Nevermore: Gone for Good, Hawk's Way, Day Like This, Foundation

Nevermore May 24, 2022

 

Reported by Garry

 

Gone for Good by Joanna Schaffhausen is the first in a series of hard-boiled mysteries starring Annalisa Vega, a seasoned Chicago cop who takes on the hunt for a serial killer. Twenty years earlier, the Lovelorn Killer had murdered seven women and seemingly vanished without a trace. Now he is back and has killed Grace Harper, an amateur sleuth who may well have been on the cusp of identifying the killer. Annalisa grew up in the neighborhood where the Lovelorn Killer preyed, and must now face not only the re-emergence of a monstrous killer, but the shadows of her own childhood in order to solve the case. Our reader, who typically favors historical fiction, was taken with this book and praised the writing style and the taut mystery, which kept her guessing.  ML

 

The Hawk’s Way:  Encounters with Fierce Beauty by Sy Montgomery is the latest book by the best-selling author of such books as The Good Good Pig and The Soul of An Octopus. In this memoir, Montgomery recounts her time spent with falconer Nancy Cowan and her birds of prey: specifically Jazz, a female Harris’s hawk. Enchanted by this fierce, independent, and wild bird, Montgomery spent years working with and learning the personalities of the Cowan’s many birds, discovering they are emotional, highly intelligent creatures who have extraordinarily long memories and form fiercely loyal bonds with those humans lucky enough to be a part of these magnificent birds’ lives.  CD

 

A Day Like This by Kelley McNeil is a psychological thriller with a twist: what if everything you knew and believed to be true just… vanished? Annie Beyers, a young lady who seemingly has everything – a loving husband, a daughter, a dream house, wakes from an accident to find that her daughter doesn’t exist, her husband is in the process of divorcing her, and her dog has apparently returned from the dead. What is happening? Whose life is Annie living in? Where did her previous life go? This mind-bending blend of science-fiction, spirituality, and a touch of the paranormal captured our reader’s imagination and kept her thinking long after the final page was turned. MH

 

Foundation by Isaac Asimov was reviewed by one of our science-fiction fans. First published in 1953, some of the details are now dated (organic cigars anyone?), but eerily prescient in other ways. Set hundreds of thousands of years in the future when humans have colonized a large part of the galaxy, the Galactic Empire has ruled for twelve thousand years but is now starting to crumble. Hari Seldon, the creator of the new science of psychohistory can see the patterns of what is happening and what is to come. In order to save humanity’s accumulated knowledge and civilization from the coming eons of upheaval and darkness, Seldon gathers the best minds in the Empire and creates an intellectual fortress: The Foundation - a beacon of hope for future generations. Our reader had initially read this book back in the late 1960s and revisited it recently, noting how many of the themes and details are just as applicable to our current society as they were when Asimov initially wrote the stories in the early to mid-1940s.  WJ

 

Also mentioned:

 

Left on Tenth: A Second Chance at Life by Delia Ephron

You Call This Democracy?: How to Fix Our Government and Deliver Power to the People by Elizabeth Rusch

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

Better for Being with You: A Philosophy of Care by Sister Bernadette Kenny

Origin:  A Genetic History of the Americas by Jennifer Raff

Mara and Dann: An Adventure by Doris Lessing

The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom

Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler

On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder

Fears of a Setting Sun: The Disillusionment of American’s Founders by Dennis C. Rasmussen

Devoted by Alice Borchardt

The Book Woman’s Daughter by Kim Michele Richardson

100% Democracy: The Case for Universal Voting by E.J. Dionne Jr. and Miles Rapoport

Myths of the World: An Illustrated Treasury of the World’s Greatest Stories edited by Tony Allan

Queen of Our Times: The Life of Queen Elizabeth II by Robert Hardman

1414° by Paul Bradley Carr

Lupin Leaps In: A Breaking Cat News Adventure by Georgia Dunn

White Hot Hate: A True Story of Domestic Terrorism in America’s Heartland by Dick Lehr

