Dan Milner serves up an order of Irish Pirate Ballads & Other Songs of the Sea. "On his latest CD, a handsomely produced sequel to 1997's Irish Ballads & Songs of the Sea, he spins yarns of pirates, smugglers and homesick sailors with a jaunty voice that falls somewhere between those of Gordon Lightfoot and Willie Nelson. The supporting cast features Irish traditional luminaries such as singer Susan McKeown, flutist Joanie Madden of Cherish the Ladies, banjo virtuoso and folklorist Mick Moloney, champion fiddler Brian Conway and Clancy family member Robbie O'Connell," Gwen Orel says.

"Milner's emphatic delivery evokes an abiding love of that harsh mistress, the sea."

David Holt and Josh Goforth are Cutting Loose with their music. "By their very nature, live albums, and particularly those with extended speaking parts on them, tend to have a you-shoulda-been-there quality. Unlike other recordings, they don't always repay repeated listening. Cutting Loose is possibly no exception, except that it is so good-natured that, yes, I've played it a few times now, on each occasion with undiminished pleasure," Jerome Clark says.

"It's good stuff all around. As I can testify from experience, listening to it will make you feel better."

Nanci Griffith is in a Lone Star State of Mind with this new reissue of her fifth CD. "A native of Austin, Griffith's album is more than just a pastiche of songs about the South; it's a cycle of love songs to strength and perseverance of the modern Everyman -- or Everywoman, as the case may be. The songs are peopled by characters as diverse and varied as the population of the Great State of Texas," Belinda Christ says.

"It's the little album that could, an album so determined to deliver that it simply can't fail. Nanci Griffith delivers a first-class listening experience."

Sean Costello gets his due in Sean's Blues: A Memorial Retrospective. "Costello (1979-2008) was not just another hot-shot young, white blues-rock guitarist. There are plenty of those, and they are largely indistinguishable. Costello, however, lived and performed in another category altogether. Both a traditionalist and an innovator, he had chops, soul and something -- much -- to say," Jerome Clark says.

"Though able to stretch out when so inclined or when necessary to fire up an audience, he was mostly too grounded to waste notes and too disciplined to fatten them when they needed no more feeding. In Costello's guitar art, every note counts. And he could sing, too."

George Kahumoku Jr. and Bob Brozman take you to Hawaii with Kani Wai: Sound of Water. "The opening strains bring it all back, the first time I heard traditional Hawaiian music: the sliding warmth of Bob Brozman's Weissenborn slide guitar, the enveloping 12-string slack key and calm vocals of George Kahumoku Jr.," says Jamie O'Brien.

"Every track is performed with not just tightness and understanding, but also warmth and inventiveness. Leads are shared and never crowded out as they give each other space to develop themes and ideas. They respond so well to one another."

John Blase gets whole-heartedly into the spirit of the season with Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas.

"Touching Wonder: Recapturing the Awe of Christmas has lofty ambitions. John Blase seeks to bring attention to the events leading up to the birth of Jesus in terms both realistic and inspiring. The Nativity story has often been presented as a sanitized, colorful and wondrous fantasy with iconic figures, ignoring the coarse, difficult and exhausting reality that otherwise everyday people experienced. Well, Blase certainly focuses on the latter, as he delves into the more-than-mundane possibility that Zachariah got up several times a night to relieve himself as well as a description of the blood-stained hay around Mary after giving birth," C. Nathan Coyle remarks.

"Blase's prose style offers a gritty realism to the ancient verses, providing a behind-the-scenes look at what may have been running through the minds of Biblical figures such as Zachariah, Elizabeth, Joseph and Mary. This aspect of the book's format is very well done. Instead of exploring the words of distant (in time and location), historical figures, Blase presents these people in a relatable first-person perspective. The reader is given a peek into the everyday life of 2,000 years ago, the joy and frustrations of interacting with a divine presence."

Carole McDonnell's Wind Follower gets a very different analysis from each of two reviewers. "I must be getting old. I find I have little patience with fantasy with complex world-building that requires one to constantly flip back to a glossary to find out who's who and what's what. Carole McDonnell's lushly written novel reflects meticulous work to construct her medieval African world, but she has packed so much into the novel that it threatens to drown the story," says Donna Scanlon.

