I'm actually cross-posting this in June but back-dating to January because that's when the post I'm talking about here actually went up on Skiffy and Fanty. The science fiction and fantasy fan site that I co-edit had a "Month of Joy" in January, when creators from all over the blogosphere were invited to write an essay about something that provides joy to them.
My essay was about The Order of the Air series by Melissa Scott and Jo Graham. I said these are "some of my favorite comfort reads. Parts of these period adventure-fantasies are very cozy, but aside from the wonderful characters’ mutual support, love, and humor, there are also some tense and exciting action sequences, with almost ordinary people teaming up to resist evil and try to make the world better."
Check out the rest of my review here: https://skiffyandfanty.com/blogposts/reviews/bookreviews/monthofjoymatson/
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Audiobook: The Child of the Moat
I'm pleased to announce that LibriVox has released the second audiobook in which I've participated: The Child of the Moat by Ian Bernard Stoughton Holborn. I haven't had time to listen to it all yet, but I very much enjoyed reading the book.
The Child of the Moat was published in 1916 but the setting is 1557 England. A little Catholic girl and her cousin rescue a Protestant fugitive and hide him, and adventures ensue, ranging from secret messages to swordplay, plus some side missions to help other people. Aline, the protagonist, is almost too saintly to believe, but she is an *active* saint, not a languishing one, and often disobedient for a good cause. The supporting cast includes a number of interesting characters.
This is a children's book, or more specifically, subtitled A Story for Girls. The backstory behind this book is perhaps even more fascinating than the book itself. From the Librivox description:
If you're not an audiobook fan, you can check out the text at Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53281/53281-h/53281-h.htm
And here's the audiobook link again:
https://librivox.org/the-child-of-the-moat-by-ian-bernard-stoughton-holborn/
Both LibriVox and Project Gutenberg are free, done by volunteers.
The book is 30 chapters long, and I read four of them: 3, 14, 18, and 21. Mine ranged from 14 to 48 minutes long; if I recall correctly, the longest was about 7,000 words.
The hardest thing was trying to keep reasonably consistent voices for characters when I was doing the recordings months apart, between Jan. 5, 2017, and Jan. 9, 2018, although of course I would listen to my previous chapters as a refresher. One voice that I changed quite a bit was Eleanor Mowbray, because I changed my mind on how to characterize her. However, I think I was pretty consistent for Aline.
I did my best to check out pronunciations before reading, but I found out later that I mispronounced Edinburgh, which I now know should be said edinbrugh instead of like burger. At least I pronounced edin correctly, like editor instead of Eden.
Enjoy!
The Child of the Moat was published in 1916 but the setting is 1557 England. A little Catholic girl and her cousin rescue a Protestant fugitive and hide him, and adventures ensue, ranging from secret messages to swordplay, plus some side missions to help other people. Aline, the protagonist, is almost too saintly to believe, but she is an *active* saint, not a languishing one, and often disobedient for a good cause. The supporting cast includes a number of interesting characters.
This is a children's book, or more specifically, subtitled A Story for Girls. The backstory behind this book is perhaps even more fascinating than the book itself. From the Librivox description:
Ian Holborn (professor of archaeology and a writer) was on board the RMS Lusitania when it was torpedoed, and as it sank he rescued a 12 year old girl named Avis Dolphin. She later complained that books for girls were not very interesting, so he decided to write one for her "as thrilling as any book written for boys!"So although it's a slightly old-fashioned book in terms of style, there are some quite progressive elements: empowerment for girls and religious freedom. I recommend it.
If you're not an audiobook fan, you can check out the text at Project Gutenberg:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/53281/53281-h/53281-h.htm
And here's the audiobook link again:
https://librivox.org/the-child-of-the-moat-by-ian-bernard-stoughton-holborn/
Both LibriVox and Project Gutenberg are free, done by volunteers.
Technical notes:
The book is 30 chapters long, and I read four of them: 3, 14, 18, and 21. Mine ranged from 14 to 48 minutes long; if I recall correctly, the longest was about 7,000 words.
The hardest thing was trying to keep reasonably consistent voices for characters when I was doing the recordings months apart, between Jan. 5, 2017, and Jan. 9, 2018, although of course I would listen to my previous chapters as a refresher. One voice that I changed quite a bit was Eleanor Mowbray, because I changed my mind on how to characterize her. However, I think I was pretty consistent for Aline.
I did my best to check out pronunciations before reading, but I found out later that I mispronounced Edinburgh, which I now know should be said edinbrugh instead of like burger. At least I pronounced edin correctly, like editor instead of Eden.
Enjoy!
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