Foundation by Mercedes Lackey

Reviewed by Holly White

Foundation, the first of the Collegium Chronicles quintet, goes back in time in the Valdemar chronology, back to the very foundation of the Heraldic Collegium (hence the title).  Foundation begins the story of Magpie aka Mags, a young orphaned boy forced to work as a slave in a gem mine.  He and other orphans worked long hours with little food and no comforts, not even warm clothes during the harsh winters.  His parents were killed during a raid on a bandit wagon when Mags had been a toddler.  Mags survived and was taken in by Old Man Pieters, the owner of the mine.  Pieters never failed to remind Mags that no one else would have taken him since, as the son of bandits, Mags was “bad blood;” therefore he was incapable of good, and deserving of any bad thing that happened to him.  Old Man Pieters put him to work even at that young age, attaching rags to him so that he dusted the floor even as he crawled around on it.  As he grew older, Mags had taken on increased responsibilities, working in the kitchen, at the sluices, and in the mines themselves.  Once a year, the priest on circuit visited the mine to make sure that the orphan workers were well treated.  On that day alone of all the year, Mags was fed well.  Most of the children eventually either died from untreated illness or went mad.  Some were killed or beaten literally senseless as punishment for various infractions.  Mags, though, learned to do his work, keep his head down, and try his best not to be noticed.

Mags could not avoid being noticed, however, on the day the Herald Jakyr came to visit the mine with two Companions.  Old Man Pieters tried his best to stop it, but nothing can stop a Companion on Search.  Then Companion Dallen Chose Mags, and the whole world changed for him.  Before long, men had cleaned him up, fed him well, and allowed him to sleep on an actual bed for the first time in his life.  Jakyr asked him about his life up until now, and Mags told him, so that Herald Jakyr would rescue the other orphans from that situation.  But Mags feared that when the Heralds confronted Old Man Pieters with his misdeeds, Pieters would find out that it was Mags who had been the informant.  Mags had seen some of the punishments Pieters could inflict; what would he do to Mags if his whole operation were dismantled? 

Soon, Jakyr took Mags to Haven, where the new Heraldic Collegium was being built.  To Mags who had never seen so much as a village until this journey, the capital city of Haven was overwhelming.  However, before they even arrived at the door of the building, Jakyr had to be off on an urgent mission, leaving Mags alone and friendless except for Dallen.  Mags was then thrown into a world where he got to learn all day, eat delicious food at every mealtime, and spend his evenings blessedly alone in a warm bed with a room all to himself.  He felt that he had arrived at the place the priests had always talked about, the place where good people went when they died.  Even so, a lifetime of bad treatment made him instinctually distrust the intentions of everyone he met, in spite of Dallen’s reassurances that these people were good and trustworthy.  So, while Mags enjoyed the new experiences, he feared to make friends other than Dallen.  To make matters worse, sleeping on a warm bed did not prevent Mags from suffering nightly from horrible nightmares.  Furthermore, when a group of foreigners came to Haven ostensibly to make an Alliance, but in reality to spy on Valdemar, and Mags got caught in the middle of that. 

Would Mags ever learn to trust people and make friends?  Would his rudimentary education be enough to catch up to the other Heraldic Trainees?  Would Pieters find out it was Mags who snitched, and get revenge?   Would Mags ever learn to trust other people enough to make friends?  Would the nightmares ever stop?  When the foreign spies made their move, would Mags survive it?  Find out by reading Foundation by Mercedes Lackey.

If you love rags to riches stories, fantasy, and good vs. evil stories, this one will do your heart good.  I have read Foundation before, but I still had places in it that made me cry for joy again.  Mercedes Lackey knows how to make you really care about her characters.  My next review will be Foundation’s sequel, Intrigues, the second in the Collegium Chronicles quintet.

