Armada by Ernest Cline Book Review

Posted on September 4, 2015 by Margaret Graham

Armada arrived on my desk and as a total non-gamer I approached it with diffidence. Halfway through the first page, however, I settled down with the main character, Zack Lightman, as he daydreamed through another boring maths class at high school hoping something would happen to take him away from all this. And who hasn’t felt this?

Ernest Cline writes with a fine sense of empathy, and a deliciously casual sense of humour and it is this that works extremely well: I reminded myself that I was a man of science, even if I did usually get a C in it.

So there was Zack, glancing through the window, and lo and behold, along came a flying saucer – every geek’s dream. It is a flying saucer that happens to be straight out of the video game he plays every night. It is a popular online flight simulator called Armada, in which gamers protect the earth from alien invaders.

Suddenly, the problem is real, or is it?

I discovered there is a dormant area of geekism at my core as I enjoyed Zack’s skills which are fully utilized. Not just his, but millions of gamers across the world who have to raise their game to save the earth from what’s about to befall.

I kept thinking: reluctant students, beware the dream, as I read on, following Zack and his new comrades as they scramble to prepare for the alien onslaught. Plenty of twists, turns, and tension but also the emotional conundrum of his father’s premature death, and his mother who has fun, but won’t commit to any bloke … No, I won’t go on. Read it.

I found it satisfactory on many levels, not the least that it is accessible to young adults, and old ducks like me – a rare accomplishment. Armada is a journey towards emotional intelligence and understanding, a journey towards some questions answered, others posed – huge questions they are too. Armada’s a good ‘un.

Armada by Ernest Cline

Published in hardback by Century £16.99

Also available in ebook

Ernest Cline is the author of the bestselling Ready Player One

My Stratford Friend – Dominick Reyntiens by Frances Colville

Posted on August 28, 2015 by Margaret Graham

Taking the reader back to the time of Shakespeare and setting the scene of his early years – what’s not to like? Once the author Dominick Reyntiens gets into his stride, he captures the essence of the period and creates believable characters and settings.

I love the way Reyntiens integrates actual names and phrases which appear in Shakespeare’s writing. For example on page 1 we learn that Tom’s horse is called Prospero (an important character in The Tempest), and later on we meet the matched pairs of horses, Lysander and Hermia, Helena and Demetrius, all names used by Shakespeare for characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. A man wearing the head of an ass appears as a precursor of Bottom. And we’re introduced to a Robin Goodfellow otherwise known as Puka – a clear link with Shakespeare’s Puck in Midsummer Night’s Dream. This is clever stuff and makes for a fascinating read. I found myself constantly looking out for references to the plays, and at the same time wondering just how many I had missed.

I don’t know, not having done extensive research on Shakespeare’s life myself, whether this is the true version of events. But I don’t think that matters. It’s definitely a possible version, an interpretation of the evidence we have, and a personal view of what might have happened, and that after all is what historical fiction is all about. What’s more, it’s a fast paced well-plotted story. And I very much look forward to reading the next instalment.

Available from Amazon.co.uk

The WforW Grannies Raise More Money…

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Margaret Graham

Photographs: Kate Pain

‘OK, let’s get down and dirty, then.’ The decision was made. We’d do the military assault course Mud Challenge at www.actiondaysout.co.uk to round off charity Words for the Wounded’s 2015 fundraising activities.

We? Margaret Graham, Jan Speedie and Penny Deacon, are the grannies who run Words for the Wounded. We choose to conduct strategy meetings at The Wellington on the Strand, and decisions seem so easy over the second glass of wine. ‘Yes, there’ll be a bit of mud. Yes, we’ll get the families involved. Yes, it’ll be a bit of fun – and easy peasy.’

Easy peasy? For goodness sake.

On the whole our charity, Words for the Wounded, raises funds by offering opportunities to readers and writers: the annual Independent Author Book Award, the LitFest Day. But we also like to do something different. Last year was the sky dive, this year MUD.

With our long-suffering children and grand-children on the team we met up at Action Days Out, Henfold Lakes, Dorking, in the rain. Ah well. Ian and Callum Marshall briefed us, which is when ‘easy’ and ‘The Wellington’ seemed a million miles away, and teamwork was emphasized as crucial to the escapade. Off we trooped, to the warm up obstacles.

Ho hum. Warm up, indeed. Then it was 1,2,3, and off we went. Mud? Oh yes. Water? Oh yes? Small obstacles? Oh no. BIG obstacles.

Ian and Callum were there all the way, (on the bank). We ranged in age 11 to 70, and everyone helped everyone else. Was it like one great mudlark? Not exactly, one has to say, in fact, just feeling a little faint at the memory.

