Harry Potter tag

Sheila of Wands and Worlds tagged me for this Harry Potter meme that's doing the rounds right now.

1. Butterbeer or pumpkin juice?
Since I don't drink alcohol and have a lactose intolerance, Pumpkin Juice...

2. What House would you most likely (or want to) be in in Hogwarts?
Without a doubt, Ravenclaw.

3. If you were an animagus, what animal would you turn into?
Like Sheila, I'd probably be a cat.

4. What character do you empathize with, or resemble best?
I most resemble Hermione (I was nicknamed Hermione by one friend whilst doing my degree; I most empathise with Harry though...

5. What position do you play at Quidditch?
None - can I be excused even watching it so I can spend more time in the library?

6. Which teacher is your favorite?
McGonagall and Lupin - I can't choose between them.

7. Any Harry Potter 7 predictions?
Sure - over on the Scholar's Blog Spoiler Zone.

I'm not sure who's been tagged for this and who hasn't, so if you want to pick it up, feel free.

Poetry Friday 56

Yesterday saw the anniversary of the death of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the catalyst for the start of the First World War, so today I bring you war-related poetry. Whilst the First World War is famous for producing many memorable poems, that was not the first time that poetry was written about war. The following comes from Shakespeare's Henry V:

This day is called the feast of Crispian:
He that outlives this day, and comes safe home,
Will stand a tip-toe when the day is named,
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall live this day, and see old age,
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbours,
And say 'To-morrow is Saint Crispian:'
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
And say 'These wounds I had on Crispin's day.'
Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot,
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names.
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.

(William Shakespeare, Henry V, Act 4, Scene 3, lines 40-70)


This next poem reflects the utter futility of the First World War in a handful of lines:

Counter-Attack

We'd gained our first objective hours before
While dawn broke like a face with blinking eyes,
Pallid, unshaved and thirsty, blind with smoke.
Things seemed all right at first. We held their line,
With bombers posted, Lewis guns well placed,
And clink of shovels deepening the shallow trench.
The place was rotten with dead; green clumsy legs
High-booted, sprawled and grovelled along the saps
And trunks, face downward, in the sucking mud,
Wallowed like trodden sand-bags loosely filled;
And naked sodden buttocks, mats of hair,
Bulged, clotted heads slept in the plastering slime.
And then the rain began, -- the jolly old rain !
A yawning soldier knelt against the bank,
Staring across the morning blear with fog;
He wondered when the Allemands would get busy;
And then, of course, they started with five-nines
Traversing, sure as fate, and never a dud.
Mute in the clamour of shells he watched them burst
Spouting dark earth and wire with gusts from hell,
While posturing giants dissolved in drifts of smoke.
He crouched and flinched, dizzy with galloping fear,
Sick for escape, -- loathing the strangled horror
And butchered, frantic gestures of the dead.
An officer came blundering down the trench:
'Stand-to and man the fire-step!' On he went . . .
Gasping and bawling, 'Fire-step . . . counter-attack !'
Then the haze lifted. Bombing on the right
Down the old sap: machine-guns on the left;
And stumbling figures looming out in front.
'O Christ, they're coming at us!' Bullets spat,
And he remembered his rifle . . . rapid fire . . .
And started blazing wildly . . . then a bang
Crumpled and spun him sideways, knocked him out
To grunt and wriggle: none heeded him; he choked
And fought the flapping veils of smothering gloom,
Lost in a blurred confusion of yells and groans . . .
Down, and down, and down, he sank and drowned,
Bleeding to death. The counter-attack had failed.

Siegfried Sassoon, 1917 (© George Sassoon)

Scholar's Blog Book Discussion Group - Reminder

Just a quick reminder that on July 3rd, the Scholar's Blog Discussion Group will begin discussion Louis Sachar's The Boy Who Lost His Face - everyone who's read it is welcome to participate (and yes, this is the second non-fantasy novel in a row, but we'll make up for that properly in August and September by discussing the final Harry Potter book.)

Private Peaceful - Michael Morpurgo

I've been meaning to read Michael Morpurgo's Private Peaceful ever since it came out but just never got around to it until this week. This novel charts the childhood of young Thomas Peaceful in the early years of the 20th century, and his eventual underage enlistment into the British army alongside his older brother to help fight in the First World War. More than anything else, this is a poignant story of childhood and war, and about the many life-changing effects a war has on those involved in it. It also reflects some of the brutality of the commanding regimes and the relentless squalor of trench warfare. This books is definitely not for the squeamish as Morpurgo tells the truth of life in the war as it really was.

