Tomorrow is my niece's birthday, though we are celebrating today with a little party. She has been very excited--every day mentioning it and counting down the days. So this is going to be a short post as I should really go and help out and be sociable. I did want to mention another book that I received from an author in the UK. I keep thinking I am not going to read anymore YA books, but this one sounded like too much fun to pass up. Nathan Fox: Dangerous Times by L. Brittney has been published in the UK (and I believe is eventually going to be published here in the US--not sure when ) and was shortlisted for the 2007 Waterstones Prize. The hero of the story, Nathan Fox, is an actor in the same company as Shakespeare and is recruited as a spy. Here is an excerpt:
'This is where you learn to kill another man or be killed yourself.' Nathan grew cold as Robey circled him slowly. 'I do not teach Sir Francis's agents to fence like actors in the theatre. Nor do I teach them to fence in the elegant Spanish fashion, like young men do at court for the amusement of the ladies. I teach street fighting, in the Italian style, for they have perfected the dirtiest form of brawling in Christendom. Be aware, boy, that there are no rules here. I teach you to survive and you will do that by whatever means possible--with the sword, the dagger, your fists or a broken piece of glass. Do you understand?'
Nathan nodded. He was unable to speak--his tongue seemed to have stuck itself to the roof of his mouth.
Robey came up very close and spoke softly. 'This work is a dirty business, and if you value your life you will walk out of here now and never come back. No one will think the worse of you.'
I love adventure stories and this one sounds like a good read. I will let you know how it turns out. I believe this is the first is what will be a series of books. Check out the website here.
This morning as I walked on my treadmill I was treated to a lengthy description of a hunting party in W&P. I'm sorry to say (well, actually not really sorry), that I was cheering for the wolf and the rabbit, neither of which fared very well in the end. I have a hard time with a sport like this--pure blood sport--killing for the sake of killing and then in the end not even showing any mercy to the suffering animal. But I know this was a different time and place, so I will try not to let my peraonal dislikes come in the way of the story and just continue on. I think I prefer the ballroom scenes. I can only hope no more hunting parties will take place in the future...