I’ve been reading Rachel Green’s poetry and drabbles for about two years now. The language and imagery drawn up while reading any of her haiku, senryu or cinquains often take my breath away. As when I read her poetry, I’m suddenly finding myself at a loss for words. But then, are any necessary?

When your
need succumbs to
impressionable moments,
your path to eternity will
emerge.

With a poem or two for every day, Darkness and Shadows and Abaddon Rising reflect the celebrations and meanderings of Rachel’s daily life in England. Jasfoup’s Dribbles is witty, comical, and just plain fun. The book of drabbles follows the antics and trials of a demon and his master, Harold. Rachel’s books may be purchased in paperback, downloaded, and previewed through her website.

Poem copyright © Rachel Green 2008.
Poem shared with permission of Rachel Green.

Although I’d forgotten about it, I first read a few chapters of the books from Vows and Honor a few years before being introduced to the Valdemar series. Those chapters are short stories in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Sword and Sorceress anthologies, III and IV. Whether Valdemar was already in the making or the shorts had something to do with that is hard to say, especially since there are only few references to Valdemar and its people.

In short, the books follow the paths and quests of a sword-sworn warrior and a sorceress that carries a sword with a mind of its own. The characters and storyline aren’t as cliché as they seem. Lackey wanted Tarma and Kethry to be different from the usual “strong like bull, dumb like ox” characters that are all too often found in the fantasy realm.

The main themes are given away by the titles: oaths, vows, and honor. These are shown in different perspectives: kith to kin, to oneself, from a leader to his or her people or vice versa, and religious. There is also understanding and keeping one’s promise and the possibilities if one doesn’t. Revenge also appears in different guises and for different reasons. Other ideas that come up are family, home, purpose in life, power (gained and used), codes of conduct, and strength.

I slugged my way through the Vows and Honor books: Oathbound, Oathbreakers, and Oathblood. The latter is actually a collection of Tarma and Kethry stories and includes a few chapters from the two novels. I found out it was unnecessary to read all three. At times, I read with the momentum with which I started, but otherwise I felt as if I were drudging along. I was glad to be done with them. It’s rare that I don’t finish books and the light at the end of the tunnel was knowing that Exile’s Honor, which I really like, would be next.

So far, from what I recall, and in my humble opinion, Vows and Honor is the worst of Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar series. I remembered it as being better than it was this time around. The storyline and characters vary from okay to good. In my humble opinion, they could be better. It was more the atrocious writing and repetition that I found really annoying. Another qualm I have is the overuse of italics. Its usage for mind speech, thoughts, or “foreign” terms is all right, but Mercedes tends to over stress words. There were times when I wondered if an editor was involved at all. In fairness, these are some of Lackey’s earlier writings, the first story being published in 1985 and the last one in 1998. Her writing has improved quite a bit through the years.

Quotes:

“The hatched chick cannot go back to the shell, the falcon who has found the sky does not willingly sit the nest.”
“I am all that I claim to be. I simply have not claimed all that I am.”
“To have something, sometimes you must be willing to lose it.”
“The people who keep coping, keep trying, no matter how many blows Fate takes at them. Nobody’ll make a song about them, but they’re heroes all the same.”

If my personal soundtrack was composed by one person, it would be Heather Alexander. She is one of the few whose music I’ve listened to regularly for the longest period of time and whose albums I have (just about) all of. With so many projects going at once, it was hard to keep up at times, but I’m filling in the gaps. One of the things that makes it (too) easy to want every album is that they aren’t full of repetitive content and are themed, suiting to any mood or taste. Among her dozen (or so) solo albums are English folk songs, rowdy jigs and reels, gypsy tunes, Mideastern tones, sea shanties, filk, and songs for children of all ages. Along with that is the music from her Celtic rock bands (Phoenyx -it blew up- and Uffington Horse), soundtracks to fantasy books, and other group projects. “The Bard” (so dubbed by many) entertained for hours with bodhran, fiddle, guitar, vocal chords, storytelling, and jokes. Kept at home, were the plethora of other instruments heard on albums, which can be purchased or sampled at CD Baby.

