In the chapter on the Roman empire, for example, she states,  “Mithra also gave us… the Chi-Rho sign which Christians appropriated…” (p.36).  Considering that Cho and Rho are the first two letters in the Greek word ΧΡΙΣΤΟΣ (Kristos), it seems unlikely that it came from an outside source.  Perhaps she meant that the idea of using a symbol that practitioners could use identify each other and their place of worship came from the similarly underground cult of Mithras, but that’s not what her text explicitly states.  And with no endnote, it’s impossible to know which source she took the idea from or, if this was her own idea, why she believes this to be the case.   

While it didn’t go as in depth in some areas as I would have liked, on the whole this is an excellent primer on where the belief in Hell came from and why it had such a prominent place in religion for so long. 

Shout-Out: Iron Dragon’s Daughter by Michael Swanwick

This is an older title that's being republished. Sounds fascinating.

Jane is trapped as a changeling in an industrialized Faerie ruled by aristocratic high elves and populated by ogres, dwarves, night-gaunts, and hags. She is the only human in a factory where underage forced labor builds cybernetic, magical dragons that are weaponized and sent off to war. When the damaged dragon Melanchthon tempts Jane with promises of freedom, the stage is set for a daring escape that will shake the foundations of existence.

Video: RAIN

This is a fan film about the X-Men's Storm, though to avoid problems they've blurred some boundaries.  It's got adult content, and I'm adding a trigger warning for assault.

RAIN is a 23-minute original short fan film created by Maya Glick, directed by Zane Rutledge and Jeff Stolhand, and produced by Matt Joyce. Inspired by the “punk” incarnation of the Marvel superhero Storm of the X-Men.

Influenced by the more dystopian stories of the X-Men franchise as well as the seminal comic LifeDeath by Chris Claremont and Barry Windsor-Smith, this original story takes a broken mutant hero “Rain” from the lowest depths of despair into the darker recesses of her own shattered memory. If she is to survive, she must discover a new identity and somehow rediscover her lost power.

RAIN from RAIN Fan Film on Vimeo.

Book Review: Spells of Blood and Kin by Claire Humphrey

Pros: introverted protagonist, man vs himself plot, awkward situational and dry humour, minor romance elements

Cons: I wondered where Maksim got his money 

The death of Lissa Nevsky’s grandmother affects her life in numerous ways.  She has to take up her duties as a kodun’ia, a Russian witch, and her stepsister, whom she barely knows and who knows nothing of witchcraft, shows up unexpectedly to help out.  The death also affects Maksim Volkov, a member of the kin who’s had his violent nature tamed with a spell.  When the spell breaks he inadvertently infects a young man with his condition.  Now Maksim needs Lissa’s help getting his violent nature back under control.  He also needs to find the newly made kin, before he kills someone with his enhanced strength and increasingly violent restlessness.

It’s not common to find books that revolve around people dealing with their own problems, and their consequences - rather than outside physical foes - so I found this book rather refreshing.  Similarly, it’s nice to see an urban fantasy novel that doesn’t rely on the female protagonist physically fighting the bad guys.  And while there is fighting in the book - it’s mostly mutual, as a way of holding the violence of the kin in check (and done amongst themselves, since they can handle each other’s enhanced abilities). 

Lissa is an introvert with minimal social skills.  Her stepsister, Stella, is an extrovert who’s more into feminine things.  The two clash in a number of ways.  I loved Lissa as a character.  She has a lot of the same quirks - and therefore problems - that I have.  She’s awkward when a guy flirts with her.  She’s uncomfortable with attention.  She has trouble trusting others and telling them truths she’d rather keep to herself.  I found myself laughing out loud a few times, just because I sympathized so much with her situation.  Other times I laughed because Stella made pointed observations that were just the right kind of dry for my sense of humour.

Maksim’s got some issues, which makes him interesting, though he doesn’t do much in the book beyond trying to hold his demons at bay.  Gus, another kin, has an interesting past and I found her snark fun to read.  Nick was a little annoying, but he’s got the excuse that his body is changing without his knowledge, making him edgy and violent and kind of a jerk.

