Writing, Babysitting, Working, Scouts, Family, etc....a full weekend about to begin

Well, the next 4-5 days are going to be a little hectic...wish me luck. ;)

Later tonight, Lynette is leaving for Women's Conference for the next two days so I'll be playing Mr. Mom. I'm gonna miss her so much...and no, not because of all the stuff she does (though I will miss her because of all that work, which is HUGE...the few times she has left, I've been overwhelmed by all she does).

In between watching the kids/running carpools/helping with homework/etc, I'll be working from home to help keep projects on schedule. Tomorrow night I get to put on our Pack Meeting (theme of Jurassic Pack) and I'm still not quite sure of all the activities/etc for the program. Saturday is scout-a-rama, so that will be a fun filled day as well. And Sunday, my little sister is having her baby blessed in church so we'll be driving down for a big family fun day there. Amid all that fun, I have to narrow down my topic and write a ~7 page essay to finish up my English class.

Assuming I can get all of that done, I'm also hoping to either play through Tex Murphy: Overseer in preparation for the new game coming out by the new company (Big Finish Games) formed by the Tex Murphy creators...or to read Angels & Demons in prep for the new movie coming out (although I don't expect much from the movie, the book seems fun so far).

Should be a fun weekend. :)

Love ya Lynette...Miss ya...hurry back. :)

Buying books on demand

Interesting article about an innovation in the book publishing/buying/selling world. I'd be curious as to the price and quality of the books printed. Generally, I think it's a very cool concept. I know there are a lot of books you can get via e-book and self print, but the quality isn't there and I'm not a big fan of the e-readers I've tried out...so if there's a way to pay a comparable price and get a high quality print/bound book, I'm all for it...especially if it allows you to find obscure or out of print titles.

Game Night Games - my friendly local game store

On the news over the weekend, my friendly local game store, Game Night Games, made an appearance as presented by employee and game aficionado Mike Compton.

Fun little piece bringing light to a great pasttime/hobby. :)

Review - The Lightning Thief

This book/series was recommended to me by some neighbors. The 12 year old daughter in the family read and loved the series and the mother also enjoyed it a lot. I picked up the first book around Christmas time and it sat on my shelf for the next couple of months. In the meantime, I saw numerous reviews of the book and the series, many of them calling it "Harry Potter with Greek mythology rather than wizardry." When I finally started reading the book, I was determined not to compare it too closely to Harry Potter. Unfortunately, I found myself quickly falling into that trap.

From a high level, there are a lot of similarities. The book focuses on Percy Jackson. Percy is a 6th grade kid having trouble at school (always getting into trouble for "strange things" happening) and at home (where his stepdad is just vile and cruel to him). Percy's mother is around, which is a difference from the Potter formula, but the similarities grow as Percy's life is found to be in danger and he goes away to a special "camp" for others like him.

I don't want to spoil the plot or formula of the book too much, but let me just say that there are a TON of parallels that can be drawn between the world of Percy Jackson and the world of Harry Potter

And then let me say...That's not a bad thing. I've taken numerous creative writing course and workshops over the years. In many of them, a comment was made to the effect of "If you find something you like in a story, steal it and make it your own." This comment is not speaking of plagiarism or directly ripping off a plot, setting, character or language. What it means is that writers should also be readers. And when a reader/writer finds something that intrigues or inspires, the writer should see what can be done with it. In my own writing, I've mimicked style, formula and language many times and sometimes I even make allusions to the piece that inspired me. In this case, Riordan likely saw the solid structure and adaptability of Rowlings form and used it as a skeleton to structure his own story. The story itself is different enough in the way things play out so as to overcome any hindrance caused by similarities. In fact, in many places, I felt that Percy Jackson's initial story was more solid than Harry Potter's initial story (though in other places, it was weaker). Generally, I came away liking this initial book in the series more than I liked the first book in the Potter series.