The Bard was a major musical influence. After years of not, I was inspired to make my own music, learn how to play new instruments, and relearn how to read music. I fell in love with the bodhran the first time I saw one live (not played by Heather) and have been learning and picking up tips from some incredible players through the years. Several years ago, after a comment from Heather, I dealt with my stage fright and joined in on a jam session with a bodhran. Although I prefer being backstage, I’ve gotten better about performing in public and am now biting at the bit for the next opportunity to jam, a chance I very rarely get.

I’d been wanting to profile Heather since starting this blog, but felt the need to let my thoughts and words percolate for several months. One reason being that she retired a couple years ago. Another is that the legacy of music continues through a new voice and energy. Despite some misconceptions, Alexander James Adams is not just some guy riding on Heather’s coattails nor is he her son or brother. Far from either and rightfully dubbed the Heir, Alec has all the credentials to carry on the magic. Classic songs are just as seductive and energy-raising as ever, given new depth, and, in some ways, better suit his voice. A mutual acquaintance and I were recently commenting on how moving and effective the Bard and Heir are and that even after hearing songs numerous times we still tear up. I told her that she may want some tissue handy for Alec’s latest album in which “her song” is showcased.

Since a friend first introduced me to the music of the Heatherlands 11 years ago, I have laughed, cried, jigged, and treasured countless memories. Unexpectedly, I found comfort and answers in the music when naught else could do so and more than a lifetime of song. I found courage and inner strength in the words and smiles from someone whose path parallels mine. It’s been fun and quite the ride seeing/hearing the fiery redhead grow and I look forward to continuing to do so with the faerie tale minstrel. The Bard and Heir have my blessing, love, respect, and coin.

“Touch magic, pass it on.” ~Charles de Lint

I’ve always said my life has a soundtrack. I was also thinking this meme is a slightly different way to blurb about music. I shuffled my computer’s music library, pressed play, and filled in the blanks.

Opening Credits: Deep Silent Complete - Nightwish
Upbeat music with beautiful vocals from a Finnish metal-opera band.

Waking Up: Carrighfergus - Loreena McKennitt
I usually listen to this particular bard when relaxing or dozing off. World music with Celtic influence that I can just drift along in.

First day at High School: From Neverland - Alec Adams
A catchy folk tune from one of my favourite’s about growing up and defending one’s choices.

Falling in Love: From Out of the Barrow - Alec Adams
Lyrically, it’s a marriage proposal. It’s about choices and becoming one.

Fight Song: James Ehnes- Bach’s Partita III in E major, BWV 1006: ii Loure
Perhaps this particular bit could be used for a dramatic death scene in a ballet, although other sections are definitely rocking. I often listen to Ehnes while having my morning coffee, driving, and working.

Breaking Up Song: I Can’t Stand the Rain - Anthony Stewart Head
Folky-rock croonings of an extremely talented man, whether on stage or screen.

Prom: I Just Can’t Wait to Be King - “the Lion King”
Fun song no matter one’s age.

Life: John Barleycorn - Heather Alexander
Crazy fiddling and upbeat folky tune about growth and life’s cycle.

Mental Breakdown: Thrasher - James Marsters
Folk song performed, and possibly written, by James. I was surprised when I first heard him sing on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and now I listen to him fairly frequently.

Driving: Showgirl - Frances Ruffelle
This title song from the album reflects Frances’ musical theatre roots. She’s probably most recognized as Eponine from Les Miserables.

Flashback: Every Story Is A Love Story - “Aida”
Elton John and Tim Rice reunite for another musical. I really enjoyed seeing this show with friends.

Getting Back Together: Face in the Window - Anthony Stewart Head
Electronic/ambient music.

Sex scene: Mon Coeur Est Penetre D’Eupouvante! - “Faust”
Basically a love song from Gounod’s opera.

Wedding: I Will Take You Forever - Frances Ruffelle
A duet with Christopher Cross about love and such.

