Tag: Macbeth

Heir to a Prophecy by Mercedes Rochelle

Heir to a Prophecy
By: Mercedes Rochelle
Narrated by: Kevin E. Green
Length: 13 hrs and 5 mins
Unabridged Audiobook
Release date: 01-06-20
Language: English
Publisher: Mercedes Rochelle

Book Blurb

Shakespeare’s witches tell Banquo, “Thou shalt ‘get kings though thou be none”.

Though Banquo is murdered, his son Fleance gets away. What happened to Fleance? What kings? The road to kingship had a most inauspicious beginning, and we follow Fleance into exile and death, passing the witches’ prophecy to his son Walter.

Born on the wrong side of the blanket and raised in disgrace, Walter was caught inside of a destiny he barely understood. In an effort to untangle Banquo’s murder and honor his lineage, Walter moved through events that shaped the course of England and Scotland. His relationships with the great men of his time drove his destiny: Harold Godwineson, Alain of Brittany, and finally, Malcolm III.

After a long and treacherous journey through Wales, England, and France, Walter fulfilled the witches’ prophecy as the first steward of Scotland and ancestor of James I – for whom, Shakespeare wrote Macbeth.

My Review

It’s good but not great. Shakespeare did it better. The first few hours of the novel held my interest. We meet Banquo and Fleance and someone’s daughter. A romance blossoms, a pregnancy is unexpected. Bad things happen. The pregnant daughter is banished from the castle and disowned. She has to live like a peasant and raise her son, Walter, as such. But after that point, I started to lose interest. Some small moments hooked my attention here and there but quickly fizzled out. I went into this expecting high drama and action, some supernatural spookiness, and great betrayal (because the description mentioned Shakespeare’s play Macbeth). What I got was a little more than a lengthy History Channel telling of events.

The pacing was slow but there are a few fights and battles. I did like Walter’s connection to several older men in the story, who fill in here and there for his long-absent father. The story could have ended 2 or 3 hours earlier with the heroes making it back from a great battle. However, the tale continued on with a documentary-like rendition of historical events following that battle. There’s big leaps in time and new characters brought in near the end that I’m sure were important historically but don’t really matter for Walter’s tale.

The ladies were mostly romantic interests and comforters. The exception are the Three Witches who provide our tiny, sole bit of supernaturalness – the prophecy! The element that I expected to be far bigger in this tale as it makes up part of the title. The women have no agency, make no plot-important decisions, and are practically without individual personalities. In fact, you could leave them out of this book entirely and the story would not be affected. For me, this was a let down.

In the end, I was left wanting more. But with that said, I can tell this story was written with care and with factual historical events in mind. If you are looking for a book based on historical fact for events surrounding Shakespeare’s Macbeth, then this is probably a good one to pick up. If you’re looking for a rousing tale of battles, glory, honor, and some supernatural spice, then this isn’t that book. 3/5 stars.

The Narration: Kevin E. Green gave a decent performance. He had a range of voices though sometimes two or more character voices bled into one another in a group discussion and I had trouble keeping track of who was who. The ladies sounded like ladies during the few times they did have lines. When it comes to regional UK accents, I have been spoiled lately by Richard Elfyn’s performances of Puleston’s Inspector Drake mysteries. So I couldn’t help but compare Green’s performance to those books in this one aspect. I needed more regional accents. No one sounded Welsh to me even though a chunk of the book takes place in Wales with Welsh characters. The pacing was good for most of the book but stayed the same stalwart, dependable rate for the action scenes as if the narrator was reporting on a long-dead battle. I needed more action and emotion in the narration for those moments. There were no tech issues with the recording. 4/5 stars.

I received a free copy of this book. My opinions are 100% my own.

Interview: Gail Z. Martin, Author of Deadly Curiosities

MartinDeadlyCuriositiesIt is my pleasure to have Gail Z. Martin on the blog today. I quite enjoyed her most recent release, Deadly Curiosities (check out my review). Toady we chat about cussing, convention panels, super sleuth kids’ books, and a whole lot more. Make sure you check out the bottom of the post for GIVEAWAY info!

Myths and beliefs that we would consider fiction or fantasy in modern literature once upon a time shaped history (think of all the hunts for unicorns & dragons). Do you see modern fantasy fiction affecting human cultures today and how?

Fantasy and science fiction hold up a mirror for us to try on different futures and pasts. Sci Fi often serves as a cautionary tale of where we might end up if we aren’t careful. Fantasy lets us play in the past or present that isn’t but should have been. And sometimes, when we experience something in fantasy, we start wondering why we can’t alter reality. That’s why sci fi and fantasy have always had a bit of a subversive edge, questioning the status quo and wondering what else might be possible. Sometimes it’s easier to approach a controversial topic from a fresh perspective outside of the real world. Star Trek did this all the time. I think that’s also something that happens with today’s dystopian fiction. Once you start people asking why something has to be the way it is, you’re opening the door to change.

MartinSummonerWhat fictional world would you like to visit for the holidays? Is there a fictional holiday event that you would like to take part in?

For the holidays? Hogwarts! I’d love to be part of that awesome Yule feast and the Yule Ball.

In my Chronicles of the Necromancer books, I talk about a mid-winter holiday called Winterstide on the Solstice, which I think would be a nice, quiet alternative to the Christmas chaos to try some year.

Reality in my fiction: how important is it? Lengthy travel, cussing, and bathroom breaks happen in real life. How do you address these mundane occurrences in your writings?

I don’t think you have to mention every time someone stops to use the bathroom, but throwing things like that in occasionally makes the world feel more real. (In one of my books, a character overhears an important bit of news taking a pee back behind the tavern.) It goes right along with throwing up, food poisoning, and lice.

