The Dark Horse - Marcus Sedgwick

The Dark Horse was not the book I was expecting, though I'm not entirely sure what that would have been. A short novel, typical of Sedgwick, The Dark Horse maintains an unsettling and tense atmosphere throughout.

The Dark Horse follows the Storn, a coastal northern tribe, in their struggle to weather the harsh conditions and prepare themselves for the arrival of the titular Dark Horse, a terrifying, relentless warrior tribe. The story revolves around a single family, with the young boy Sig and his adopted sister Mouse, found in a wolves lair while the Storn were on a hunt. Sig loves his family, would do anything for them, but there is far more to Mouse than it seems.

I was completely absorbed by the relationship between Sig and Mouse. Love, trust, respect, fear...Sig battles an array of emotions when dealing with his sister and the events that transpire following the arrival of the Dark Horse. Drama, tension and excitement I was prepared for. What I was not expecting was the dark and entirely creepy nature of the book. I was honestly not expecting anyone to survive the events it contained, and was continually surprised by its twists and turns. Knowing who to trust is not immediately obvious, as events unfold slowly and danger lurks in unexpected places. As always, I was utterly gripped by Sedgwick's storytelling. Highly recommended!

The Mortal Instruments - Cassandra Clare

The Mortal Instruments is a six-part series written by the infamous and apparently prolific author Cassandra Clare. The first four books in the series are already available, with City of Lost Souls and City of Heavenly Fire due for release in 2012 and 2013.

As mentioned in my review of Clockwork Angel, the Mortal Instruments series was imagined first, although set in present day New York. In City of Bones we meet our main protagonist, a young teenager named Clary Fray, at a club with her best friend Simon. Clary encounters a group of teenagers whom no-one else can apparently see, while she witnesses them murder another young man. Clary returns home to find the apartment wrecked and her mother missing, shortly before she is attacked by a demon. She is rescued by one of the mysterious teenagers, Jace, who takes her to his home and reveals that he is a demon hunter, known as a a Shadowhunter. Clary soon learns that her mother was also a Shadowhunter, who had apparently been trying to protect Clary from the same fate.

The Mortal Instruments is an ongoing saga revolving around Clary, Jace and their family and friends, in a tale of demons, warlocks, vampires, werewolves, faeries, magic and romance. Nothing new there you might say. And while the typical stories in this series are generally similar to much of the fantasy fiction that is available for young adult readers at present, Cassandra Clare has certainly proved herself to be a highly entertaining storyteller. Indeed this series delves into some of the more darker aspects of the genre, with gruesome murders, tragic loss and forbidden (and inappropriate!) love between two central characters.

Although somewhat predictable, the Mortal Instruments series is enjoyable, with humour and heart where it is needed. I may have fallen more for the world created in Clare's Infernal Devices, but I shall certainly be seeing this series through to the end.

(I've recently heard that Clare is working on a set of sequels called The Dark Artifices...watch this space!)

Infernal Devices: Clockwork Angel - Cassandra Clare

The Infernal Devices is a trilogy of prequels to the bestselling Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare. While the Mortal Instruments series is set in modern day New York, the Infernal Devices is firmly set in Victorian England.

Although a prequel, Clockwork Angel was my first foray into Clare's world of Shadowhunters and Downworlders, demons and warlocks. The titular Clockwork Angel is a necklace that belongs to Tessa, a young orphaned American girl who travels to England in search of her missing older brother Nate. However, when she arrives at Southampton, instead of her brother she finds the Dark Sisters, who take her prisoner, subjecting her to experiments and preparing her for marriage to the "Magister". Tessa soon discovers she is a shape-changer, able to take the shape of any person whose belongings she can touch.

Tessa is rescued from captivity by Will Herondale, a handsome and arrogant Shadowhunter, who introduces her to the Institute, his "family" and the world of demon-hunting. The Institute members utilise Tessa's unusual skill to find Nate and find the Magister and reveal his sinister plot. Of course there must be a sinister plot!