Birth of Child: Gott Ist Tott - “Tanz der Vampire”
This has risen as one of my favorite musicals because of Steve Barton’s rich baritone vocals and the phenomenal lyrics and music by Jim Steinman, a musical genius. Really nice to hear Steve in another role besides Raoul in “Phantom of the Opera”.

Final Battle: Between the Shadows - Loreena McKennitt
Instrumental piece with a hint of mid-eastern tones. Quite lovely.

Death Scene: Dante’s Prayer - Loreena McKennitt
Softly sung poetry…
“Cast your eyes on the ocean
Cast your soul to the sea
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me…”

Funeral Song: Confessions of a Vampire - “Tanz der Vampire”
One of my favourite songs from the German musical. The melody tends to get stuck in my head more often than the lyrics, although they do too.

End Credits: La fida ninfa- Dite, oime - Cecilia Bartoli
Slower operatic piece from her Vivaldi album. I like her well enough.

From what I can remember of Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar series, Brightly Burning is the most biographical. As such, it centers around Lavan Chitward, a boy who earned his heraldic whites and the name Firestorm. It is one of the series’ four standalone books, including the novella in the Valdemar Companion.

So to speak, Heralds are the white knights of yore. They are the monarch’s right hand, trusted folk who act as peace keepers, judges, diplomats, and guardians of Valdemar. They also tend to be gifted, having abilities such as telepathy, healing, and empathy, to name a few. But in order to become a Herald, one must be chosen by a Companion, the proverbial white steed whose looks are deceiving.

Several ideas and questions are explored in Brightly Burning. Blood kin vs chosen family. At times, boundaries are meaningless when it comes to love. When is it right, if ever, to take revenge? Power can be used for good or bad, but who has control, the person or the power itself? Leaders, who become such for different reasons, come in different sizes and shapes. How can one overcome fear and adversity?

Although there are several reoccurring themes through the Valdemar series, Lackey approaches them from different aspects. This helps to keep them from getting stale. In the Mage Wars trilogy, a war started out of greed and its effects during and after are visited. In Brightly Burning, war is approached from a religious angle and the draft is brought to question. Because of the characters and continuous storyline, good and bad are constants. Still, these concepts are viewed differently through characters and plots.

And although I am one among numerous readers who want Lackey to write more for the series, I can understand why she hasn’t. If anything, I think this shows her integrity as a writer:

Hey, everybody needs a vacation, even from the best job. So, until I come up with a story set in Velgarth that is as compelling as the ones you’ve enjoyed in the past, I’m taking a break. The last thing I want is for my own favorite series to start limping along and go out with a whimper.

When I’ve finished my second lap around Valdemar I’ll just have to read something else by one of my favorite writers. Having read about 40 of her works (short stories included), “Misty” is also the one whom I’ve read the most of. Need I say that this book or the series are recommended?

Quotes from Brightly Burning:

• “Without your actions, I would not be where I am and what I am at this moment.”
• “It needs ashes, mountain winds, and winter storms to thrive…It can send its roots deep into the rock, and rise out of the ashes tall and strong. It needs adversity to thrive.”

Upon starting Magic’s Pawn for the second time, I was instantly whisked away to the fantasy realm. Tears welled up from sadness, laughter, and joy as I reunited with friends, adventure, and magic. Mercedes Lackey has a magical way of drawing the reader in fast and deep. I burned many a midnight candle reading “just one more chapter” of the Last Herald Mage trilogy, which is a favorite among the Valdemar series, even after the second time around.

Taking place about 750AF, this particular trilogy acts as a bridge between Valdemar’s prehistory and the continuing storyline. It portrays how events from the Mage Wars trilogy effected the land and its inhabitants as well as sets the stage for future occurrences. Throughout the Last Herald Mage trilogy are the ideas of good vs evil, growth and coming of age, the responsibilities of those with power (political, magical, or otherwise), how power can isolate, love’s different forms and strengths, and grief and mourning. Last, but certainly not least, music flows through the trilogy in the guise of bards and song, portraying why music is enjoyed and necessary.

