RIP Gardner Dozois, Prairie Lights Turns 40, A Cotswold Killing by Rebecca Tope, Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis, The Carnelian Crow by Colleen Gleason and Mr Flood's Last Resort by Jess Kidd

I read many an anthology edited and compiled by Gardner Dozois, and much to my chagrin, I didn't even learn to pronounce his name properly until I was in my late 20s, when my friend Roger Blakesley, who has always known how to pronounce any name or word correctly from birth, I think, informed me that it was DOE ZOIS, just as it was "Zel AS Nee" for the science fiction author Zelazny. At any rate,I loved his anthologies and his short stories and Strangers, his novel, which I read when I was in my late teens. RIP Mr Dozois.

Obituary Note: Gardner Dozois

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz37151255, the

author and editor whom Tor called "a vital and beloved member of the

science fiction and fantasy community" who "shaped contemporary science

fiction and fantasy," died on Sunday. He was 70.

Dozois was the founding editor of The Year's Best Science Fiction

anthologies and editor of Asimov's from 1984 until 2004. His editorial

work earned more than 40 Hugo Awards, 40 Nebula Awards and 30 Locus

Awards, and he was awarded the Hugo for Best Professional Editor 15

times between 1988 and his retirement from Asimov's in 2004. In 1977,

Dozois wrote an in-depth look at the fiction of James Tiptree, Jr., and

a novel, Strangers, which was published in 1978. Two of his stories,

"The Peacemaker" and "Morning Child," won the Nebula Award for Short

Story in 1983 and 1984, respectively. In 2001, Old Earth Books published

Being Gardner Dozois: An Interview by Michael Swanwick, in which Dozois

and his friend and collaborator Swanwick discussed his career in

fiction.

He also collaborated with George R.R. Martin on a series of themed

anthologies, including Songs of the Dying Earth, a tribute anthology to

Jack Vance's Dying Earth series; Old Mars, an anthology featuring retro

stories about Mars; Dangerous Women, whose stories revolve around female

warriors; and Rogues, a genre-spanning anthology. Dozois was inducted

into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2011.

Though I haven't been back to Iowa City (which is near where my father grew up in SE Iowa) since I was a child, I am always happy to hear news of the groundbreaking bookstore that Iowa citizens have been supporting and loving for 40 years. Congratulations to Prairie Lights!

Happy 40th Birthday, Prairie Lights!

Congratulations to Prairie Lights http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz37170933

bookstore, Iowa City, Iowa, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary

this month. The Press-Citizen featured a detailed profile

http://www.shelf-awareness.com/ct/uz3642037Biz37170934

of "the Iowa literary institution" that is "a nationally respected and

internationally known bookstore.... It's also a local institution in a

UNESCO City of Literature, an unofficial home for literary types. Many

students have bought books there, many locals have read the first

chapter of a book sitting in the second-floor window sills, many

University of Iowa Writers' Workshop students have written their stories

in its cafe."

Prairie Lights founder and former owner Jim Harris "likes to sit at the

tallest table" in the shop's cafe; a vantage point from which "he

can see everyone, and say hello to anyone, who comes into the cafe

inside the business he started 40 years ago," the Press-Citizen wrote.

"I never had any time to enjoy this space until I retired," he said. "I

always considered the key to our success and growth was the community.

The whole area, not just the workshop, embraced us fully. That's the

reason we're still around."

Current co-owner Jan Weissmiller, who was taking writing and history

classes at UI at the time, said she "found Prairie Lights as soon as it

opened.... It felt vital then, even seven months after it had started."

Weissmiller "entered the store in December of 1978 to pick up a

graduation gift that had been ordered for her. Harris knew she had

graduated and offered her a job," the Press-Citizen noted.

"I said no at first because, I told him, I wouldn't make enough money.

Eventually, he convinced me, but it didn't take that long," said

Weissmiller. By the late 1990s, Harris was "out of energy" and asked

Weissmiller if she wanted to buy Prairie Lights in the early 2000s. "Jan

knew the store, I knew she would carry it on," Harris said. "She was

just this infusion of energy." By 2007, she had agreed to buy a third of

the business, along with poet Jane Mead, while Harris maintained

one-third ownership until 2009.

Now, from his cafe; table perspective, Harris told the

Press-Citizen he would like to see the store he founded stay on a

similar course. Asked what he'd like Prairie Lights to do the next 40

years, he replied "stay the same and have continued success."

Weissmiller added: "The city and the university are more focused on

literature than they have ever been. The legacy here will require that

there will always be a vital, good bookstore. I don't see any reason

that it wouldn't be Prairie Lights for years to come."