Clockwork Angel is a world of supernatural beings, magic and mystery, but had such intriguing characters that I was completely hooked within a matter of pages. Tessa herself is a mystery, her nature as a shape-changer - is she a demon or some other kind of creature? Will Herondale is reckless and self-destructive, drinking, gambling and womanising, while demonstrating unnatural skill as a demon hunter and moments of barely hidden tenderness to his loved ones. Will's best friend and fighting partner Jem is an even more interesting character, with a mysterious illness and dark secret.

Clare's Victorian London is dark and gloomy, with sinister organisations, dark magics and flesh-covered automatons. With seedy drinking establishments and glamorous parties, dark alleys and gothic buildings, I can well believe this London may have existed. With the pre-requisite revelations, betrayals and romantic triangles, Clockwork Angel is a gripping and enjoyable story, with a very intriguing ending! The next two books in the series, Clockwork Prince and Princess will be released at the end of 2011 and 2012, and I for one am very excited to read them.

Tumbling down the rabbit hole...

So far it has been another slow year of both reading and blogging. In my defence, my normally busy life has become even more so with the advent of my new training regime (fitness here we come!), my flourishing vegetable garden (small yet ever so enticing), the new feline additions to my household, my stuttering attempts at fundraising ahead of our charity skydive (this coming weekend eek!) and my participation in an ambitious theatre project.

Each year, May hosts for us the Norfolk and Norwich Festival, over two weeks of dance, music, theatre, literature, comedy and general oddness...With ambitions of soon becoming the country's second biggest arts festival, each year the Festival appears to outdo the preceding event, by bringing even more weird and wonderful artistic creations to this small city, somewhat removed from much of the country. This year I was unable to enjoy most of the festival's offerings (aside from an ingenious circus routine and some late night mechanical wolf shenanigans) as I had signed myself up as an extra in order to renew my love of the theatre.

And so, shedding my inhibitions and in the hope of meeting some unusual characters, I joined a theatre project called Dining with Alice. Originally created by Hilary Westlake for the Salisbury Festival a few years ago, the venture has been reimagined by Artichoke a creative company renowned for their ambitious and artistic "invasion of public spaces". Over three weeks of intense rehearsal and performance time (while also working full-time!), our band of extras were fortunate enough to share in the latest Artichoke experience, in all its glory! I for one have come away with the certain knowledge that I wish to remain working in theatre, if only part time, and have made some good new friends. I have described this project to many of my friends and complete strangers, some of whom have responded with blank stares, but others who became quite enthused and urged me to share the experience. So please indulge me, and do forgive me for this long and rather enthused post...

At Dining with Alice, guests were invited to take part in a magical evening of food and song, hosted by an array of Wonderland characters, in the grounds of the beautiful Elsing Hall, a private stately home dating back to the thirteenth century. With 20 acres of picturesque gardens including a walled garden, an arboretum, a moat and a bog (!), the Hall was the perfect setting for such an unusual event.

Guests were ushered in past high hedges and mysterious doorways, catching rare glimpses of the house.

Beautiful and elegant statues and stonework were nestled amongst the English roses and romantic borders.

Upon arriving at the welcome tent, guests were offered delicious Hendrick's Gin cocktails and nibbles, before the characters descended in a whirl of music and laughter.

The guests were then surprised by a throng of turbaned waiters who regaled them with colour, wit and song, but who do not engage in repartee.

Guests were then separated from their friends and taken to their tables by their waiters. Individual tables....for every single person.

Tables were spread out amongst the beautiful gardens, where guests could bask in the evening light and watch their fellow diners sitting around them.

Tables were decorated with jars containing weird and wonderful delights, and riddles to test the mind...

and confuse the senses...

Unusual Victorian dishes with a twist were served, such as this mock turtle soup and a vial containing amber liquid and a label saying..."drink me".

While diners ate, Alices large and small flitted through the gardens..

Characters regale diners with amusing riddles and ridiculous arguments.

Diners were in fear of losing their head when the Queen of Hearts was around.

While her King of Hearts and the Mad Hatter debated the food and stimulated the conversation.

After a three course meal, diners were reunited with their friends and brought to a floating pontoon on the moat, where the evening's entertaining reached its finale with a flourish of song.

But wait...who was this mysterious waiter?!

Thank you so much to Artichoke for putting on such a wonderful production and allowing us to take part in it! And thanks to all the other extras for making my time so enjoyable!