Citizens, World Order, Foundation, Beatles vs. Stones, and More!

Reported by Meygan

Nevermore opened with the discussion of Citizens: a Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama. This book discusses the French Revolution starting with the very beginning and ending with the Reign of Terror in 1794. Our Nevermore reader said this book was very readable and a good book about the French Revolution! 

World Order by Henry Kissinger was the next book discussed and I must say that this book was highly recommended! The reader stated this book should be book of the year and is certainly in his top ten books of all time. Former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Kissinger is an expert on foreign policy and he explains there can’t be peace around the globe unless we (as a world) have sense of order. Kissinger doesn’t discuss every country, but he does focus on the big ones (Japan, United States, European countries, the middle east, etc.) and examines each country’s history and builds upon on how each country got to where they are. The author doesn’t offer an easy solution to creating world order, and one Nevermore reader questioned if we could truly ever achieve that sort of a settlement where there is complete world order. The Nevermore reader also stated that he enjoyed the author’s writing style, which was very simple and clear. When he finished speaking about the book, a member told him that every time he talks about a book, he makes her want to read it! What higher praise could a Nevermore reader receive than that?

Next, we discussed The Foundation Trilogy by Isaac Asimov, a science fiction novel that is easy to read! (Have you ever heard of such a thing?) The Nevermore reader enjoys the unique font which adds to the science fiction feel of the book. Within this trilogy are the books Foundation, Foundation and Empire, and Second Foundation. Foundation introduces readers to Hari Seldon, a man who must create a new empire. The Nevermore reader said even though this book is science fiction, it is very believable! He felt that the author used the opportunity to select certain philosophies to tell within his stories that will assist the main character with building the new empire. 

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, a New York Times bestseller, seemed to pique the interest of our Nevermore readers. The book takes place during WWII and tells two parallel stories about a blind girl who lives in Paris and a young German orphan boy who lives in an industrial part of Germany. The boy is extremely bright and he is offered the opportunity to attend a Nazi sponsored school. When the girl is twelve years old, the Nazis invade Paris causing her and her father to flee to Saint-Malo. When the Nevermore reader was asked how the boy and girl meet one another, she replied that she didn’t want to give anything away. However, she did warn us that once we started reading then we wouldn’t be able to stop! “I was caught up in it. I finished a 500 page novel in two days!” 

For all you music lovers out there, you may be aware of the music debate of who is better: The Beatles or The Rolling Stones? Well lucky for you, John McMillian wrote Beatles vs.The Rolling Stones! Our Nevermore reader highly enjoyed the book, and he stated that he learned a lot about the mechanics of the music industry. However, the more he learned about John Lennon, the less he wanted to know! He stated that after reading about The Beatles, Ringo, who was his least favorite Beatles, ended up being the only one with any humanity. Still, maybe this is a good book for readers to solve the argument! Or maybe it will only fuel the fire. Either way, check out Beatles vs. Stones!

The last book discussed was The Ten Best Days of My Life by Adena Halpern. Alexandra is only 29 when she is struck by a car, and she finds herself in Heaven. And not just in Heaven, but the highest level of Heaven! However, there seems to be a mistake. She is asked to write an essay discussing the ten best days of her life to try and persuade the higher power why she should not be sent to a lower level in Heaven. In Alexandra’s Heaven, she can eat whatever she wants and she doesn’t have to worry about gaining weight! Also, she gets to choose from high-end name brand clothing and choose any car she wants. But she is told that the level she may be placed at is where all of the Rock n’ Roll stars are and even though she won’t have as much fancy clothing or be able to eat whatever her ravenous stomach desires, she will at least be surrounded by good music! The Nevermore reader described this book as being “cute”, but it doesn’t make the cut when comparing it to her favorite books. She also said the main character is spoiled and her ten days only prove how she doesn’t belong in the highest level of Heaven. She is certainly a character that if you were to be friends with her, you would have to love her for who she is or not love her at all!