Review: Vienna Nocturne by Vivien Shotwell
December 27, 2015 • No Comments
One of the pleasures of Christmas holidays is a little bit more time to read. Book time is also one of the benefits of having a rotten cold since nobody wants to talk to me right now. So, I bring to you a taste of what I’ve been dipping into. This bon-bon fell into my TBR pile a month or so ago. I love historical fiction, I love books about musicians, and I love Mozart so this was a triple win.
Vivien Shotwell’s Vienna Nocturne is the story of Anna Storace, a soprano whose career takes her across Europe and into the sphere of Mozart as well as other musical luminaries of the period. The book seemed to be positioned as something of a romance, but it wasn’t—at least not in the conventional way. Anna has a deeply felt affair with Mozart, but her art is just as much her true love.
Readers who know classical music will lap up the references to the theatres and composers of the period, singing techniques, and the highs and lows of an artist’s life. It’s no surprise to me that the author is also a singer. (see her website). Those less familiar will encounter some unfamiliar terminology and allusions connected with music practice and the history of the period. However, most of it should be understandable from the context.
The book is constructed out of many vignettes that give it almost an epistolary nature, which absolutely suits the eighteenth-century period. There is some gorgeous writing that had me stopping to savor a line here and there. The storyline is straightforward biography but it reads more like a literary than a genre novel, with less detail and a distilled quality of emotion. The form works wonderfully well, never drawing attention to itself and leaving Anna’s discovery of her personal strength a powerful narrative.
I recommend this for music and history lovers, and those who would like to be.
Work-work balance
November 27, 2015 • No Comments
The last while I’ve been pulled into a day-job project that has monopolized a lot of my time. It finally came to fruition this week and now I’m on the other side blinking like some small, furry creature plucked from its burrow and into the daylight. As well as relief and some satisfaction, I’m feeling the OMG of everything I let slide until “after.”
Work projects are an opportunity to show what you’re capable of doing, and for that I’m grateful. I’m also humbled by the number of willing hands who pitched in to make it happen. I work with kind and brilliant people. And, in the end, we had a days-long training event with speakers and food and hotel and travel and hospitality suite and recognition–all with very little budget to speak of. Folks came from many cities to take part and seemed to actually enjoy the experience, if rumors of cartwheels in the lobby are to be believed. It’s all good. No doubt I’ll eventually forget the hours of nail-biting and remember only the fun stuff, which is how it should be.
And now I can get back to writing! It’s my muse doing the cartwheels today.
Halloween ghost pumpkin
October 31, 2015 • No Comments
When I saw this pumpkin I thought it must be a gourdly ghost – is there anything more appropriate for Halloween? I gave it center stage in this shot!
Pumpkin of the day – Friday
October 30, 2015 • No Comments
I saw this bunch in a pumpkin field. This is all pumpkins, all the time. Jack-o-lanterns, ho!
Pumpkin of the day – Thursday
October 29, 2015 • No Comments
Some of these pumpkins are getting their Halloween on. Check out the extra-warty fellow in the middle. To be honest, those ones kind of creep me out.
Pumpkin of the day – Wednesday
October 28, 2015 • No Comments
Gorgeous gourds from a local market. I had to lean into the bin to get this shot. This definitely gets me in the autumn mood.
A week of pumpkins – Tuesday
October 27, 2015 • No Comments
Here’s some more pumpkin love for the Halloween countdown! I thought this shot looked like a family portrait with the crazy kids in the middle. 
Pumpkin of the day – Monday
October 26, 2015 • No Comments
As a countdown to Halloween, I thought a week of pumpkins would be fitting! So I got out my camera and went stalking gourds. We’ll start gently with a composition imbued with a general harvest theme . . .
What I’m Reading: Artemis Awakening
October 6, 2015 • No Comments
Artemis Awakening by Jane Lindskold (Tor, 2014)
When the Empire fell, the location of the planet Artemis was lost, although legends remained to tantalize historians. When ambitious archeologist Griffin Dane finds intriguing hints as to the location of the lost planet, he sets out alone to confirm his find. When Dane reaches Artemis, his shuttle crashes – perhaps not by accident. Stranded, with no discernible way to get home, he forms an uneasy alliance with the Huntress Adara and her psych-linked companion, the puma Sand Shadow. Together they set out to find a way to get Griffin home, along the way uncovering some of the secrets that lie beneath the planet’s wilderness exterior, secrets that may lead to the recovery of weird powers far beyond what humanity now dares to dream.
My thoughts:
I’m much more of a fantasy reader than a sci-fi fan and will always opt for history over a tale about the future. The nice thing about Artemis Awakening is that I don’t have to pick. This book is about a primitive society engineered by an advanced civilization. It has space ships and telepathic animals, too, and while the “magic” might actually be science, the end result works just the same.
The writing here is technically good, as one would expect from such an experienced author. There’s plenty of conflict and character, adventure and humour. While this book is clearly the first in a longer tale, this volume has a complete story arc. There is a suggestion of romance, but it’s very much in the background and fits naturally with the personalities involved. The pacing is quiet at times but these pauses give the reader an opportunity to digest the larger questions the story poses. The book shifts to a darker tone as the plot develops which may not be to everyone’s tastes.
I haven’t read a book like this for a long time and I enjoyed it. It’s always great when something reminds me of a genre I enjoy but have neglected for a while. I will be looking for the next in the series.