OK...now that I've done what I'd hoped not to do (compare the two books), let me speak solely of Percy Jackson. Percy is a vivid and interesting character. He has a lot of depth of emotion and thought which brings him to life and helps the reader feel compassion and empathy towards him. The world created by Riordan feels distinctive and realistic. Being set in first person, we see the world through the eyes of young Percy complete with his 21st century vocabulary and expectations. The language was very accessible and a lot of fun and helped make the story feel more real to me. The plot itself was fun and exciting with the requisite twists and turns to help our young hero "come of age" as it were.

I really enjoyed this book. It's a quick read and a lot of fun. I'll certainly dig into the other books in the series and can easily recommend this, especially to young readers. There wasn't anything objectionable (perhaps the "statue" at the very end of the book could be seen as too vindictive, but it was played off lightly) for a young reader and the storyline is quite fun. The mythology presented is well researched and as a result, a reader may come away from the book learning something new (shh, don't tell them). It's nothing terribly deep or heavy (perhaps future books will have heavier themes, similar to the way the Potter series progressed), which is fine. Overall it's just a quick, fun adventure well worth experiencing.

****
4 stars (out of 5)

P.S. - As I was posting this review, I found out that the author has a blog. Click here to head over to Rick Riordan's blog and follow his writing, awards, family and news about a movie (cool).

Review - Wicked - The Musical

This isn't a review so much as an accounting of a wonderful evening. After waiting for the Wicked tour to finally make a stop in Salt Lake, it took a lot of patient searching and digging to get tickets, but we did get tickets (wonderful tickets actually...great choice of seats Josh). We went with some good friends of ours...Lisa was celebrating her birthday, so it was doubly exciting for her. We started with a great dinner at the nearby Macaroni Grill and then walked to Capitol Theatre, getting to our seats just shortly before curtain.

The show was as amazing as expected. The sets, scenery and costumes were amazing. The music was wonderful and engrossing and the acting was stellar. During the first couple of songs together, I was worried that the voices of Elphaba and Glinda were too similar and would blend together far too closely for distinction. At times it was a little difficult to determine which of them was singing the line, but generally it was alright. Elphaba's voice truly belted us back in our seats, especially during some of her powerful solos such as Defying Gravity (an amazing scene and one of my favorite songs going into the show). The choreography and direction was fabulous...Glinda was truly the personification of bubbly, perky enthusiasm. Her actions during Popular were super fun.

Having listened to the soundtrack a ton and read through the libretto and The Grimmerie as well, I knew basically what was going to happen though there were still a few elements of the plot that I hadn't read about which pleasantly surprised me and brought added depth and intrigue to the story. I'd read the novel a while ago and enjoyed it a lot. The musical downplayed some of the political and social intrigue but still kept enough in the plot to make it poignant and thoughtful. The romantic and friendship elements played out quite differently than in the book but I felt they were very effective considering the medium and the more light-hearted tone of the play.

After the show, we hung out by the stage door and got autographs and photos with the cast members as they came out. We chatted briefly with Nessa, Glinda, and Elphaba and they were extremely friendly and charismatic off stage as well.

Overall this was an amazing production of a wonderful show. I've heard rumors that the touring company loved the Salt Lake response so much that they plan to keep it on the tour schedule in the future. We shall see. I definitely hope to see the show again in the future. It was a great experience and well worth seeing.

Bone up on Utah History

I have to assume/hope this is staged or otherwise fake. If it's not, then this is just very, very sad....but still kind of funny.

Review - Tarzan of the Apes

I think most people have at least a vague concept of the Tarzan story and its characters. There have been many official Tarzan movies over the years and many stories and other movies that refer to or borrow from the Tarzan mythos. To a large extent, I went into this first Tarzan book (there were over 20 books written) with a pretty good feel for what to expect from the storyline. Despite that, I found some unique elements that I didn't expect.

