History Book Review: Going to Church in Medieval England by Nicholas Orme

This is a book about worship and attendance of the medieval church in England. Specifically, the book focuses on parish worship, that is, worship for the populace in villages and towns (as opposed to monasteries and cathedrals, where worship was for their members). It consists of nine chapters: Origins and the Parish, The Staff of the Church, The Church Building, The Congregation, The Day and the Week, The Seasons and the Year, The Life Cycle, The Reformation and Reflections.

It is a very detailed study and can be a bit dry at times. The breadth of information however, is incredible. The author researched numerous primary sources to get a broad idea of how people really responded to the church’s demands (tithes/taxes, holy days, weekly worship). Some were pious, others rebellious.

Rather than a chronological overview, the book tackles a subject and shows how it changed over time. I personally found the two chapters on liturgy and how it worked from day to day and over the course of the year (chapters 5 and 6) the most fascinating. It’s really hard to get a firm understanding of how church practice occurred beyond reading primary sources (like the missal or breviary), so a book explaining now only how the services went, but also how they differed as they year progressed was very helpful. The book includes a lot of details about various ceremonies (baptism, marriages, etc) as well.

There are a decent number of colour illustrations throughout the book.

I learned so much from this book. From seemingly simple things like the difference between a rector and a vicar, to how much medieval practice survived the Reformation’s attempts at reform. If you’re interested in the Catholic church, how churches were run in the middle ages, or liturgy and religious practices in England, you really need to pick this up.

Books Received in October 2024

Many thanks to the publisher for allowing me to read an advance copy of The Medieval Scriptorium: Making Books in the Middle Ages by Sara J. Charles.

Illuminated with illustrations, an exploration of medieval manuscript production that offers insight into both the early history of the book and life in the Middle Ages.

This book takes the reader on an immersive journey through medieval manuscript production in the Latin Christian world. Each chapter opens with a lively vignette by a medieval narrator—including a parchment maker, scribe, and illuminator—introducing various aspects of manuscript production. Sara J. Charles poses the question “What actually is a scriptorium?” and explores the development of the medieval scriptorium from its early Christian beginnings through to its eventual decline and the growth of the printing press.

With the written word at the very heart of the Christian monastic movement, we see the immense amount of labor, planning, and networks needed to produce each manuscript. By tapping into these processes and procedures, The Medieval Scriptorium helps us to experience medieval life through the lens of a manuscript maker.

Book Review: The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett

Pros: unique world, interesting characters, complex mystery

Cons:

Signum Dinios Kol is still an apprentice and only recently became assistant to the Iudex Investigator Anagosa Dolabra. So he’s nervous going alone to a murder scene and examining it for evidence. But he’s an engraver, altered to have an eidetic memory. The mode of death is horrifying and unusual enough that the investigation kicks up more questions than answers. When several other people die in the same manner in a city close to the sea walls, they go to investigate. But the wet season has started, and with the rains come monstrous titans, whose rampaging path has not always been stopped by the walls.

This is a murder mystery set in a very unique fantasy world. The first few chapters require a LOT of concentration, as you’re learning about the characters, the world, and the murder. Once the story moved to Talagray I found things easier to keep track of and really started enjoying the complexity of the case.

The Empire is large and complex. The book gives a real feel for the beaurocracy the underpins its workings and how important maintenance and the Legionnaires that man the walls keep it safe. I loved learning about the Sublimes and how various people have been altered to do specific jobs. I’d love to learn more about Apoths and their work in later books.

Dinios is dyslexic and needs to keep that fact hidden. His inability to easily read and write causes some problems with his investigations. He’s a serious young man and believes in the importance of what he’s doing. He notices everything, making him the perfect protagonist for a mystery novel.

Ana’s clearly autistic, and it’s interesting seeing how her direct questions and observations disconcert people. She absorbs a lot of varied information and is able to see connections others miss.

I appreciated that you’re given all the information the investigators have, so it pays to pay close attention. I found the case fascinating, with several interconnected parts, and enjoyed trying to piece things together on my own. I managed to figure out several things before they were revealed, which is always fun.

If you’re looking for a very different fantasy world and like a good mystery, pick this up.

Book Review: Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir

Pros: interesting protagonist, optimistic SF

Cons: got a bit tedious at times

When Ryland Grace wakes up on a spaceship in an unknown location next to 2 dead astronauts he doesn’t know what’s going on or who he is. As the days pass he slowly pieces together that his mission is humaity’s last hope of stopping an invasive microscopic alien species that’s slowly devouring the sun’s energy. After arriving at his target, he learns that humanity isn’t the only species at risk.