The book opens at "Five Past Ten" (all the chapter titles are times) as "Tommo" Peaceful is recalling his childhood whilst waiting out the night on one of the First World War battlefields. He remembers his big brother Charlie taking him to school for his first day (and how much he didn't want to go), the tragica, accidental death of his father, his mother working hard to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table in spite of the grudging support of her husband's employer and Tommo's aunt. He remembers his brother Big Joe, who is called simple by some but who is very special to Tommo. He also recalls the only girl in his life, Molly, and how his brother Charlie took her away from him. But as the world turned to war, he was forced, like so many young men, to grow up fast. Charlie and Tommo enlist together and are sent to France almost immediately, to what could is most accurately described as hell on Earth. Bullets, bombs, death, shells, noise, dirt, disease, rats and stench fill their lives, and Charlie and Tommo fight for their lives and fight to stay together - facing certain death in the face every time they try to advance the British lines.

I won't tell you the twist at the end of this story, but it made me sob unrestrainedly to read the last few pages.

The Unresolved - T K Welsh

T K Welsh's The Unresolved is based on a true story. In 1904 a fire on board the steamboat General Slocum killed more than 1000 people, mostly woman and children, most of whom were German immigrants, on New York's East River. Many people suffered as a result of this tragic event and Welsh has written a hauntingly compelling novel that looks at who was to blame for this tragedy. The focus of the story is 15 year old Mallory Meer who shared her first kiss with the boy she loved, Dustin Brauer, the son of a Jewish beer brewer; he's accused of starting the fire, and he and his father are both persecuted by the Lutheran German community of Kleindeutschland. Mallory's spirit haunts the community, moving through time and space, influencing people, until justice is done and the person who really started the fire is discovered.

I don't want to say too much more about this book because that would spoil it, I feel. Just find a copy, if you can, and read it; it's well written and very moving.

I received my copy of The Unresolved from the author.

Doctor Who Quote of the Week

The Doctor: I could have killed that Dalek in its cell. But you stopped me.
Van Statten: It was the prize of my collection--
The Doctor: [loses it] YOUR COLLECTION?!? Well was it WORTH it?! Worth all those men's deaths, worth Rose?! Let me tell you something, Van Statten. Mankind goes into space to explore. To be part of something greater!
Van Statten: Exactly! I wanted to touch the stars!
The Doctor: You just want to drag the stars down and stick them underground, underneath tons of sand, and dirt, and label them! You're about as far from the stars as you can get!

("Dalek", Season 1 New Doctor Who)

Skulduggery Pleasant - Derek Landy

I saw Derek Landy's Skulduggery Pleasant in the bookshops and was intrigued by the jaunty skeleton on the cover. Then Kelly H of Big A, little a reviewed it very favourably and I knew I had to get a copy from the library.

For 12 year old Stephanie Edgley everything starts when her uncle Gordon Edgley dies. Gordon wasn't much of a family man and Stephanie was the only one who was close to him. Although saying that is a bit of a stretch; it would probably be more accurate to say that he tolerated her presence better, and more frequently, than he did the presence of the rest of his family. But that doesn't completely explain why he leaves his house, his fortune and his book royalties to Stephanie. Actually, there's a lot of unexplained things about Gordon, even more so now that he's gone. Like the strange man who turns up at the funeral wrapped tightly in a scarf, sunglasses, and an overcoat, so that you can't glimpse even an inch of his skin. That was the first time that Stephanie encountered Skulduggery Pleasant.

The next time they meet is at the reading of Gordon's will. The one where he left most of his things to his twelve-year-old niece, much to the dismay of Stephanie's aunt and other uncle, who get a boat (Uncle Fergus gets seasick), a car (they already have a car), and a brooch (which doesn't even have any jewels on it). Stephanie's parents, incidentally, get a villa in France. Skulduggery Pleasant however, receives the strangest bequest of all, some very cryptic advice. Ye he seems completely content.

This was not to be the last encounter between Stephanie and Skulduggery, however. After spending most of a day exploring part of Stephanie's new house, she and her mother get in the car to go home only to find that the car won't start. A mechanic comes to fix it and has to tow it back to the garage. Stephanie convinces her mother that she can stay at the house for an hour or so whilst the car is being fixed. However, the storm which started whilst they were waiting for the mechanic to arrive grows worse and the road to the house is flooded. Stephanie is stuck at her new house for the night. Stephanie couldn't be happier, though - she likes the idea of freedom and solitude - unfortunately it only lasts a few minutes before someone is trying to break into the house, and somehow Stephanie doesn't believe him when he says he won't hurt her if she just lets him in to get what he wants. Fortunately, Skulduggery Pleasant arrives to rescue Stephanie - and what a strange rescuer he turns out to be. In his struggle with the intruder, his hat and scarf fall off to reveal he's actually a skeleton! This promps dozens of questions, such as who and what is Skulduggery ? How did he get to know her uncle ? Why was he at the house ? How is it that he can throw fire and can he teach her to do it ? And how does he stay upright when there's no skin and muscle to hold him together ?