I found dragging my feet out of the mud was half the battle, but there was the other half of the battle looming as I tried to find somewhere to put the foot that would actually help me hoof up the bank. Frequently it was on some poor soul’s knee. But then I took the weight of a few so all is fair in a mudbath.

So, easy? NO. Fun? Oh yes. I haven’t laughed so much for years, even when Ian asked us to link arms and run across the next few inches of water, which we did. It was actually several feet deep. Then there was crawling through water beneath barbed wire, throwing ourselves through tyres (frantic searching to find one big enough for my bum – oh, the humiliation had I stuck)

Finally the end, and yes, you guessed it: debrief over lunch at a pub down the road, The Royal Oak Stonebridge. Adrian and Beverley Waterworth looked after us like troopers. Try it.

A success? Fantastic day, a great team, we all know one another far too well, having trodden/thrown, tugged one another into and out of obstacles. We surely must have soft skin from the all- over mudpack.

Action Days Out – Ian and Callum are a great team. Boris, Callum’s 5 month old Norfolk Terrier came round with him, and found a false boob from the previous day’s Stag Mud Challenge. Yes, indeed, Stag and Hen parties do it here too. Crikey. It’s fun, give it a whirl, but be prepared to throw your clothes away afterwards. Of course, we’re all looking at Norfolk terrier puppies now.

£1750 raised so far. Remember every penny Words for the Wounded raises goes to where it should, as the grannies absorb all costs. If you fancy helping the wounded. Go to:

http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/team/granniesmudchallenge

www.wordsforthewounded.co.uk

www.actiondaysout.co.uk

Facebook: royaloakstonebridgedorking

CORPORATE KINDNESS: Jane Cable shares the second in a series of blogs about organising a charity litfest

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Jane Cable

Author and Frost contributor Jane Cable shares the second in a series of blogs about organising a charity litfest in aid of Words for the Wounded. Last month the all-important dates and speakers were organised (17-18^th October, Elizabeth Buchan and Margaret Graham) but what about venues… and sponsors… and publicity…

Christopher Joyce, chief Chindi and my co-conspirator in this crazy venture, has gone into overdrive with his contact book. Not a native of Chichester by any means, in the relatively short time he’s lived in the area I think he must have met – and charmed – everyone. And as a result he has three venues for three events sorted.

The one that I was supposed to organise fell flat on its face. Chichester Library, normally our best venue for anything and biggest supporter all around, was unable to host the planned bookish treasure hunt because it’s in aid of charity. West Sussex County Council policy. So we’ve quietly let that one drop.

In the meantime Chris has persuaded Woodies Brasserie in the city centre to close its restaurant to the paying public on a Saturday lunchtime, no less, and put on a special buffet at a cost which allows a generous £7 donation out of each £25 ticket sold. Luckily I have been able to contribute something as their wine merchants, Mason & Mason, are good friends of mine and they are donating a glass of something deliciously organic for every guest.

Chris has also been twisting arms at his local, The Park Tavern, and they’ve given us the run of the place on Saturday evening to shake buckets and sell raffle tickets. And the raffle prizes… so far our top catches are a £60 voucher for a tasting from Hampshire Wine School, a £150 voucher from author Claire Dyer for her Fresh Eyes manuscript review service and a hair cut from Benjamin James Hair Vision. Recovery on Sunday morning is being hosted by Carluccios who again are giving us a fixed price package for our bookswap breakfast which allows a £5 donation from each £15 ticket.

Last but not least Chris has twisted arms at Chichester Design to put together a wonderful leaflet. I’ve been able to get a decent price for the printing but we still need a sponsor so if anyone has a spare £90…? Please…?

But at the end of the day it isn’t entirely down to Chris’s charm and advanced persuasion techniques that businesses have been so generous – it’s a great deal to do with the charity. People simply want to help those who’ve suffered through putting their lives on the line in the name of duty. I had a sharp reminder of some of the issues recently when, as part of my research for the novel I’m currently writing, I met an ex-serviceman who’d served in Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan. I wanted to know what combat was really like from someone who’d been there. I wish I hadn’t had to ask. We don’t know what those brave men and women have gone through; we can’t even begin to imagine it. All we can hope to do is help.