This is a mostly hard SF novel. That is, there’s a lot of accurate science and math used to flesh out the made up scenarios. I appreciated that as an elementary school science teacher Grace explains complex things in simplistic terms, but towards the end the constant asides of formulas and calculations got a bit tedious.

The plot is interesting. Learning what happened on Earth via flashback’s that directly relate to what Grace is doing in the present was great. It allowed for character development and story progression. Rocky is also a wonderful character.

The book deals with alien contact in unique and often unexpected ways.

Humour is very subjective and hard to pull off well. I thought the author did a great job. While nothing was laugh out loud funny, I enjoyed how the author bypassed swearing. A few jokes were low brow body humour, which I am not a fan of, but I didn’t find anything particularly objectionable.

I loved how the world came together to build the Hail Mary. So often science fiction pits nations against each other, so having them co-operate made this feel more optimistic as a result, even though the situation was dire at times.

It’s a great book. I found it mostly fast paced and fairly quick to read.

Books Received in August 2024

I know this post is late. It's been a busy few months and the book I received doesn't come out until January, 2025, so I figure it's ok.

My thanks to Tor.com for letting me read an advance copy of the newest Wayward Children novel.

Adrift in Currents Clean and Clear by Seanan McGuire - I really enjoy this series. Every 2nd book is an origin story and easy spot to jump in. This is Nadya's origin. The book is out January 7, 2025.

Nadya had three mothers: the one who bore her, the country that poisoned her, and the one who adopted her.

Nadya never considered herself less than whole, not until her adoptive parents fitted her with a prosthetic arm against her will, seeking to replace the one she'd been missing from birth.

It was cumbersome; it was uncomfortable; it was wrong.

It wasn't her.

Frustrated and unable to express why, Nadya began to wander, until the day she fell through a door into Belyrreka, the Land Beneath the Lake--and found herself in a world of water, filled with child-eating amphibians, majestic giant turtles, and impossible ships that sailed as happily beneath the surface as on top. In Belyrreka, she found herself understood for who she was: a Drowned Girl, who had made her way to her real home, accepted by the river and its people.

But even in Belyrreka, there are dangers, and trials, and Nadya would soon find herself fighting to keep hold of everything she had come to treasure.

VIdeo: The Magic Ring of Hermes Ritual

Dr. Kirsten Dzwirza is an archaeologist studying Egyptian, Greek, and Roman magical writings and artifacts. She's working on a sourcebook with new translations of a lot of magical spells and inscriptions and has been making the occasional youtube video about her work. (Her channel is called The Archaeology of Ancient Magic & Ritual Practice, in case the links stop working.) I wanted to embed a recent video she made about the ritual for making the magic ring of Hermes from the Greek Magical Papyri, but I am unable to. It's worth heading to youtube to see it HERE. She's also made a free online course explaining what the Greek Magical Papyri are.

Book Review: Rule by Rowenna Miller

Pros: more magic development, battles

Cons: limited romance, no HEA

The country is at war, with Royalists fighting Reformists. Sophie Balstrade helps purchase necessary supplies before joining Theodor and her brother at the army camp. Sophie must decide what magic she’s willing to perform to help her side win.

Book 3 of the Unravelled Kingdom series starts a short time after the end of book 2. If you haven’t read the previous volumes you’ll be completely lost.

Magic gets more developed in this book as Sophie’s skills improve and she’s able to do more with her powers. The West Serafans also use magic a few times, in a different way from Sophie, which was interesting. She’s not really doing any sewing anymore, as she has new ways of affixing charms and curses to a wider variety of materials.

There’s a decent amount of warfare, including a few battles, but it’s mostly strategy. There’s a lot about the logistics of maintaining an army, namely about supplying, billeting, clothing, and training an army.

This is a fantasy novel, not a category romance, so the happily ever after ending isn’t promised. I was still a bit disappointed I didn’t get it though. The romance elements are very light, with Sophie and Theodor being an established couple. I loved seeing their interactions, though they don’t spend much time together.

There’s a long denouement that goes over what happens after the war ends. It’s great to see how things develop a bit, though I wasn’t happy with one major decision, it was realistic and fit the story.

It’s a good ending to the trilogy, if not quite the happy ending I was hoping for.