Welcome to part two of Various and Sundry

It seems that Lady Sarah, having been engaged to the Duke of Ravenwich, decided she didn't wish to actually marry him and broke it off. The Duke wouldn't take ‘no' for an answer, and so the Incomparable Lady Sarah conked him over the head with a statue. Fearing she had killed him, she ran off into the night. Following a mishap, she was found half-drowned by the Earl, and decided that she didn't want to be hanged for murder. She informed the Earl, that she couldn't remember anything.

Thus, begins our story. It does not end there but continues through several, adventures--mis- and otherwise-- and ends, with Sarah's father finding love, as well as herself.

Cindy Holbrook, is a master at the comedic turn of phrase, comic timing and the art of poking fun at the aristocracy. Her heroines are strong, lively, and intelligent. But then, so are her heros. Both sides posses lovely senses of humor. And many of her books, have the feel of a farce.

Every so often, there are serious moments. These do not detract from the story--far from it--they help to set the pace.

TCG, is the fifth book, I have read by Ms. Holbrook, and the most recent.

During a routine sweep, Dancer and her partner Seven, watch as a Fourth Service Team pilot downs her plane. Arriving at the cockpit Dancer is attacked by the pilot--whom she knocks out. As they are waiting for the medics to arrive, Seven points out that the pilot looks remarkably like Dancer--in fact, she could *be* Dancer.

Different things happen, and the Commander of the Team wants his pilot back. The commander of the Sixth, Michael, decides to send Dancer in her place. Thinking she may need them for some reason, he decides to let her regain the memories they took from her.

Dancer's past is not pretty. It's downright brutal, in fact. And what she remembers, plays a large part in how her mission goes.

Every time I reread this book, I pick up more things. I could be over analyzing, but I doubt it.

As far as I know, this is the only book written by Ms. Crean. I, for on, would love her to write more.

Back to the index.

The first thing is, the movie Fairy Tale: A True Story, is now out. You and everyone else need to go see it. This movie is richly textured, intricately plotted, and for adults. Children may like it as well, but it is a bit over their heads. The story made me cry, and is very good. All of the actors do well in their parts--especially the little girls, and Paul McGann as the father (he *is* a babe ladies!). On a side note, the guy who played Percy on Black Adder (I cannot remember his name..) is in this movie as a journalist. Now, maybe I'm just reading something into it, but, I think there is a subtle dig at the tabloids and the press in general here. Anyway, go see Fairy Tale, you'll feel much better afterwards.

The new Moby is out, and I have heard it. Mainly being tracks from previous stuff--movie soundtracks and such--it also contains the remixed James Bond theme. Coolness! In the extreme!

Right, now that I've got the strange pronouncements out of the way, I will now mention one of my favorite shows: Buffy:the Vampire Slayer. Buffy, is now going into repeats. But before they did, they gave us lots to talk about. From Giles' past to Cordelia and Xander's futures, the episodes have been really good. Recently, we found out that since Buffy actually died in the season finale, that another Slayer was called into service--Kendra, is her name. I liked Kendra, once she got over herself. I am also very glad that Oz and Willow are getting it together. I was getting tired of him always saying ‘Who *is* that girl?' (Shades of Madonna?? Sorry, couldn't resist.).

Another of my favorite shows, Doctor Who, has been off the air for years.. It has been around longer than Star Trek, and will be having it's 35th anniversary next year. I like DW, because of good writing, good acting, and bad special effects. They also, had some pretty spiffy music and so-so set design.

Has anyone besides me read Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere? ? I though it was excellent, and can't wait to see if he will write some sort of sequel. No, I haven't gotten into Good Omens yet. I have seen the ending of Neverwhere though. I need to see all of it soon.

I am a Pet Shop Boys fan. Let me state that up front. And I want a new album soon guys! Bilingual was great, but it's been a year or more, since it came out. Oh yeah, just remembered, the Boys are doing a musical this year. I think I'm gonna have to go to England to see it. Neil and Chris in a musical? I'm there!

I notice I've become very demanding recently. Probably because I'm not working enough hours right now.

If you happen to be in the St Louis area, please go to our Science Center and see ‘The Magic of Flight' the new Omnimax show.

If you like Red Dwarf, Doctor Who, and Blake's 7 along with lot's of other cool British Sci-Fi, then please join the St Louis Celestial Intervention Agency.. Drop us a line at PO Box 733 St. Louis, MO 63188, or E-mail: StLouisCIA@hotmail.com our website is: http://members.aol.com/TLTimes/stlcia.html

For those of you who are Klingon, Hopecon the Klingon Assault Group-sponsored convention, will be held in St Louis this year. Please, drop us a line or some such to say if you will be there, etc.

Well, that's it for now, thank you for your support.

Back to the index

As with any Mercedes Lackey book, there is a lot of interpersonal type stuff, and good advice. One of the is that you need to rely on yourself--no one else will do anything for you.

The book starts out with the Lady Kerowyn, in the kitchen. An attack occurs on the Keep, and Kerowyn's brother's bride is kidnapped. Realising she is the only able-bodied person (male or female) among those left, she sets out to contact her grandmother, Kethryveris, a sorceress. Her grandmother gives to her a sword--Need. And thus starts the adventure of Kerowyn.

The second section of the book is set about five years after the first ends, and Kerowyn is now a member of a respectable mercensry company--The Skybolts. They specialise in horse skirmishing. During this part thing happen--nasty and otherwise. She also meets a Herald named Eldan. And the section ends nicely.

The third section is ten years later, when Kero's Skybolts are fighting alongside the Rethwellan Militia against the Karsites. They win and Kero takes a vacation. To the court of Rethwellan. While there two Heralds of Valdemar arrive to plead with the king for aid against Hardorn.

Yes, Kero does end up going to Valdemar. And yes, she does meet Eldan again. But to get more of the story, you'll have to read it yourself.

Some of the characters in BTS can be found in Mercedes Lackey's Heralds of Valdemar trilogy, as well as the Vows and Honor duology. Related characters may be found in The Last Herald-Mage trilogy.

Copy Kat starts out with Kat being hired to look into the death of Mr. McAlister's godchild Deirdre Durkin. Deirdre was murdered, the csae is still open, but the police don't seem, to be able to do anything. So, Mr. McAlister (Tobias) wants Kat to go up there and go undercover to find the killer.

Meanwhile, Kat has been having nightmares, and thinks it would be very nice to go away and pretend to be someone else for awhile.

Her best friend, Charity, is an advice columnist, who can't keep her own life straight. And her boyfriend, Hank, is a Los Vegas cop (Kat lives in the Sacramento valley).

All of that makes for a really good book, with nasty surprises and gritty details about life. Love, death, hate, hope, fear, etc.

Kat is kick-ass cool. Much in the same way that Anita Blake is. She doesn't let anyone get her down. And she can generally hold her own in a fight.

The other Kat books are just as good. But, there is no more room for Kat today.

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