Skulduggery Pleasant is an exciting adventure with a fun plot, well drawn characters and a great sense of humour. I foresee this book being immensely popular with children and adults alike (like Harry Potter, but with more humour and far less angst...) I hope it's the start of a series. If you can get hold of it, do read it - it's such fun !

There's also a Skulduggery Pleasant Audiobook available - and of course, it's available from Amazon.com. There's a Skulduggery Pleasant website which is quite good fun, and you might want to check out the Book Trailer - that's the first Book Trailer I've actually made a point of watching, and it was quite amusing.

Accio 2008 - Harry Potter Conference

I heard today that the folks behind the Accio 2005 Harry Potter Conference that was held in Reading 2 years ago are planning a new conference next year in Oxford, England - dear gods, I might actually be able to attend this one !

The conference, From Quidditch Flyers to Dreaming Spires: Exploring the Worldwide Influence of the Harry Potter Novels will be held at Magdalen College from 25 - 27 July 2008.

Here's what they say in the Call For Papers:

Accio 2008 will bring together academics and adult fans to discuss the Harry Potter series in the Hogwarts-like setting of the University of Oxford. The conference will be held at the beautiful Magdalen College, which still preserves its 15th century pronunciation of 'Maudele'n' and which boasts such alumni as C S Lewis and Oscar Wilde.

During the last ten years, the Harry Potter novels have made many changes to our world, including increasing reading (particularly among boys), creating a much larger interest in fan sites and fan fiction, adding words (such as 'Muggle') to the dictionary and increasing interest in science that looks like magic.

The Programming Committee is inviting proposals for paper presentations, roundtables, moderated panels, debates and workshops to evoke a lively, interesting and thoughtful discussion on the changes the Harry Potter novels have already made to our world, and on the potential for the novels to have a lasting influence.

Suggested Topics
Presentations on any topic relating to the Harry Potter phenomenon are welcome and topics may include, but are certainly not limited to:

Chemistry
Computer Science
Economics
Education
History
Linguistics
Literature
Physics
Psychology
Publishing
Sociology
the Fandom

Proposal Submissions - Deadline: 4 January 2008

You can find more information on the Accio 2008 website and there's a FAQ page as well. As usual, this conference is an unofficial event and is not endorsed or sanctioned by Warner Bros., the Harry Potter book publishers, or J K Rowling and her representatives. Note that attendees must be aged 18 or over.

Scholar's Blog Spoiler Zone Update

I've just posted my review of Doctor Who season 3 episode 11 "Utopia" over on the Scholar's Blog Spoiler Zone.

Warning - this review contains spoilers of major proportions - more so than any other review I've written for season 3... You have been warned !

Carnegie of Carnegies

It's been announced that Philip Pullman's Northern Lights has won the Carnegie of Carnegies (about which I posted in April). I confess, I voted for Alan Garner's The Owl Service, simply because it had such a huge impact on me as a child reader.




(I confess that I heard this news late yesterday but I was trying to work on both my current fiction tales (simultaneously more or less), so I didn't post it !)

Poetry Friday 55

The annual Glastonbury Music Festival and Wimbledon are both approaching, sure guarantees of rain arriving on these shores, and this morning I woke to a leak in my attic roof, so I'm feeling rather rain obsessed at the moment !


Rain

Rain, midnight rain, nothing but the wild rain
On this bleak hut, and solitude, and me
Remembering again that I shall die
And neither hear the rain nor give it thanks
For washing me cleaner than I have been
Since I was born into this solitude.
Blessed are the dead that the rain rains upon:
But here I pray that none whom once I loved
Is dying tonight or lying still awake
Solitary, listening to the rain,
Either in pain or thus in sympathy
Helpless among the living and the dead,
Like a cold water among broken reeds,
Myriads of broken reeds all still and stiff,
Like me who have no love which this wild rain
Has not dissolved except the love of death,
If love it be for what is perfect and
Cannot, the tempest tells me,
disappoint.

Edward Thomas' poem "Rain" was written on January 7, 1916 - for those familiar with poetry of the WW1 period, the images of rain and mud are probably the strongest ones.


The other thing I'm obsessed about, of course, is "Doctor Who" - the season finale is only 8 days away. Last week's episode (which I will review on my Spoiler Zone Blog at some point in the next two days) was called "Utopia", although there was no sign of Utopia in the episode, but it got me thinking about Utopia and Dystopia, and of course, then I went looking for some poetry, and found this:

Utopia

Island where all becomes clear.