A Cotswold Killing by Rebecca Tope is one of 4 cozy mystery novels set in England that I found in remarkably new condition at the library book sale this past month. I couldn't imagine why someone would donate books in such pristine condition, especially books with an English theme, which have been,in my experience, usually well written. Unfortunately, after the first 60 pages it became obvious that this book, and likely the series, would be the exception to that rule. The author drones on endlessly about the scenery of the Cotswolds, in particular the small town the main character is staying in and the mansion she's house sitting while an elderly couple are on a vacation trying to repair their marriage after the husband, predictably, cheated on his wife with a younger woman (what a cliche). The female protagonist, Thea, is a middle aged widow who is vain and vapid, and who, after finding a body on the grounds of the estate, feels compelled, for lack of anything better to do, to solve the mystery of who killed this young man and his father. Sadly, Thea isn't really smart enough to figure out how to interview people and get to the truth of what is happening in the town, as it appears that prior to her husband's death, she really didn't have to do anything but be an adoring wife and mum,and rely on her good looks to stay in everyone's good graces. Thea has an equally stupid spaniel dog named Hepzibah, whom she can't seem to go anywhere without, and she literally loses her mind when the idiot dog is attacked by another dog, (on whose property they're trespassing), going so far as to break the jaw of the attacking dog to save the silken ear of her ridiculous spaniel. 

Here's the blurb:  Nestled in the fertile hills of the Cotswolds, the village of Duntisbourne Abbots is a well-kept secret: beautiful, timeless and quintessentially English. When recently widowed Thea Osborne arrives to house-sit for a local couple, her only fear is that three weeks there might prove a little dull. Her first night's sleep at Brook View is broken by a piercing scream outside but she decides such things don t require investigation in a sleepy place like this. At least not until a body turns up... In calling on her neighbors to get some answers, Thea uncovers more tragedy and intrigue than she thought possible behind the peaceful Gloucestershire village. The first in a new series of thrillers to be set in the Cotswold area, A Cotswold Killing takes the reader on a tense journey along winding roads and muddy paths towards a dramatic and unexpected denouement.

That last bit is a complete lie, as the journey of this book is no more tense or dramatic than reading a cereal box. The prose is vague and tedious, the plot meanders all over the place, only really getting anywhere in the final 15 pages, and the characters are all stereotypes or cliches of what you'd think small town, small minded people are like,only more cruel and vicious, for the most part.Anyone who has ever though of the British people as polite and genteel will be disabused of that notion after the first 50 pages of this book. I now know why the other three books were donated unread, because the person who purchased them doubtless found them as boring as I found the first one. In giving it a C, I am being generous. I'd only recommend this book to someone who likes mysteries with a wimpy, ninny female sleuth who never really gets the job done.

Snowspelled by Stephanie Burgis is a delightful paranormal romance set in a Regency era England where magic is part of daily life, and where women run the country and manage politics from the tea parlor. Here's the blurb:

In nineteenth-century Angland, magic is reserved for gentlemen while ladies attend to the more practical business of politics. But Cassandra Harwood has never followed the rules...

Four months ago, Cassandra Harwood was the first woman magician in Angland, and she was betrothed to the brilliant, intense love of her life.
Now Cassandra is trapped in a snowbound house party deep in the elven dales, surrounded by bickering gentleman magicians, manipulative lady politicians, her own interfering family members, and, worst of all, her infuriatingly stubborn ex-fiancé, who refuses to understand that she's given him up for his own good.
But the greatest danger of all lies outside the manor in the falling snow, where a powerful and malevolent elf-lord lurks...and Cassandra lost all of her own magic four months ago.
To save herself, Cassandra will have to discover exactly what inner powers she still possesses - and risk everything to win a new kind of happiness.
A witty and sparkling romantic fantasy novella that opens a brand-new series for adults from the author of Kat, Incorrigible, Masks and Shadows and Congress of Secrets.

This sharp and fun read kept me up until the wee hours with its zesty prose and compelling, twisty plot. The characters are, as one would expect of the romantic Regency, either plucky and fiesty females or wily and dashingly handsome males, but I like that Burgis has added diversity into the mix, with a male protagonist who is Indian, and other female characters who are older and very obviously smart and in charge. The elves, in this case, are evil, twisted and murderous creatures, which only adds to the tension of the plot. I'd give this zingy book an A, and recommend it to romance readers who like a bit of magic and mystery in their novellas.

The Carnelian Crow by Colleen Gleason is the fourth book in her delightful YA Stoker and Holmes Steampunk series, which I will admit I've become addicted to. Mina Holmes and Evaline Stoker are the mismatched heroic duo of the 19th century, and Gleason's sparkling prose and cool, swift plot keeps each episode of their adventures exhilarating. Here's the blurb:

The girls are back! Evaline Stoker (sister of Bram) and Mina Holmes (niece of Sherlock) return in the fourth volume of the steampunk adventure series set in an alternate Victorian London.
Ever since the debacle of the Chess Queen Enigma, Mina Holmes and Evaline Stoker have laid low, trying to settle back into their quiet lives as young ladies of London. But the Holmesian deductive abilities won't remain dormant for long, and when Mina receives a strange package from a winged, midnight visitor, she is catapulted into a new, dangerous adventure: the search for The Carnelian Crow.
Meanwhile, Evaline has received some very disturbing news--news that will change her life forever. Along with that unpleasant knowledge is the strange disappearance of her nemesis, the disreputable pickpocket Pix.
When it becomes clear the arch-villainess the Ankh has made her next move, it will take all of Mina's Holmesian ingenuity and Evaline's courage and determination to stop the criminal from executing her boldest and most dangerous plan yet!