Anyone interested in the Norfolk and Norwich Festival or Dining with Alice can experience a little themselves in a short behind-the-scenes film on Sky Arts in June.

Reviews in the press:

The Guardian preview article

The Guardian - 13th May

The Guardian - 15th May

The Independent

The Norwich Evening News

The Brideswell Press

BBC News - spot yours truly at 28 seconds!

Other reviews and articles:

Winkypedia

Mini reviews

Lonely Werewolf Girl - Martin Millar

Teenage werewolf Kalix MacRinnalch is pursued through the streets of London by murderous hunters, while her sister, the Werewolf Enchantress, is busy designing clothes for the Fire Queen. In the Scottish Highlands there's trouble at Castle MacRinnalch as the Werewolf Clan prepares for war.

Lonely Werewolf Girl is an expansive tale of werewolves in the modern world. The MacRinnalch family contains elegant werewolves, troubled teenage werewolves, friendly werewolves, homicidal werewolves, fashion designers, warriors, punks, cross-dressers, musicians - an entire Clan of Werewolves, involved in conflict from the Scottish Highlands to London, and several dimensions beyond.

How anyone could not rush out and get this book after reading Chris' review is beyond me! I managed to get a copy through my library in perfect time for last year's RIP Challenge.

Lonely Werewolf Girl is a hoot! Flitting between modern day London and Edinburgh, the story moves from high drama to ridiculous comedy! Lonely Werewolf girl is both a dark fantasy, and a modern tale of students, music and pizza. Kalix is a troubled girl on the run from her family and living rough on the streets of London, when she is taken in by two naive but kind students.

With a bizarre series of events and plot twists, it is Millar's characters that steal the show. Perhaps best of all is Malveria, Queen of the Fire Elementals, who is more concerned with having the latest designer handbags and shoes than with ruling her kingdom. The hilarious things she occasionally comes out with left me roaring in laughter, especially her conversations with the haughty and misunderstood Werewolf Enchantress, Kalix's sister. Fantastic stuff!

Curse of the Wolf Girl - Martin Millar

Scottish teenage werewolf Kalix MacRinnalch is in London trying to settle down and live a normal life. Her new friends support her as she goes to college to learn to read and write, but her old enemies won't leave her alone. Many powerful werewolves want Kalix dead, and the Guild of Werewolf Hunters is still dedicated to wiping out the entire MacRinnalch werewolf clan. Life might be easier for Kalix if her werewolf family were able to help, but her sister the Enchantress needs all of her sorcerous powers to locate the perfect pair of high heels, her brother Markus is busy in Scotland organising an opera, and her cousin Dominil is engaged in her own merciless vendetta with her enemies. Kalix must carry on alone but she's finding it difficult enough to pay the rent and cope with her anxiety and depression, while struggling with werewolf hunters and exams at the same time...

With her life a little more stable, but her continuing problems with anxiety and depression, not to mention a laudanum addiction, Kalix attempts to get an education and even finds a romantic entanglement. However, life is never that easy when you are the daughter of the former werewolf chief and find a bunch of assassins on your tail, while befriended by the clumpsy adopted daughter of the Fire Queen. Needless to say, further chaos ensues.

While this was a thoroughly entertaining follow-up to Lonely Werewolf Girl, and I would highly recommend it, few of the characters were really developed much, and it did not feel quite as substantial as the first.

The City and the City - China Mieville

The body of a murdered woman is discovered in the remarkable, crumbling European city of Besźel. Such a crime is par for the course for Inspector Tyador Borlú, who is the premier talent of the Extreme Crime Squad – until his investigations uncover evidence that bizarre and terrifying forces are at work – and soon both he and those around him will be in considerable peril. He must undertake an odyssey, a journey across borders both physical and psychical, to the city which is both a complement and rival to his own, that of Ul Qoma.

China Mieville is a complicated writer, with a highly complex imagination. The City and the City begins as a crime novel, a whodunnit set in a fictional eastern European city, a culture in part Balkan and part Germanic. The victim is a young American woman who had been working in another city, "the" other city, situated in the same place - the two cities occupying the same place, sometimes merging, sometimes overlapping. Both the law and social acceptability require the citizens of these two cities to refrain from contact, to the point where people have learnt to "unsee" places and people in the other city. To see something from the other city would be considered breach, with harsh penalties. Strict border controls exist between the two, manned by law enforcement from both sides. However, there are some borders that cannot be completely maintained, which is where "Breach" - a mysterious force that deals out the most severe penalties - steps in.