The adventure story within the book is pretty much what I had expected from the movies and TV shows I'd seen. There were a few elements where movie-makers had taken some liberties (possibly with concepts from other books and sometimes to make things more "screen worthy" - such as "me tarzan, you jane" which never happens in the book). I actually found that the adventures of the book were pretty fun to read and kept the pace of the book moving rather well.

The book dealt a lot with exploring the character of the characters and the concept of what makes a man. At some times, these sections of narrative were interesting and insightful. At other times, these segments felt poorly informed, assumptive and racist/misogynistic . Generally speaking, the negative aspects of character development distracted me from the positive workmanship to the point that I had a hard time placing any validity on any of the characters.

Scientifically speaking, Tarzan's development in the wild is completely unbelievable and his later development of "human" traits is likewise unbelievable. Setting those concepts under the "suspension of disbelief" clause used in fiction, I then got hung up on the behavior of the animals and especially of the other humans.

The Women are as helpless lumps of life with their main purpose in life being to provide something that man can provide for and save from hardship and peril. The Men are inconsistent and can either be heartless self-centered ingrates willing to hurt (or kill) anyone for their own advancement, well-intentioned heroes who are physically incompetent and unable to follow through, or complete idiots unfit to do anything productive at all. Tarzan is the only "true man" and as such he finds himself ostracized and unable to find a happy existence either in civilization or the jungle (though he definitely prefers the jungle).

Despite not being a fan of the way the characters were portrayed or the way everyone interacted with each other, I still enjoyed the story and there's a part of me that wants to read some of the other books simply for the fun, fluffy enjoyment of wild adventures. Burroughs writing style was fluid and rich and provided for a quick and enjoyable read. This is a book worth reading for the fun of it and to look at its influence on the media and culture of the 100 years since it was written.

***
3 stars (out of 5)

Review - Watchmen (book)

I'd read part of the Watchmen story many years ago. I think I started somewhat in the middle of the story and was a little confused as to what was going on and who each character was and what the motives were. Reading it all the way through, I can see the potential for confusion just jumping in. There were a few times where the various threads were a little confusing, but generally everything is presented in a very interesting and accessible way.

The artwork and the story line are wonderful. I really enjoyed the organizational style of the book. At times it felt a little soap-opera-esque in that there were three or four fairly core story threads all happening simultaneously and the narrative bounced around quickly between them.

Through the presentation and organization, I was able to determine the mystery antagonist early on. And yet, even knowing who was responsible, I couldn't put my finger on the motive or exactly how everything was going to play out. The story has sooo many elements working together and playing with one another. When everything came together, I was definitely shocked and surprised by the motives and the way the finality was organized. I also felt that most of my questions were answered but that there were still a few loose threads I'm not quite sure about.

Still, in one of the stranger and more allegorical threads, it ended with a line something like "I have to keep re-reading everything because I don't understand what happened." To me, I found that particular plot thread to be a metafictional commentary on the plot of the book as a whole. By ending it in that way, I think the authors are telling me that they expect me to come away confused on the first reading, but to get more insight with subsequent reads. And looking back in my mind at the material I read, I can see where that could be true.

I definitely enjoyed this story. I've really enjoyed most everything I've read from Moore. His stories are creative and thought provoking. Sometimes a little more extreme than I might ordinarily seek out, but I still come away from his books with new thoughts in my head. I'm still bummed that the movie got an "R" rating. I can see where the director would have liked to have pushed for the "R", but at the same time, I can see where some conscious choices could have kept it at a solid "PG-13" (I personally feel that the novel itself is closer to PG-13 than R, but that could be the desensitized Okie talking).

Anyway, this is one of those graphic novels that deserves the accolades it's received. I can't necessarily recommend it to everyone because I know there are those who will be put off either by its theme or by the media (...those who say "it's just a comic book"). But to those who are willing to stretch their reading opinions and their sensitivities, I definitely recommend this book.

****
4 stars (out of 5)

Spontaneous Musical in real life

Wow...this is awesome! Thanks to Kovidude for finding it.