In Magic’s Pawn, Vanyel, a self-centered peacock, doesn’t want to lead the life chosen for him. Frustrated by Vanyel’s queer ways and bardic nonsense, his father has him fostered by his “cold and unforgiving” aunt, a famed Herald-Mage. When Vanyel’s wild and untrained abilities are cracked wide open all of Valdemar lies in peril. Aunt Savil seeks assistance from the only source left, Mage Adepts that most only hear stories about.

Themes in Magic’s Pawn:

• Coming of age and self-identity
• Vengeance
• Shamanism

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In Magic’s Promise, Yfandes and a few others have a mass murder case to solve. Fingers point to Tashir, the keep’s sole survivor and heir to the throne. Whodunnit?

Themes in Magic’s Promise:

• Duties to oneself, family, and others
• Ways of coming into power

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In the concluding book, the king’s death approaches while Valdemar is besieged magically and physically. Challenged, choices need be made. Such is Magic’s Price.

Themes in Magic’s Price:

• Music’s power
• Love’s power
• Moving on
• Fate

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Growth and self-identity are a part of life, whether we like it or not. Most have felt lonely and grief at some point. The yin and yang of good and evil is a constant, whether social, religious, or political. Love and relationships of all kinds can be painful, but they can also be the only things to keep us going. Similarly, music has powers of its own. Lullabies, the sirens of yore, and music therapy come to mind.

The contents within the 1,020 pages are those readers can relate to and identify with. Maybe that’s one of the reasons the Last Herald Mage trilogy is a favorite among the Valdemar series, not just for myself, but numerous others.

1. It takes place outside of the USA, or even today’s world.
2. It takes place outside of the present day.
3. If there are any stereotypes it’s to rag on them.
4. It has horses, one of them named Hawkeye and blind in one eye.
5. One of the characters is a fiery redhead.
6. There is music, possibly barding.
7. Geeks are cool and sexy.
8. It alludes to Joss Whedon and his writing.
9. A witch doesn’t have a green face and big warty nose.
10. It says so.

Thanks to Breathless Mind for this one.

A few months ago I decided to revisit Valdemar, a magical kingdom created by Mercedes Lackey. I opted to read the series in chronological order, as opposed to random reads along Valdemar’s time line like the first time. I figure it’ll be easier to review the books in their respective “sets”, instead of 28 individual reviews, which may be a bit much. I’m also trying to avoid spoiling the much beloved series, by adolescents and adults alike, for those who haven’t visited Valdemar.

The series begins with the Mage Wars trilogy, a prehistory of Valdemar that begins a thousand years before the kingdom’s founding. As such, it fills in the blanks as to why some things are the way they are. Throughout the trilogy are the ideas of good vs evil, the reasons for war and how it impacts people directly or indirectly, leadership, the responsibilities of those with power (political, magical, or otherwise), and creators’ duties to their creations.

In the Black Gryphon, a war has broken out between two extremely powerful mages, Urtho and Ma’ar. Helping to defend Urtho’s land and their home, are humans and gryphons alike, the latter being Urtho’s pride and joy. Ma’ar’s forces include humans interested in power or survival and his fiercely-made makaar.

Black Gryphon themes:

• War- life on and off the battlefield
• Power- duties of those with or in power
• Leadership- qualities and duties, whether by choice or not, followings based on respect or fear
• Racism- non-humans are no better than chess pieces

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In the White Gryphon the refugees have carved out new lives for themselves. Not wanting to lose their new home, an envoy is sent to the court of the Black Kings to negotiate. But when mysterious murders occur fingers point to the foreign trespassers. Whodunnit?

White Gryphon themes:

• War- life afterwards
• Differences- racism, cultures, customs
• Change- fighting and accepting it
• Leadership- not all fun and games, why a leader is respected
• Revenge

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In the Silver Gryphon Blade and Tadrith fall into trouble during their first assignment for the guard. Injured and drained of magic, they become the prey of unknown hunters.

Silver Gryphon themes:

• Coming of age- self-identity and forging one’s own path
• Growing older- parenting, learning from experience
• Power- right or wrong to use

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A few quotes I felt worth saving.

