Outlander Diana Gabaldon Dell (paperback) reissue ISBN 978-0440212560 Some say this is a time-travel story, others say it is a historical romance, and a few grumpy people liken it to a bodice-ripper with a smattering of history thrown in. After several years of being curious about this series (six books so far, the seventh and final book due out in 2012), I finally bought the paperback this summer. It’s the twentieth anniversary of Outlander’s first publishing, and judging from its rank on Amazon (#3 in Time Travel Romance at amazon.com and #8 at amazon.de), its appeal is still strong no… Read More
This review first appeared on the Vampire Awareness Month on Mark Deniz’s (Morrigan Books) blog Sharon K. Reamer Vampire Knight, 13 Episodes Vampire Knight Guilty, 13 Episodes Studio Deen Vampire Knight is an anime dramatization of the of the same name as the (ongoing) shōjo manga (drawn by one of the stars of Japanese manga, Matsuri Hino) started in January, 2005. The first Vampire Knight anime series originally appeared on Japanese television starting in April 2008 and was followed in October 2008 by the second series, Vampire Knight Guilty. The story follows the three protagonists Yuki Cross, Kaname Kuran, and… Read More
This review appeared as part of Ghost Appreciation Month 2010 on the Beyond Fiction blog here. Sharon K. Reamer Review of The Haunting MGM, 1963 United Kingdom Director: Robert Wise Screenplay: Nelson Gidding Based on the novel ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ by Shirley Jackson As a kid, I loved being scared witless. But there are only three films from my younger years that really remain memorable for this. One was Bambi (okay, I was three when my father took me to see it, and that music was scary). Another was Invaders from Mars (1953) that I remember seeing on… Read More
According to Éloi Johanneau of the Académie celtique, established during Napoleon’s rule (John T. Koch, Celtic Culture, a Historical Encyclopedia), the answer is, unequivocally, yes. But I think we can safely assume he wasn’t entirely, shall we say, objective. The answer is, if you come from Indo-European stock, probably yes. While many, if not most, of the Christian or, at least, Catholic, holidays that are celebrated have been stolen—er—appropriated from pre-existing Celtic rituals or observances (see my column from the March-April bulletin), we also have some remnants of observed holidays and festivals that do not necessarily have a ‘clear’ Christian… Read More
What better way to celebrate the Pagan in you than with the Christian ceremony of Easter. A nice summary of the various religions and their associated sun worship, resurrection cults and symbols is given by http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/apr/03/easter-pagan-symbolism. On closer inspection, though, some connections between our current Easter traditions and a heathen one tossed around in the article, do not hold up. Since I write fantasy that has its roots in a long-extinct culture, the continental Celts, these topics continually fascinate me. The association of Christian holidays with Pagan ones does seem to bother some people. But as one of my characters,… Read More