A dark and silly night

Cheesy fun little cartoon of a story by Neil Gaiman and Gahan Wilson. Found it through Gaiman's blog and the linked NY Times article.

I'll have to show it to my kids tonight. I'm sure they'll get a kick out of it.

Wicked - T-minus 6 days

I'm not officially counting down, but it is on my mind. Next Tuesday night I'll be sitting at Capitol enjoying the show. Very stoked.

Review - Heart of Darkness

I'm somewhat torn. The English Major in me would really like to give this book a higher rating. The reader in me has a hard time doing so.

I read this book back in High School and could honestly not remember anything about the plot, the reading or the discussions aside from the fact that the story was about some guy on a boat going deep into Africa and that I distinctly remembered struggling to stay awake while reading it.

I thought that approaching it a second time as a seasoned English Major would result in a better perspective. Admittedly, I think I got more out of the plot this time and see much more depth and symbolism in the book...but I still found myself struggling to stay awake at times.

What's sad is that this is not necessarily a slow paced or boring book. It's filled with exploration, political intrigue, violent deaths, savage attacks and other moments of suspense and tension. And yet, it is also filled with lengthy monologues on the nature of man and the perspectives of our narrator Marlow (who is actually a secondary narrator if you want to get technical, since he's telling the story to an unnamed narrator who appears very little in the book at all...a very strange setup).

The craft or structure of this novel is intriguing and I suspect is a large reason why this is such a classic. As I mentioned briefly above, the narrative style is a little different. The "official" narrator of the book is an unnamed man sitting on a boat. However, the meat of the story is actually told by another man on the boat (Marlow) who is actually telling this story to our unnamed narrator. There are also segments where Marlow is re-telling something someone else said to him or something he read, thus leaving us three or four times removed from the actual events of the story. His spoken narrative is also sometimes a little disjointed and sometimes conversational as though he's lost his train of thought while telling the story or he's distracted or interrupted by something or someone on the ship with our actual narrator.

The book is full of symbolism and allusion. It can definitely be taken as a commentary on many different aspects of Africa, colonialism, Imperialism, savagery, humanity, principles, beliefs, truths, and many other high level themes. However, the book doesn't seem to come up with any concrete answers about any of these and even leaves us in the darkness as to exactly which commentary we should be paying attention to. Truly, many social commentaries leave off just short of prescribing a plan of action, but they generally make their arguments fairly clear. In the case of Heart of Darkness, I feel like I came away more muddled than when I began. Yes, I acknowledge that oppression of so-called savages is not to be condoned, but I knew that ahead of time...and honestly, I'm not entirely sure that oppression is the core meaning of the novel.

I appreciate that this novel has depth to it that I don't understand. It's definitely a difficult novel that's hard to truly access. It's high level plot and themes are intriguing, but I don't feel that they stand well enough on their own to warrant an outrageous following. In order to truly appreciate this book, I feel that it requires very in-depth study and discussion of weeks or months. Maybe I'm just looking for too much, and if that's the case, then my view of the book goes down even more. Maybe I'm just obtuse and missing the point, which means my review is unfortunately lower than it should be.

Whatever the reason, I don't love this novel and don't anticipate reading it again. If somebody else reads it and loves it and wants to discuss it with me and turn me around, I'd gladly open a discussion, but for now, I stick by my rating.

***
2.5 stars out of 5

Disney self-plagiarism

If I hadn't seen it, I don't think I would have believed it. Now that I've seen it, I'm not really upset...but it is very interesting.

Can you imagine...

Wow. Can you imagine what the world be like if all our politicians were like Hazel?





She's down to earth. She's not power hungry (even after 30+ years in office). She's committed to the well-being of the people and place she governs. She keeps the town not only debt-free, but with millions in reserve. She gets out with the people. She is constantly looking for ways to improve things.

Wow. Wow. Wow.

Thanks Banzai for sharing this.

