LIBRARY

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Ballet: Coppélia (the Girl with the Enamel Eyes)

(Note: this post was started last month, in mid-October) Just got back from the ballet tonight — Coppélia! It was such a delight. I haven’t been to the ballet in way too long, and this was absolutely marvelous. There were a few interesting things I noticed this time that I don’t recall seeing as a…

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A pentacle of urban fantasy reviews (IV of IV)

Amazon Ink I loved the basic premise of this story, which was that the Amazons of myth and legend still exist, hidden within our modern-day culture. Unfortunately, past that initial premise I found myself asking a ton of anthropologically based questions which were never answered — I think it was a case of me knowing…

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A pentacle of urban fantasy reviews (III of IV)

Norse Code The back of the book suggests the story is about the newly created Valkyrie named Mist, but this is not actually the case — it is more about the Norse deity Hermod, and Mist is mostly along for the ride. Further, I cannot say I enjoyed the author’s (extremely unsubtle) re-hashing of the…

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A pentacle of urban fantasy reviews (II of IV)

Touch of Evil This book was, interestingly enough, a free digital book from Tor which my friend had downloaded in mid-2008, and suggested I might enjoy if I wanted another urban fantasy. Checking on amazon, I find that the book was first published in 2006, and is the first of a series of three books….

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Papal Sin (III of III)

Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit Another critic I found on the web saw double standards in Wills’ book — a desire within Wills to dispense with ritual even as he promoted it. However, the critic’s examples of this which I read demonstrated a double standard only if the “Church” is equated to the current ritual-bound,…

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Papal Sin (II of III)

Papal Sin: Structures of Deceit Why compelling? So why is the book so riveting? There are several reasons I found it so. Firstly, it’s always fascinating to read the thoughts of the religiously devout — who can also see the terrible attrition of belief due to the lure of secular power. I have to admire…

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What is the Heroine’s Journey? (part XIX)

Why is the Journey that denotes active individualism and physical maturity always coded male? Why is the one that connotes life’s wisdom cooperatively rooted within relational community invariably gendered as female? Why can’t we bring ourselves to say what they really are: steps in the progress of an ultimately human life? If the first steps…