I liked that the kin are portrayed as the truth behind myths of vampires and werewolves.  There’s just enough Russian mythology mentioned to whet the appetite, but not enough to quench it.  Similarly the magic Lissa performs is interesting to read about, but sounds kind of tedious to perform.

There’s a hint of romance, but it’s a minor point and not between the character’s you’d expect.

I did find myself wondering how Maksim has so much money.  Yes, he owns a gym and trains fighters, but he always seems to have ready cash to hand out to Gus.  And while I’m sure being a soldier paid something, I’m not sure it accounts for the amount of cash he has in flashback scenes.  It’s possible he saves well and his poor living conditions imply that he doesn’t spend much on food, housing or clothing, so maybe it’s a matter of priorities and good budgeting.

Along the same lines, while Lissa works at a printing shop, it’s only mentioned a few times and she seems to have no problem staying up until 3 am and/or sleeping in late a lot.  Though, she is in her early 20s, which might account for her ability to go without proper sleep, I was starting to wonder if she was missing shifts.

If you’re looking for an urban fantasy that does some new and interesting things, this is a quick, fun read.

Out June 14th.

XKCD: Map Age Guide

XKCD's Map Age Guide is awesome.  Follow the different lines to discover some actual map dating information, as well as why you should avoid going to Colorado in 2022.  To see the original (which zooms in) check out the original.

Shout-Out: Ordination by Daniel Ford

For generations, warlords fought bitterly for dominance in a land without a king, leaving a fractured, war-torn country plagued by thieves, slavers, and the servants of dark gods and darker magic. Allystaire Coldbourne travels a treacherous path toward his Ordination as a holy knight of legend, a Paladin, a savior of the people. But to fulfill this role, he—and the unexpected allies he finds along the way—must face the demonic, sorcerous evil that stalks the land, the wrath of gods and men, and his own dark past.

Book Review: The Conjurers by David Waid

Pros: interesting characters, simple but effective plot, great climax, standalone

Cons: journal entries too narrative

Every few hundred years a child is born with immeasurable power and the ability to use it without teaching or artifice.  A group of sorcerers discover that a boy in Ireland is the one they’ve been seeking.  They head to the island to capture him and steal his power for themselves.

There are two alternating storylines: Eamon and his family who are fleeing a bandit attack on their village only to run into wolves on the road, and Teresa, a Genoese nobleman’s daughter, whose brother has apprenticed with a well known alchemist and sorcerer in the city.  You learn a lot about these characters as well as the dangers they face (including the various sorcerers hunting them).

I really liked the maestro’s introduction in Genoa.  I loved how you learn about him from various sources before finally meeting the man.  It built tension and expectation.  All of the villains are suitably evil, but not in an artificial way.  Sairshee for example, wants to go further in her apprenticeship but is afraid of the horrific consequences of failing the spell she needs to cast in order to progress.  She’s portrayed as self-assured, but also recognizes that a lot of her security and power is due to the backing of the king.  The sorcerers are all ruthless, and delightfully - and terrifyingly - so.

The chapters are all short, helping to create a tense book whose pages turn quickly, rushing you towards the end.  The plot isn’t that complex, but it’s executed well, and leaves you guessing in a few places.  While it’s a standalone novel, it does have sequel potential.

While set in the real world, the book doesn’t touch on any historic events, though the black death and hanseatic league are mentioned.  Though the author doesn’t go into the magic in much detail, it seems to be based on circle magic found in actual grimoires (like the Key of Solomon).  And as the real world magic it’s portraying, there’s a mix of scientific exploration and blood.

There’s a section of the book that’s supposed to be the diary entries of a teenage boy, but are written in a narrative style that didn’t feel authentic as journal entries.  It’s unfortunate, because while the segments get a lot of detail across, the immediacy of journal entries could have added a bit more punch to those sections had the author focused less on descriptive detail and more on the events that happened (so, instead of describing the rooms and whatnot, the teen’s interest in the lodestone could have been played up more, and his hopes/fears for what’s happening).

I really enjoyed this book.  It was cool watching the different teens deal with their individual challenges, learning on the fly and doing their best to stay alive despite some pretty harsh obstacles.  The antagonists get pretty brutal at times, leading to a pulse pounding climax.