Solid ground beneath your feet.

The only roads are those that offer access.

Bushes bend beneath the weight of proofs.

The Tree of Valid Supposition grows here
with branches disentangled since time immemorial.

The Tree of Understanding, dazzlingly straight and simple,
sprouts by the spring called Now I Get It.

The thicker the woods, the vaster the vista:
the Valley of Obviously.

You can read the rest of Wislawa Szymborska's poem here. I confess to being completely unfamiliar with Szymborska's work until Elaine of Wild Rose Reader and Blue Rose Girls posted "The Joy of Writing" for an April Poetry Friday offering. You can find a biography of this Polish poet here; Szymborska won the "Nobel Prize in Literature" in 1996 and you can read her Nobel Prize lecture here.


This week's poetry round-up is hosted by cloudscome of A Wrung Sponge.

Live Chat with Michael Rosen

The "Write Away" team are hosting a live chat with the newly appointed Children's Laureate, Michael Rosen, on their forum next Monday. Here's the press release:

Michael Rosen's appointment as the Children's Laureate for 2007-2009 has been causing a stir! Michael has pledged to promote poetry, and in particular to showcase good educational practice as a means of challenging the restricted view that he believes underpins current curriculum documents that influence teaching. He is keen to promote a wider national awareness of writers, localities and literary heritage.

We are delighted that Michael will be giving a LIVE FORUM on the WRITE AWAY website on Monday 18th June 8.00 - 9.00 pm (BST). This is an opportunity to pose your questions and take part in the debate about the promotion and teaching of poetry, and more generally the role of the children's laureate. It promises to be a simulating evening. We hope that you will be able to join us.

To participate, register at the Write Away website and login. Visit the Forum/Reading Group using the left hand navigation bar. Here you will find a discussion strand called Live Forum and this is where the action takes place.

If you are unable to join us at that time, you can still leave a post in advance, which Michael can respond to.

A Big Thank You

I just wanted to say a quick, public thank you to all the kind people who generously donated to Kelly's "fighting fund" to keep me online. I very much appreciate your kindness and generosity. The broadband kit arrived on Friday and I have been flying along the Net ever since; it's made a huge difference to me with regard to working online. Thank you all.

Doctor Who Quote of the Week

Simmons: [to the Dalek] What are you gonna do, sucker me to death?
[The Dalek grabs his face with its sucker and kills him.]

("Dalek", Season 1 New Doctor Who)

Chris Van Allsburg's birthday

Today is the birthday of children's author and illustrator Chris Van Allsburg, (books by this author) born in Grand Rapids, Michigan (1949). He's the author of the children's books Jumanji (1981) and The Polar Express (1985).

Scholar's Blog Spoiler Zone Update

I've just posted my review of Doctor Who season 3 episode 10 "Blink" over on the Scholar's Blog Spoiler Zone.

Warning - this episode really is best viewed without any kind of advance information, so be really, really sure you want spoilers before you read the review !

A Question for Fiction Writers

I've written another disconnected chunk of my non-Who story "Improbable Journeys" - and I find myself wondering if this is normal fiction practice ? Because so far, apart from a couple of Epilogues, I've pretty much written my Who stories straight through from Prologue/Chapter 1 through to Chapter 4/Epilogue without any wandering off. Whereas this story now has an opening paragraph, a short dialogue and piece of character description from later in chapter one, and now a random few paragraphs from another chapter, but I've no idea which one...

As with the other two sections I've written, this new bit seemed to just spring into my head, then flow onto the page from my pen, leaving me feeling rather like someone's amanuensis - which I understand is not an uncommon experience for some writers. But it is uncommon for me, so far at any rate, to write random chunks of prose that aren't directly connected to each other...

I'm not complaining, mind ! Just puzzled - as I frequently have been ever since I took up this fiction-writing business five months ago (and is it really only five months ? Somehow it feels far longer !)

At the Firefly Gate - Linda Newbery

I first heard about Linda Newbery's At the Firefly Gate from Kelly over at Big A, little a and it sounded just the sort of book I'd enjoy.

Young Henry and his parents have just moved from London to a small village in Suffolk, and Henry, who is just about to move up from primary school, is worried that he won't make any friends and that he will be bored after his life in the big city. The first night that he spends in his new room, Henry sees glowing fireflies around a gate at the end of the garden that leads out into an orchard, and a shadowy figure who stands there looking at him. Henry meets his neighbours, the sulky teenager Grace, her parents, and her spinster aunt Dottie who is ill. Dottie seems to recognise Henry and he finds himself dreaming and experiencing things that are the memories of an RAF navigator who was killed in World War II and who was Dottie's fiance.