Becky Kyle, on the other hand, says Wind Follower "is a breath of fresh air in the romantic fantasy genre. While a freshman effort for the author, Carole McDonnell has a deft grip of social concepts and worldbuilding and a gift for lyrical prose. McDonnell's world is based on a multiracial culture, including ancient African, Asian and Caucasian tribes with multiple religious beliefs." Check out this double review for both sides of the story!

Frederick Marryat, an originator of the nautical fiction genre, gave the world Mr. Midshipman Easy in 1836. "Touted as being among the first of its genre, Easy and other novels by Marryat were a source of inspiration for the likes of C.S. Forester and Patrick O'Brian, whose fictional naval heroes are now legendary," Tom Knapp says.

"Even so, Easy does not entirely stand the test of time. Nearly two centuries since its first printing, this adventure novel is in many ways a difficult slog for the modern reader."

Cassandra Clare concludes The Mortal Instruments with City of Glass. "In City of Glass, Cassandra Clare once again blends creatures from mythology and religion to create a world that is familiar without being stale. By taking a step back from the softer, sweeter creatures currently embraced in much of urban fantasy, Clare is able to create a world with a slightly harder, sharper edge," Belinda Christ says.

"My one complaint is that the ending seems a little too pat, a little too neat. I like stories that have a stronger sense of karmic balance."

Tom Knapp thought the graphic novel Nuns with Guns had a promising title. "When you read this slim volume from Viper Comics, however, it doesn't take long to realize that the four nuns featured in this book don't use guns," he says.

"Choice of weapons aside, how is this book? Kind of lame, actually. You've got your gymnastic nun, your tech-savvy nun, your super-strong-but-stupid nun and, of course, your leader nun. You have a mysterious, Charlie-like character who calls them on their crucifix radios and gives them assignments in a darkened confessional. And they get to fight a demon, sea monsters and even the Anti-Christ, all without breaking a sweat."

Paul Raffaele digs into his subject for Among the Cannibals: Adventures on the Trail of Man's Darkest Ritual. "Looking for an open-minded and thought-provoking consideration of cannibalism across cultures? Put Among the Cannibals down at once. Better yet, don't pick it up in the first place," Jennifer Mo warns.

"Author Paul Raffaele is not an anthropologist. Nor is he a philosopher. Instead, he is a self-described adventurer who tramples into foreign lands, ogles topless native women, makes cheeky comments at sages, chants Latin liturgy to convince natives he has magic powers and comes right out and says it on page 123: 'Eating human flesh, unless you have no prospect of other food and are starving to death, is an evil act.' ... It's almost eerie how well Raffaele channels a typical white, male, 19th-century traveler in his condescension, cultural insensitivity and intolerance. By the end of the first chapter, you may find yourself wishing one of the Korowai cannibals in the book -- or any cannibal -- would just eat him. No such luck."

Tom Knapp thinks the director was Lost in Space when he made this turkey. "Usually, I can findsomething positive to say about a movie. With Lost in Space, the 1998 update to the campy 1960s science-fiction TV series, there's just nothing good to say," Tom says.

"The plot is ridiculous -- and doesn't even know enough to poke fun at itself, like the series did. The dialogue is wooden. The special effects aren't all that special. The score is overwrought."

John Bird saw a little of himself in Ukulele. "This is a cute little film fantasy, I thought when I watched Tim Beers' and Wade White's 16-minute epic," he says.

"Who could imagine someone becoming so obsessed with a ukulele that it causes marital problems. I mean, I play the ukulele myself, but it's no big deal. I could give it up any time," John adds. "But then I showed it to my 19-year-old son, and he collapsed in a fit of laughter. 'It's funny because it's true,' he said."

Dave Sturm takes a fond look back at Dark Passage, starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. "You have to suspend an elephant-sized amount of disbelief, but Dark Passage remains a compelling film noir because of the chemistry between Betty Perske -- oops, I mean Lauren Bacall -- and Bogie," he says.

"Also, all the character actors give startlingly vivid performances. The fascinating location shots of San Francisco in the 1940s make the scenery practically a character in the movie."