The relationship between these two cities is the heart of this story, which rapidly delves into philisophical science fiction, while all the time focusing on two law enforcement officers and their search for the truth about the young woman's murder. Confusing yet gripping, the City and the City is a highly original and inventive novel, that occasionally falters, and while it may not have provided the most satisfying ending for this particular blogger, was a very enjoyable read.

Revolver - Marcus Sedgwick

After his father dies from the cold out on the ice-covered lake, fifteen year old Sig Andersson finds himself waiting alone with the body in the family cabin while his step-mother and sister go for help. Then a mysterious and sinister man bearing a revolver arrives claiming to have business with his father. Sig slowly learns the truth about the man's link to his family and when his sister's own life becomes threatened, he has to make a choice. Whether to use his father's own prized revolver.

Set in the Arctic Circle, cold penetrates every inch of this novel. With tension that you could cut with a knife, and a story of such intensity, this book lingered with me long after I finished it. Another atmospheric and gripping novel from my beloved Marcus Sedgwick. Go read it!

Frankenstein

"Life and death appeared to me ideal bounds, which I should first break through,
and pour a torrent of light into our dark world."

In April I was fortunate enough to get tickets to a unique production of Frankenstein at the National Theatre. The two stars, Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller alternate the roles of Victor Frankenstein and the Creature each night, both embuing the characters with their individual performances and qualities. The night I went, Cumberbatch played the Creature, with his infamous fervour and energy; while Miller played Victor, progressive yet naive, brilliant and yet foolish.

The production was incredible. The Olivier theatre at the National contains the renowned Drum Revolve stage - 4 storeys high and 15 m across, the stage rotates and contains beneath it immense set pieces that dominate the large yet intimate theatre. The moment the production began, the audience was captivated by the sight of the Creature being born - bursting forth from the manmade womb, naked and helpless as an infant. We follow the Creature, as he learns to use his body and mind, finds his voice, and experiences human emotion.

Cumberbatch was incomparable as the Creature. Embodying his fear and wonder, rage and love and ultimately, his hate towards Victor - Cumberbatch allowed us to care for the poor Creature, while creating such tension and suspense that the audience was truly shocked at the horrific ending. Miller was also excellent as the unfortunate scientist and scenes between the two men were electric.

The following week, I was able to see the production again, as it had been filmed for display in several arts cinemas, this time with the roles reversed. While Miller played the Creature very well, allowing a certain amount of personal interpretation, his portrayal perhaps lacked the depth and humour (and full nudity!!) of Cumberbatch's performance. Cumberbatch meanwhile was wonderful as Victor Frankenstein, showing him as slightly less vulnerable and more misguided. The reversed production held a similar tension to seeing the play on stage, although it was certainly missing the energy and grip of a live show, focussing on the action and artistry of the stage design.

The actors were astounding and the production, adapted by Nick Dear and directed by the film director, Danny Boyle, was absolutely brilliant. Sadly a short run meant that only a small number of theatre-goers were able to see the play, but the new tradition of filming productions means that it will be available to many more. If it comes to a theatre near you...see it!

On a side note - I shall be taking the backstage tour at the National Theatre on Sunday - I can't wait to see the sets and props!

Photos taken from the National Theatre website.

Introductions...

I'd like to introduce two new members of my little household.

Rosencrantz...

and Guildenstern...

They became part of my family on Sunday from the RSPCA rescue centre after their stray cat mother gave birth to them in a foster home. Only 9 weeks old, they were understandably nervous at first, but have already become quite the little characters, keen for both play and cuddles. I've wanted to get cats for years, and now that I am well and truly shore-based and have a house of my own, it felt like the right time. Luckily I've been able to provide some homeless kittens with all the shelter, food and love they will need, and forsee many happy kitty years ahead! They've already shown a great interest in my bookshelves and will hopefully live up to their comedic namesakes.

I'll keep you updated on kitten antics, but for now, from me, Rose and Gilly...we bid you a good night.