Learn more about…
Words for the Wounded: www.wordsforthewounded.co.uk
Chindi Authors: www.chindi-authors.co.uk
Woodies Brasserie: www.woodiesbrasserie.com
The Park Tavern: www.parktavernchichester.co.uk
Carluccios Chichester: www.carluccios.com/restaurants/chichester
Chichester Design: www.chichesterdesign.co.uk
Christopher Joyce: www.creaturesofchichester.com
Jane Cable: www.janecable.com

The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young

Posted on August 19, 2015 by Margaret Graham

When The Gates of Evangeline arrived – kerplunk – on my desk and I read the blurb, ‘Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Cates, a New York journalist and single mother mourning the recent, unexpected death of her young son … my first thought was – not for me. I don’t do grieving mothers. They tear me to shreds.

Thankfully, I flicked through the first page, and was hooked.

Hester Young handles her material with aplomb, and though we are aware of Charlie Cates’ loss we are not manipulated by it. Instead, Young, who writes in the first person present, with spare and finely edged language, takes us on Charlie’s journey -from the urban New York to small town Louisiana.

It is here, in the sultry state with its swamps, and evocative history, that she takes a commission to write a true-crime book based on the case of Gabriel Deveau. Gabriel is the young heir to a wealthy and infamous Southern family who was kidnapped thirty years ago and it is a crime that has never been solved.

Charlie ‘witnesses’ events through hallucinations, which drive her onwards. She uncovers long-buried secrets of love, money, betrayal and murder. The facts appear to implicate those she most wants to trust.

The Gates of Evangeline is gripping, with a tremendous sense of place, (I need to put Louisiana on my list of places to go). It is a sense of place that I found reminiscent of James Lee Burke, one of the most atmospheric authors I have read, and whose work I love.

Young has created a Gothic epic, a great whodunit with a slightly but ‘in context’ supernatural bent. I couldn’t put it down, and found myself trying to work out who indeed ‘dunit’. I was half right, but that’s the thing with Young, there’s always another twist, an unpredictability that is in keeping, but surprising.

In The Gates of Evangeline, Hester Young, who lives with her husband and two children in New Jersey, has created a carefully crafted and fantastic literary debut.

Read it, but don’t expect to be able to put it down. This is a new crime series, which is great news. Can’t wait for the second to hit the bookstands.

Frost is publishing Hester Young’s A Day in the Life in a week.

Hardback by Century at £16.99

Month 7 of My Reading Challenge by Frances Colville

Posted on August 11, 2015 by Margaret Graham

At the beginning of this month for various (non-book-related) reasons, I wanted to read something light, enjoyable and relaxing, and I found just that in Erica James‘ latest book The Dandelion Years. A quick and easy read, this is a good story with characters I could identify with and of course a happy ending. Just what I needed. And any of Erica James’ 18 other books would have done the same job for me.

All month I’ve been dipping into a fascinating little book called One Hundred Great Books in Haiku by David Bader. For anyone unfamiliar with the term haiku, it describes a very short poetic form, originally Japanese, which traditionally uses no more than 17 syllables, divided into 3 lines in a 5,7,5 format. This particular book as its title suggests, uses the haiku form to express the titles of a hundred famous books. My personal favourite is the following which describes Brave New World by Aldous Huxley:

Euphoric drugs, sex,

cloning, the past forgotten.

So what else is new?

My bet is that once you’ve read the book you’ll want to try writing haiku yourself!

I have my family well trained and they know that a well-chosen book is always at the top of any present list of mine. The haul on my birthday this month didn’t disappoint. The first thing I picked from the pile was an old and battered copy of Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea. I hadn’t read this before and I was intrigued by a quote on the back cover saying that this might just be the best short story ever written. Maybe – maybe not. I don’t feel qualified to judge. But it is superb. And I’m sure that this seemingly simple tale of an old man’s battle of wills against a huge fish, and at the same time against old age and loss of dignity, will stay in my mind for a long time.

I’ve also been reading a couple of very recently published books this month and recommend both for different reasons. One Man’s Everest by Kenton Cool is a fascinating account of the author’s life as a climber, his motivations and obsessions and his many climbing successes. Not just a book for people interested in climbing, and well worth reading. My Stratford Friend by Dominick Reyntiens is also fascinating; the story is told from the point of view of Tom, a lifelong friend of William Shakespeare and is a good combination of fact and fiction as well as being a compelling read. Fuller reviews of both books can be found elsewhere on Frost.

I thought I was ending the month back where I began, with something light and relaxing. But a few chapters into Us by David Nicholls I decided this was a book with hidden depths. It is funny and it is entertaining, and it will make a good film, I’m sure. But it also has serious points to make about relationships (husband/wife and parent/child) and in particular the big question of how you go back to being just a couple once your children have left home and being a parent is no longer the definitive role in your life.

A Day In The Life By Fiona Rule

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Margaret Graham

“Woke up, got out of bed,

Dragged a comb across my head.

Found my way downstairs and drank a cup….”