This book is a lovely combination of WW2 history, Henry's dreams and the struggles of childhood. Henry is a down-to-earth boy who experiences amazing things. Grace is an equally well-drawn character who is usually sulky but has a soft side that she rarely shows, especially to Henry. Dottie is a wonderful character who made me want to enter her garden and spend some time playing Scrabble with her and listening to her stories.

At the Firefly Gate is also available from Amazon.com.

British Fantasy Award - Best Novel Longlist

The British Fantasy Award, Best Novel (The August Derleth Fantasy Award) longlist has been announced and I'm very excited as I know one of the authors on the list. Here's the list in full (the ones I've read are in bold rather than italics):

The Blade Itself: Book One Of The First Law, Joe Abercrombie (Gollancz)
The Fledging Of Az Gabrielson: The Clouded World Series Book 1, Jay
Amory (Gollancz)
Broken, Kelley Armstrong (Orbit Books)
Polity Agent, Neal Asher (Tor Books)
Bridge Of Dreams, Chaz Brenchley (Ace Books)
Scar Night: Volume One Of The Deepgate Codex, Alan Campbell (Tor Books)
The Devil You Know: A Felix Castor Novel, Mike Carey (Orbit Books)
Jack Of Ravens: Kingdom Of The Serpent Book 1, Mark Chadbourn (Gollancz)
Death's Dominion, Simon Clark (Robert Hale)
London Under Midnight, Simon Clark (Severn House)
The Book of Lost Things, John Connolly (Hodder & Stoughton)
Widdershins, Charles De Lint (Tor Books)
The Bonehunters (A Tale Of Malazan Book Of The Fallen), Steven Erikson
(Bantam Press)
Ten-Second Staircase (Bryant & May 4), Christopher Fowler (Doubleday)
Development Hell, Mick Garris (Cemetery Dance)
Ilario: The Lion's Eye, Mary Gentle (Gollancz)
Nova Swing, John M Harrison (Gollancz)
The Secret Of Crickley Hall, James Herbert (Macmillan)
World Of Hurt, Brian Hodge (Earthling Publications)
Rainbow Bridge, Gwyneth Jones (Gollancz)
This Forsaken Earth (Sea Beggars), Paul Kearney (Bantam Press)
Cell, Stephen King (Hodder & Stoughton)
Lisey's Story, Stephen King (Hodder & Stoughton)
The Privilege of the Sword, Ellen Kushner (Small Beer Press/Bantam)
Dusk, Tim Lebbon (Spectra Books)
The Stormcaller, Tom Lloyd (Gollancz)
The Lies Of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch (Gollancz)
Eastern Tide, Juliet E. McKenna (Orbit Books)
Quicksilver Twilight, Stan Nicholls (Voyager)
The Righteous Blade: Book 2 Of The Dreamtime, Stan Nicholls (Eos)
The Burning Girl, Holly Phillips (Prime Books)
Breeding Ground, Sarah Pinborough (Leisure Books)
The Toyminator, Robert Rankin (Gollancz)
Keeping It Real: Quantum Gravity 1, Justina Robson (Gollancz)
Mathematicians In Love, Rudy Rucker (Tor Books)
Winterbirth, Brian Ruckley (Orbit Books)
The Face of Twilight, Mark Samuels (PS Publishing)
Streaking, Brian Stableford (PS Publishing)
Pressure, Jeff Strand (Earthling Publications)
Shriek: An Afterword, Jeff Vandermeer (Macmillan & Tor Books)
The Demon And The City: A Detective Inspector Chen Novel, Liz Williams
(Nightshade Books)
The Unblemished, Conrad Williams (Earthling Publications)
Jaarfindor Remade, Sean Wright (Crowswing Books)

I'm really pleased to see Juliet E McKenna's Eastern Tide on the longlist -it's definitely her best book to date, and I know there are several highly regarded novels on that longlist, but I really hope Eastern Tide wins !

J K Rowling Tour of the US

This just in from Publishers Weekly:

The last time J.K. Rowling did a U.S. book tour, many of the people who are now her biggest fans either weren't born or hadn't learned to read yet. But to promote Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the notoriously publicity-shy author will be coming to the U.S. in October for the J K Rowling Open Book Tour. The brief tour, her first in eight years, will include four events: two in New York, one in New Orleans and another in Los Angeles. Three of the events will be expressly for students while the final one, slated for Carnegie Hall in New York, will be open to 1,000 fans who win tickets through a sweepstakes sponsored by Scholastic.