Where Kate Fights her Fate

The Perilous Gard by Elizabeth Marie Pope
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Out of favor with Queen Mary, young Kate Sutton gets banished to an out-of-the-way castle called Perilous Gard. Strange things happen there, and it's not much of spoiler to say that she discovers that the world of fairies is very real and very dangerous. She's in danger, and so is the lord's brother and daughter, both of whom Kate wants to help. It's a clever story with a great sense of place, putting the reader in a closed-off corner of forest and rocky hills where magic is still possible, and I feel it's pretty successful.

The middle section of the book drags more than I like, and sense of mystery is damaged by too much familiarity, but the ending(s) are satisfying enough to make allowances.

This is meant to be a MG (supposedly) or YA novel, and it was a Newberry Honor book after it was first published, so it has credentials. Nice cover; interesting premise; some age-appropriate art inside; this seems like it should still do well with young people. I couldn't interest any of my students in it over the years while it was in my class library, which was a disappointment, but I get it now; it looks at first like it would be in reach of struggling or disaffected readers, something like Cooper's Dark is Rising, but when you start you find that it reads harder than that (IMO), and is about 10,000 words longer. Not quite right for the bulk of my population.

Anyway, it's a good historical fantasy that really should appeal to many readers, and even after all these years (as it was first published 1974), it deserves to find an audience.

Recommended for old people like me, sturdy MG readers, and lots of people in between.

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Where I'm Glad I Kept Reading

Gold! by Grace Cavendish
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I continue to enjoy this YA (or MG) series, although the beginning of this book is the first time that I thought it talked down to the reader, and it put me off. I almost set it aside. (Lots of choppy sentences and exclamation! marks! And an odd tone that felt strangely light.) I wondered if it was a new author--there are several involved in this series--but Sara Vogler and Jan Burchett wrote two earlier volumes that I liked, so that wasn't it.

It may have just been me.

In any case, the tone evened out (or so it seemed), and the voice once again sounded like that of Lady Grace, and I once again found the plot and characters charming. It's cute how Lady Grace, who has been starting to show an interest in men without quite realizing it, comes a little closer in this story to recognizing that she's a young woman and actually has someone whose attention she enjoys. The authors have been pretty consistent in developing that gentle arc, and I think it's well done.

I'm glad I didn't give up on the story. There are a few more sequels and I'm still planning to read each one.

Recommended (book and series) for adults who enjoy cozy kids' mysteries with not inconsequential stakes and a little bit of action. Highly recommended for young readers. I was gonna say girls, but it'd be good if boys read it, too.

(TBH--I wouldn't have read this as a boy, sorry to say. But here's to a new generation growing up better than the last...)

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Where Grace Saves Her Friend

Exile by Grace Cavendish
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Another fun story in the series. As one expects in pretty much all fiction, there's some implausible stuff here, things unlikely to ever happen in real life, and I think this title has a bit more of that than the previous ones, but it's still blended so well with historical details and a well realized setting that it works. The mystery is not too difficult for the reader to solve, but the action is brisk and it resolves in a satisfying way.

This series remains one of my go-to's for reading at bedtime when I'm not prepared for the cost of, say, grimdark fantasy or Victorian literature. The stakes are real, but it's still light reading and makes few demands on one's patience.

Still recommended.

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Will Shakespeare, Hero of the Occupation

Ruled Britannia by Harry Turtledove
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is another of those great "What if?" books that Harry Turtledove is rightly known for.

Imagining a victorious Spanish Armada and the occupation of Britain, it tells the story mostly of William Shakespeare being drawn into rebellious intrigues against the Spanish. He's getting along the best he can under the occupation when he's tasked with writing a play that will spark an uprising.

The logic of this alternate history is impeccable, the political and social ramifications thoroughly developed. This isn't how it happened, but it's a way it might have happened. The strange Elizabethan setting feels very real.

Shakespeare and his contemporaries are well drawn and compelling. Historic figures--Christopher Marlowe, Lope de Vega, his fellow actors, and the political figures like Sir William Cecil and his son--are fleshed out in a way that gives this story the feeling of history, and the minor characters (some invented, some actual people) are equally convincing. My favorite character is Cecily Sellis, the "witch" who lived in the same boarding house as Shakespeare and defied expectations. (She was probably the closest to a "fantasy" type character in the story, which in every other way feels like straightforward history.)

The author makes wonderful use of Shakespeare's lines throughout the novel, something I really enjoyed. (Despite being a high school English teacher, I'm an indifferent Shakespeare scholar, so I'm certain I passed over many of the quotes without noticing. But I caught plenty.) He works them into dialogue and banter as much as he uses them for the plays within the story, and they are often fun easter eggs without being obtrusive. It's the kind of erudition (no other word works) that is uncommon in modern fantasy as well as a reminder that we are fortunate to have a writer capable of pulling off a novel based on a premise this ambitious.

So, yeah, I liked it.

There is a lot of exciting action and entertaining subplots, especially the love life of Spanish writer Lope de Vega, though some of the middle does not move along with quite as much pace as one might like. The last quarter takes off again, though, and the loose ends are satisfyingly gathered by the end. Despite enjoying some bits more than others, I found it entertaining throughout, and I recommend the novel for fantasy readers as well as Shakespeare enthusiasts. And history people.

And now I have to go educate myself more on Lope de Vega, and I blame the author. ;)

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