That is where the similarities end between my Day In The Life and Paul McCartney’s. While he sped off in search of a bus, I fire up my computer and peruse the latest crop of emails before getting down to the work that takes up most of my time – research.

Today, I am looking into the history of Hunsdon House – a spectacularly ancient property in rural Hertfordshire for a private client. My work takes me all over the place and this morning’s destination is the archives at County Hall in Hertford. County and Borough archives are wonderful treasure troves and are open to anyone, free of charge – all you need is proof of ID. However, many are seriously underfunded and some archives I’ve visited are little more than filing rooms. Its a shame that Council finance officers seem so disinterested in their area’s heritage. Nevertheless, Hertford Archives is better equipped than most and I soon find a wealth of deeds and articles on Hunsdon House along with my favourite kind of document – maps.

Since the Babylonians carved a map of the world on a piece of stone back in the 6^th century BCE, maps have told us far more than a book ever could because they put everything in visual context. For instance, Andrew Dury’s map of Hertfordshire, drawn up in the 1760’s tells me at a glance that at the time, Hunsdon House was the seat of Nicolson Calvert and it was set in elegantly landscaped grounds, with a patchwork of rural fields beyond. Now I have a name, I can find out more about the family.

By cross referencing the maps with deeds and other documents, I manage to piece together a timeline for Hunsdon House and its various occupants over the centuries. This forms the framework onto which I can build a more complete story through online research once I return to the office. I’ve found that this modus operandi works for any size of project, be it the history of one house or an entire area.

However, before I return to London, I have one final stop to make. I’ve arranged to meet a friend at a local pub to show her a copy of my new, “big” book – Streets of Sin, which is just about to be published. My books are a bit like children – I’m proud of them despite their flaws and I like to talk about them! Thus, I’m excited to show her this “hot off the press” copy. Thankfully, the reaction is positive and I wend my way home to face the biggest challenge of the day – to stop thinking about research and turn my attentions to more mundane, domestic matters. This can be terrifically hard, especially if I have uncovered something particularly tantalising. I wonder if Paul McCartney has the same problem when he’s writing songs?

Streets of Sin – A Dark Biography of Notting Hill by Fiona Rule Book Review

Posted on August 5, 2015 by Margaret Graham

Think Notting Hill, the film, then wonder about Notting Hill, the place. Historian Fiona Rule has all the answers in her latest book, Streets of Sin. Rule has researched her subject meticulously, and presents it in a way that is accessible, and fascinating.

She takes us through the area, much as she does in one of her walks, tracing Notting Hill from its beginnings in the mid 1700s to the present. It began as a small rural community, some half an hour’s walk from the edge of the metropolis, and that half an hour was to be crucial in the initial failure of Notting Hill as a money spinning residential area for its developer. It was just too far from the centre to work as well as Marylebone or any of the closer developments.

Rule lifts the layers of Notting Hill’s history, revealing dreams gone wrong, broken people, piggeries, Rachman, the Profumo affair, and London’s first race riots. Add a dollop of characters such as the murderer Christie, and the musician, Hendrix, give it a good stir, and here you have, ladies and gentlemen – Notting Hill.

I found Streets of Sin unputdownable. OK, my own research as an author leads me to devour anything historical, but walk these streets, put places to names, see what’s under the surface and you’ll be hooked. It is an easy read, an informative read. I loved it.

About the author: London-based historian, researcher and bestselling author Fiona Rule is widely respected as a specialist in the history of the capital and the Victorian era. She has appeared as an expert on several radio and television programmes including BBC London’s Breakfast Show and The Robert Elms Show, Find My Past and The Great British Story with Peter Snow. Her previous critically acclaimed historical titles include The Worst Street In London (Ian Allan 2008, reprinted 2009, 2010, 2012) London’s Docklands (Ian Allan 2009) and London’s Labyrinth (Ian Allan 2012).

Streets of Sin: A Dark Biography of Notting Hill by Fiona Rule (published by History Press 8th August RRP £17.99 hardback) is available to purchase online and at all good book retailers. For more information please visit www.fionarule.com or follow her @Fiona_Rule

Frost Magazine

Books and Lifestyle

Tag Archives: Margaret Graham

Armada by Ernest Cline Book Review

My Stratford Friend – Dominick Reyntiens by Frances Colville

The WforW Grannies Raise More Money…

CORPORATE KINDNESS: Jane Cable shares the second in a series of blogs about organising a charity litfest

The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young

Month 7 of My Reading Challenge by Frances Colville

A Day In The Life By Fiona Rule

Streets of Sin – A Dark Biography of Notting Hill by Fiona Rule Book Review

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