A long night

After struggling to get to sleep through a fitful cough and a pounding headache, Tony woke up this morning at 2 AM, his pajamas damp with sweat even though his blankets had been flung onto the floor sometime during the night. He spent a few minutes trying to get comfortable in his own bed, then stumbled into the kitchen for a cool drink of water. As he passed the bird cage next to the pantry, his parakeet chirped frantically at him and banged against the metal bars of the cage. Tony let out a small shriek and jumped away, banging into the kitchen table and knocking over the empty cups left their from earlier in the night. One of the plastic cups fell from the table and banged loudly on the floor.

Tony cringed, his head throbbing again. He scanned the silence of the room and continued to the sink, the bird still chirping shrilly. As he filled a cup with water, his body shivered involuntarily. He rubbed his hands over his bare arms to warm them, his skin cold and clammy, covered with a thin sheet of sweat.

Through the large windows of the kitchen, light and shadow played tag with each other between the swaying branches of the trees. Occasionally a branch scraped against the siding of the house and knocked against the glass. Through the trees, Tony saw a half moon hanging bright and yellow in the cloudless sky. Another chill ran over his body.

"Tony?"

The voice from the silence behind him made Tony jump, the water from his glass splashing over his arms and chest. He turned to face his mother.

"Sorry hon. I didn't mean to scare you." Even in the flickering shadows of the moon between the branches, Tony could see the concern in her face as she walked towards him.

"Is everything okay?" She held out a towel from the stove as she moved beside him. Tony began to wipe the water from his arms and shirt. He stared wordlessly at his mom, still in a sleepy stupor. She held her hand to his forehead.

"Feels like you have a fever. Grab some medicine and get back to bed. You've got a big day tomorrow. Don't want to be sick for it."

Tony nodded idly, his eyes following her through the dim light as she disappeared down the hall, the bird flapping wildly as she passed the cage. A moment later she reappeared with a couple of different medicine bottles.

"I'll be fine mom. Thanks."

He reached out and took the medicine from her. She looked at him, opened her mouth to say something but stopped short as he smiled at her and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Go back to bed mom. I'll take some meds and head back myself in a minute. Thanks. Love ya."

He smiled at her again and then turned to the sink to refill his glass. He opened one of the medicine bottles and dropped a pair of pills in his hand. He heard his mom sigh softly behind him then turn and shuffle off into the darkness. The sound of her retreat was muted by the sound of the parakeet frantically chirping at her. Tony swallowed the pills, poured a dose of the liquid medicine she'd brought, drank it down and then stared out the window again.

He felt sweat dripping down his back again. His head felt thick and heavy. His legs suddenly felt rubbery and he leaned against the counter to regain his balance. He was definitely sick with something. But he knew he couldn't afford to be. In another 6 hours, he had to be at school. And this was a very important day for him to be at school. He had a meeting with the Commander during his 2nd period class. If he missed it, he likely wouldn't get a second chance. He had to be there promptly and with a clear head.

A sudden gust of wind thrust a branch hard against the window in front of him. His head jerked up with a start. Much harder and the glass surely would have broken. Tony felt his breathing speed up and noted the heaviness of each breath. He could feel the weight of his chest upon his lungs. Rubbing some cool water on his face, he tried to shake the heavy, sick feeling from off his body. Then he took a deep, but beleaguered breath and walked back to his bedroom.

He stared blankly at the ceiling for 20 minutes. His mind raced over the possible events of the next few hours. He tried to imagine the interview with the Commander. His brother assured him it was just a formality, but Tony was still nervous. He wish he had some idea of what to expect. He wished his head didn't feel so cloudy. He wished many things. Then he finally drifted off to a dreamless medicine induced sleep.

Review - The People of Sparks

Last fall I raced through City of Ember and really enjoyed the world and the characters. The ending wasn't a cliffhanger per se, but it really left me wondering what would happen next...so much so that I raced out and bought the next book. Sadly, life got busy and it took me another 4 months to finally read the continuation.