While each of the Stoker and Holmes books so far has had exciting mysteries to solve, this one focused more on the girls relationships with Inspector Grayling (who is much older than Mina, but who also uses deductive reasoning on his cases at Scotland Yard and who is obviously smitten with Mina) and the mysterious Mr Pix, who is, in reality, an American named Edison Smith, and not the cockney underworld figure he presents to Evaline at all. Of course there are vampires and the evil Ankh behind all the skulduggery, and Stoker and Holmes have their work cut out for them, while Evaline is called upon to marry a wealthy man in order to dig her brother Bram and sister in law out of a financial sinkhole, before they lose the family estate. The fact that Bram is more than willing to force his sister to throw away her life and career as a vampire hunter just to bail him out of a financial crisis that is completely his fault was mind boggling (and horrific) but realistic for the era. While Gleason leaves us on something of a cliffhanger in this regard,I was still thrilled by the twists and turns presented in this wonderful book. I'd give it an A, and recommend it to anyone who has read any of the other Stoker and Holmes novels.

Mr Flood's Last Resort by Jess Kidd was recommended to me as a reader of the marvelous A Man Called Ove and the Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry. What all of these books have in common is a main character who is a grumpy old curmudgeon, usually paired with a young woman (or women) who are optimistic and help change the grumpy guy's worldview. Unfortunately, Cathal Flood isn't just grumpy, he's a filthy, hoarding mean old man who spews vile language and threats at everyone he encounters, and even though his new caregiver is very optimistic and kind (she's also something of an idiot, and she seems to be almost Autistic in the way she favors routine and how she lets others tell her what to do), he abuses her just as mightily as he does his son, or the man pretending to be his son. There's a dead wife and daughter involved, a mystery and lots of guilt on both sides, but Kidd doesn't make it easy for readers to untangle the messy plot with her often grating, gritty and tediously detailed prose. I found all the characters either overly eccentric or downright hideous in one way or another, and everyone seems to be angry, guilty or resentful (or all three). So there wasn't a pleasant character for me to root for, except for the dim witted Maud Drennan, his caregiver. Here's the blurb:
Maud Drennan is a dedicated caregiver whose sunny disposition masks a deep sadness. A tragic childhood event left her haunted, in the company of a cast of prattling saints who pop in and out of her life like tourists. Other than visiting her agoraphobic neighbor, Maud keeps to herself, finding solace in her work and in her humble existence–until she meets Mr. Flood.

Cathal Flood is a menace by all accounts. The lone occupant of a Gothic mansion crawling with feral cats, he has been waging war against his son’s attempts to put him into an old-age home and sent his last caretaker running for the madhouse. But Maud is this impossible man’s last chance: if she can help him get the house in order, he just might be able to stay. So the unlikely pair begins to cooperate, bonding over their shared love of Irish folktales and mutual dislike of Mr. Flood’s overbearing son.

Still, shadows are growing in the cluttered corners of the mansion, hinting at buried family secrets, and reminding Maud that she doesn’t really know this man at all. When the forgotten case of a missing schoolgirl comes to light, she starts poking around, and a full-steam search for answers begins. Packed with eccentric charms, twisted comedy, and a whole lot of heart, Mr. Flood’s Last Resort is a mesmerizing tale that examines the space between sin and sainthood, reminding us that often the most meaningful forgiveness that we can offer is to ourselves.

SPOILER, all of the "bad guys" die, and Maud discovers that the brother and his friend killed their sister and shoved her down the well, with the help of the girl's mother, who then went insane from guilt and died. Meanwhile, Maud's transvestite friend is beaten up and harassed, and Maud has a sexual relationship with Cathal's son,who is pretending to be a sacked caregiver. I nearly tossed this book after the first 100 pages, but I decided that by that time, I'd invested too much time in it to stop now,so I finished it a day later, but I wasn't really happy about it, and I don't feel I gained anything by reading this morose and sour novel. The prose is decent, but the plot moves like a slug in a summer's garden, and as previously noted, there's no one to root for here, as all of the characters are either mean or stupid and gullible. I'd give this book a C,and only recommend it to those who like grim Irish novels about weird and filthy old men. Personally, I felt like I needed a shower after reading it, and I can't say that's an experience I want to repeat.