• “Change or stagnate. Keep moving or die.”
• “Caught between glass and wood, that which breaks and that which bends, that which sings and that which survive. So our lives go.”
• “When warriors feel afraid they lack something, it is only because they are forgetful. They have forgotten how capable they truly are.”

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Though not my favorite in the Valdemar series, I flew through each book’s 400 pages in about a week. They were still as enjoyable as the first time around and I’ll probably read them again at another point in time. The series, along with many other books and short stories by Mercedes Lackey, are part of my permanent library.

1. Do you read for recreation?

Bibliophile here.

2. What sorts of things do you read? Fiction? Nonfiction? What category or genre? Long pieces? Short? Books? Magazines? Web pages?

Just about anything anywhere, but magazine if they’re around (ie. waiting rooms).

3. Does your mood, circumstance, or lifestyle influence the reading choices you make?

I usually have 5 books going at a time. Sometimes I’m in the mood for light and easy, sometimes heavier. My current reads are fantasy & sci-fi, shamanism, and gender politics.

4. What function does reading hold for you? Escape? Learning? Companionship? Imaginative voyage? Other?

I love the adventures and travels the words take me on. Rereading Mercedes Lackey’s Valdemar series is a reunion with friends. I also love mulling thoughts over and the discussion that can ensue.

5. What, if anything, that you’ve read in the last year or so stands out as particularly excellent reading?

I absolutely loved these for various reasons:

John Perkins- Shapeshifting: Beautiful.

Oscar Wilde- The Picture of Dorian Gray: A bit horrific.

Charles de Lint- Memory & Dream: Artsy.

Meat Loaf- To Hell and Back: Humorous & interesting.

Peter Beagle- the Fantasy Worlds of Peter Beagle: Last Unicorn anyone?

Ursula LeGuin translation of Tao Te Ching: Poetic.

Margaret Atwood- the Handmaid’s Tale: Scary.

Some time ago I picked up the soundtrack for Tick, Tick…Boom! and while listening to it at least 4 times in a row, I was really surprised that I didn’t get it sooner. Better late than never, I guess. Actually I’m more disappointed that I didn’t catch it while it was running Off-Broadway. I think I tried, but just couldn’t make it.

Tick, Tick…Boom! is good, catchy, but only 45 minutes of music. It’s an autobiographical piece, one Jonathan Larson originally intended as a one man show. At the turning point of 30, Jonathan (the character) questions his career choice of writing music and living the Bohemian life while finding out his friend has AIDs. Larson did a small homage to his friend and mentor Stephen Sondheim with “Sunday” (after Sondheim’s Sunday in the Park with George) and references to West Side Story. I can hear aspects of Rent in it, but in fairness TTB! was written beforehand and can even be seen as the scratch paper for Rent.

(From the Actors’ Theatre production in 2006)

Tick, Tick…Boom! is probably a very unknown treasure among the masses, unless you’re a theatre geek or truly love Jonathan Larson’s stuff. By stuff, I mean the musical sensation Rent, which thanks to the (very well done) film, has become even more popular. Most of his works are obscure and/or buried: music for others (including Sesame Street), some individual pieces, and performing in the musical Billy Bishop Goes to War. One of his early shows, Superbia, had a short run Off-Broadway, but was never fully produced. Rent went to workshop in 1993 and started on Broadway in April 1996. It’s currently the 7th longest running show on Broadway, which is a blessing considering what’s on stage these days.

Larson finished TTB! in 1991 but it wasn’t performed until 2001 when a couple close friends convinced Larson’s family that TTB! needed to be shown. They merged a few of its original scripts and turned it into a 3-person show. I don’t think his friends could have done a better tribute. Larson passed away at 36 from an undetected aortic dissection in January of 1996, the day of Rent’s Off-Broadway premiere. As they say in show business, the show must go on, and it did even while the company was trying to hold themselves together. That performance and every one after that, was the cast’s tribute.

“The world is calling, it’s now or neverland.” ~Jonathan Larson, “30/90″ Tick, Tick…Boom!