In Sparks there are some rather significant changes to the plot dynamics which allow for some intriguing new commentary on humanity and social interactions. We're given a post-apocalyptic world in which humanity is trying to recover and rebuild. This high level genre is compounded by being seen primarily through the eyes of children and also by making the Emberites ignorant of the disasters that befell humanity or even of human history at all. In fact, through the entire first book, they had no knowledge of any other human culture at all and thought their microcosm to be the extent of humanity.

The main new dynamic in the book acted as a commentary on the interactions between people in strained situations and the passions which lead to prejudice, anger, and eventually to war. The plot separated for a time the two main characters from Ember, Lina and Doon.

Lina acts as the reader's guide to understanding the history of this new world and how humanity fell into war as well as understanding the current geography and social structure. She undertakes a journey to one of the old cities in the hopes of finding something akin to the drawing she made in the first book. Instead, she finds disaster and learns about war, disease and destruction.

Doon serves as the reader's guide to watching two struggling groups of people dealing with hardships and sacrifices as the Emberites are taught about life in the new world and how to survive above ground. He feels the sting of hostility as the people of Sparks grow resentful of the Emberites consuming their food and other resources. That resentment grows into mistrust and eventually sparks begin to fly (pardon the pun).

As tensions grow between the people, one of the Emberites named Tick Hassler (an antagonistic name if ever I saw one *grin*) grows hungry for a fight and begins riling up the people of Ember to prepare for battle. Doon feels conflicted throughout and Lina (once she returns) has new found knowledge into the near-destruction of humanity. Unfortunately, by then, things are spiraling out of control and it's difficult to see a viable resolution.

I really enjoyed the character dynamics DuPrau set up in this novel. With very few exceptions, all of the players were honestly trying to do good. She set up some great conflicts which resulted in each group of people trying to do what was good, and yet that "good" was conflicting and causing tension. It's the old adage "you can't please everyone all the time." There are always self-interests of individuals and even of groups which will collide with other individuals and groups. This book presented great examples of how people interact and shows motivation for making compromises and looking at the situation from the point of view of the other person.

It's difficult to compare to Ember and say which I liked better. I think I preferred Sparks because the plot and dynamic was more interesting to think about. Still, they are each presenting such different concepts, that it's hard to pit one against the other. They are great stories with a lot of thoughtful concepts to ponder. It's actually quite thought provoking, especially when considering the fact that it's a children's book. Children and youth will enjoy the vivid characters and the action. Adults can still enjoy it with its fluid writing and its deeper themes.

****
4 stars (out of 5)

Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings

I've been a huge Indy fan since I was a kid. I have great memories playing Indy with friends...sliding under closing garage doors, jumping of "cliffs" and escaping certain death. So naturally, I was excited a few years back when LucasArts announced a new Indy game being developed.




I'm very bummed that it won't be on the Xbox 360 (generally my console of choice thanks to great graphics, Live/Downloadable Content support, and "gamerscore"). Still, I really like the interaction that will be provided with the Wii through the Wii-mote. Hopefully it will get a port to the 360 eventually, but for now, I'll gladly take the Wii version for some whip cracking good times.

I'm super stoked!

Review - The Island of Doctor Moreau

I knew the high level concept of this book from allusions in other stories and movies, but I'd never read the original novel. It was a bit different from what I expected.

The writing style is very accessible and fluid while also being jam-packed with very vivid and detailed descriptions as well as some in-depth scientific and moralistic discussions. The first few pages were a little slow, but the rest of the book, except for a paragraph here and there, flew by and kept me very hooked.

The story is presented as a written report from the point of view of a narrator who finds himself stranded on the island for a time after some disasters at sea. The narrator has some scientific background which lends to very analytical and in-depth commentary.