Cussing depends very much on the individual character. Some will use “minced oaths” (the equivalent of ‘darn’ instead of ‘damn’), some will be vulgar, and everyone else will be in between. Cussing is actually an interesting way to explore what a society finds sacred and profane, what they consider vulgar and acceptable, and what behavior is tolerated of different social classes and in different social occasions. Try coming up with a suitably vulgar/blasphemous outburst for a religion that doesn’t exist! It’s harder than it looks to make it believable and not funny. Likewise, if you have a person from a rough background, they’re going to cuss. You don’t always have to repeat what they say, but not having someone like that swear is inauthentic.

My characters complain a lot about lengthy travel, especially when it rains and the taverns have bedbugs. Talking about the hardship of travel in a fantasy setting reminds readers that this was before you could hop on a plane and be across the country in a few hours.

For me, these kinds of details make a world feel more lived-in and real. It’s the difference between a movie set and actually being there. And it can make you very thankful for central heating and indoor plumbing!

MartinBloodKingConventions, book signings, blogging, etc.: what are some of your favorite aspects of self-promotion and what are some of the least favorite parts of self-promotion?

I love doing conventions as a pro, because it’s even more fun than it was when I wasn’t a pro. I get to talk to readers and be on panels and hash out cool topics like “Writing real magic” or “Are werewolves the new vampires?” with some of my favorite authors. Conventions are like family reunions, only with better relatives.

Blogging is fun, although sometimes I feel like I’ve said everything and it’s hard to come up with a new topic. I really enjoy conversations on Twitter and Facebook and Goodreads. Book signings are fun when the store has good traffic and there are lots of people. When you’re in a strip mall bookstore on a very rainy day, all you can do is make the best of it by getting to know the bookstore staff—which can be a lot of fun.

Probably the least favorite part is that you really don’t ever get to take a break from reminding people that you and your books are out there. It’s so easy for readers to go on to the next big thing and not remember that they were looking forward to the new book in your series—especially when they have to wait a year. So there really isn’t any time off from being out in the public.

MartinSwornWith the modern popularity to ebooks, a book is no longer limited to a specific genre shelf. It is now quite easy to label place an ebook in multiple genres (i.e. YA, Fantasy, Horror). How do you see this affecting readers? Have you been inadvertently lured outside your reading comfort zone?

On the plus side, readers may stumble upon books they wouldn’t have found wandering through a bookstore. On the minus side, it can be harder to discover books in a specific genre because they’re not helpfully shelved together, and the covers are smaller online and therefore not always as tempting.

I think readers find ways to cope, and overall they will find what they’re interested in, either by browsing, using the Amazon suggestions (which can be funny sometimes if you’re searched for some odd things), and tapping into word of mouth sites like Goodreads.

Ebook categories can also be humorously off-base. My epic fantasy The Blood King once accidentally got categorized on Amazon under “erotica”. I guess that’s the next category down from “epic” on the menu and someone picked the wrong one! I suspect there were a few very confused readers until we got it straightened out!

From your own writings, are there any characters you would like to cosplay?

I might be tempted to do something from the upcoming steampunk book….

MartinIceForgedAs a young reader, unspoiled by the realities of this world, what stories and authors drove you to delusions of grandeur, expecting to be swept up into a magical tale or a laser battle?

As a kid, I loved Nancy Drew, Meg [Duncan], Trixie Belden and the Hardy Boys, along with Alfred Hitchcock and The Three Investigators. I read a lot of ghost stories, including Macbeth and Hamlet. Of course there was Dracula, Frankenstein and anything about King Arthur, ranging from the Mary Stewart books to the more scholarly texts. Anything with ghosts, castles, and monsters was big on my list!

If you could sit down and have dinner with 5 dead authors, who would you invite to the table? What would they order?

Mary Shelley, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Agatha Christie, Jules Verne, and probably Billy Shakespeare.

MartinRaider'sCurseFinally, what upcoming events and works would you like to share with the readers?

So much going on! Reign of Ash, the latest in my Ascendant Kingdoms Saga epic fantasy came out in April and I’m still doing book signings for that. Deadly Curiosities, my new urban fantasy, comes out in late June, and I’ll be doing some signings in the UK in July/Aug. as well as in the U.S., so that’s exciting. I’m doing about 14 conventions this year, and several of those are first-time for me, so always fun. Plus I’m working on the 4th book in the Blaine McFadden/Ascendant Kingdoms series, and a new Steampunk book, Iron and Blood, for 2015. I’m also in 8 anthologies and I write a new short story every month for Kindle/Kobo/Nook in either the Deadly Curiosities Adventures series or the Jonmarc Vahanian Adventures series, plus a Deadly Curiosities Adventure novella for Wattpad.

Places to Find Gail Z. Martin

Please look for me www.ChroniclesOfTheNecromancer.com, on Twitter @GailZMartin, on Facebook.com/WinterKingdoms, at DisquietingVisions.com blog and GhostInTheMachinePodcast.com. I also have monthly conversations on Goodreads https://www.goodreads.com/GailZMartin and I post free excerpts on Wattpad http://wattpad.com/GailZMartin.

Ongoing Giveaway and Upcoming Events

I snooped around on Gail’s various sites and she has a ton of stuff going on. Check out her GIVEAWAY of Deadly Curiosities on Goodreads (through June 24, 2014). She and several urban fantasy, steampunk, and paranormal authors have teamed up to do a Q&A and Giveaway party on Facebook on June 25, 2014. Also on June 25, she will be on Goodreads hosting a lanchapalooza for Deadly Curiosities with party favors and giveaways. And you can catch her on Reddit where she is also giving away ebook copies of Deadly Curiosities. I wish I had some cyber-confetti to toss around!