Without adding any real spoilers, the summary is this: Doctor Moreau, after being chased out of London for his practices, is living on an island in the pacific conducting outrageous experiments. Our narrator, Pendrick, finds the island populated with creatures that are neither completely human nor completely bestial...they are aberrations....creatures partially human and partially beasts....the face of a man with almost snout-like nose and lips, pointed hairy ears, elongated torso and shorter than normal legs, etc., etc., etc. The horrors and grotesque nature of the experiments are explored in depth and naturally progress to some rather disturbing conclusions.

I rather enjoyed the story and found myself immersed in the plot and the concepts. My only real complaint by the end of the book was that it all ended too quickly. I would have loved another 50 or 100 pages. Still, it is a tightly woven tale with a lot of meet in it to leave you thinking.

Wells presents a thoughtful narrative addressing some of the social concerns of his day through this science-fiction story. At that point in history (late 1800s), this was all seen as fiction but based on the fears people had of experiments in the medical community. It's even more potent now, since some 30-50 years after the book, the Nazis engaged in similar "scientific" experimentation during the Holocaust (not with the same results, but with a similar type of horror upon society).

I really liked the way the book finished up. In the last few pages, we find our narrator trying to sort through everything he's witnessed and come to terms with it. I really enjoyed the way Wells shows him trying to recognize "humanity" in people and distinguish between the "human" and the "animal."

A great read.

*****
4.5 stars (out of 5)

Review - The Elusive Pimpernel

This is my second foray into Pimpernel literature. This is actually the third book chronologically. I'm not sure yet how episodic the story works out...this is evidently taking place after the first novel but I didn't feel like I missed out on anything by skipping the second book. It also didn't really feel like much would have been missed by skipping the first book (although the first did involve more character development of the core characters). I would recommend reading the first novel first, especially if you know nothing about the Pimpernel story, but I don't think it's vital.

This Pimpernel adventure was a fun read and well worth reading. Orczy's writing style is fluid and easy to read and follow and her characters are vivid and interesting. The plot of this book was very intriguing. The Pimpernel is pitted against his enemy from the first novel, the French agent Chauvelin. Chauvelin has been given one final chance from Robespierre to catch the Pimpernell with the ultimatum that the world will either be rid of the Pimpernel or Chauvelin by the end of the adventure.

The plot that Chauvelin comes up with to capture the Pimpernel is fairly diabolical and truly seems foolproof. It stands as evidence of Orczy's creative ingenuity and the fullness of her characters, especially as each intricate detail plays out. It exposes Chauvelin's arrogance and his prideful desire for personal and lasting vengeance. I was very satisfied with the machinations of the plot until I realized that the remaining pages were growing few and I began to anticipate a potentially dissatisfying ending.

Upon finally reaching the climactic wrap up to the adventure, I admit to being somewhat disappointed in the way things played out. Though honestly, I expected an even worse ending based on how tightly she had tied the net around our hero. I saw little hope for an exciting and viable escape (and I doubt it's any spoiler to anyone that the hero had to escape). The solution provided wasn't entirely satisfactory in my mind, but it worked out well enough, especially considering the era in which the events took place.

Before I wrap up this report, I want to comment on one of the things that this novel does that I especially enjoy. In many of the novels I've read, the central heroic character is very close to the reader. We are often either right on the shoulder or even within the head of our heroic protagonist. However, in the case of Pimpernel, Orczy plays with this concept and puts us inside the head of many of the peripheral characters, even some of the very minor characters, but never lets us truly get inside the mind of the titular hero. It reminds me vaguely of the way Conan Doyle keeps us from directly knowing the inner workings of Holmes' mind. In the same way, we find ourself aligned closely with Marguerite's fears and Chauvelin's scheming, but we never align ourselves directly with the heroic thoughts of the Pimpernel. This adds to the suspense in wondering just how he could possibly escape the tightly woven trap laid for him.

I think I enjoyed this book better than the first Pimpernel story, but they were both a lot of fun. I hope to be able to track down more of them to read. They're a great bit of fun for any fan of historical adventure combined with a touch of humor.

****
4 stars