You think we're done? Ha!! Come back for more next week.

First up this week is a triumvirate of seasonal offerings reviewed by Becky Kyle.

Tori Amos makes a grand entrance into the holiday season with Midwinter Graces. "Every year, I have to find a few Christmas CDs to add to my collection. Sadly, many artists have discovered the holiday venue as a way to produce revenue without actually adding anything more than cover songs to the body of holiday music already available. When I'm buying, I don't want to hear the traditionals redone. That's been done -- and probably better long ago," says Becky.

"I was more than excited to see Tori Amos offered a holiday CD this year because I knew she'd go off the beaten path. I was not disappointed at all. This is not your usual holiday CD. Yes, we do have 'Silent Night' and 'Coventry Carol,' but the balance of the 14 songs are new or songs you don't often hear."

Putumayo serves up A Family Christmas, much to Becky's delight. "If I had to name a favorite record label, it would have to be Putumayo because they have brought me music from all over the world and exposed me to some of my new favorite artists, from African to Celtic They've also brought out a new Christmas CD almost every year, and it's always something fun and unexpected. The 11 tracks on this year's offering are no different," she says.

"You literally don't know what's going to happen next with this recording and that's probably the best thing about it. While the music's all been played before, you're not going to hear it done like this any time soon."

Sting joins the holiday crew with his latest release, If on a Winter's Night. "Please note while this CD is frequently listed among 'Christmas' music, the offerings are not totally holiday fare. In this case, the title is very indicative of the material within. These songs are musings for a cold winter's night. This also is a CD you can use to audition stereo equipment, as the recording is one of the best I have heard in a long time," Becky says.

"While Sting fans are going to love this CD, I think it's also appropriate for people who enjoy the 17th-century style music and audiophile level recording. There's not a bad song in the mix."

If that's not enough, we have a page devoted to nothin' but this jolly season for your perusal right here. Take a look, find something to read, watch or spin on your stereo!

And now, a few more offerings that are not tied to the time of year:

Carley Wolf is prepared to Set Sail with this "amiably eccentric" recording. "Judging from her photos, Wolf cannot have been born when the first generation of hippies roamed the Earth. Still, she must have something of the experience in her genes," Jerome Clark says.

"In any event, what matters for our purposes is that Set Sail is well above the usual singer-songwriter fare. Wolf has an impressively inventive musical imagination, in which she integrates multiple genres (jazz, gypsy rhythms, folk, pop) into a distinctively personal style. Her voice -- both literal and metaphorical -- is rich, supple and hard to resist whether it is waxing philosophical, gloomy, erotic or playful."

Buddy and Julie Miller's music is Written in Chalk. "If you are only a casual fan of the country or Americana genres, you might not have heard of Buddy and Julie Miller, but there is no doubt that the performers in your music library have, and there is a fair probability that Buddy or Julie appear in the liner notes of a number of your favorite albums," Edward Whitelock says.

"The speed at which this album vanished from the charts is absolutely perplexing. This is the best country/Americana release of the year, hands down: authentic music made by authentic people. This is old-time music that sounds like it was made the old-time way, in a living room, with a group of friends gathered around the farmhouse piano while assorted instrumentalists line the walls around the singers. And what a stellar array of "old friends" have stopped by for this particular sing-along: Robert Plant, Patty Griffin, Larry Campbell and Emmylou Harris, among many others!"

Josh Boyd & the V.I.P Band doesn't raise any eyebrows with this self-titled blues album. "One aspect of today's technology that has turned out to have some negative effects is the fact that it is so widespread, anyone willing to invest the money can churn out a professional-sounding CD. What we need to remember is that, in some cases, professional sounding is not professional," says Michael Scott Cain.

"Josh Boyd's CD turns out to be a routine album, featuring a lot of guitar and rough vocals on songs that are neither memorable or startlingly original. It all has a slightly familiar feel; you've heard it all before."

Tamara Summers urges teenage girls to Never Bite a Boy on the First Date. "While Tamara Summers' Never Bite a Boy on the First Date isn't exactly a carbon copy of Stephenie Meyer's best-selling books, many similarities exist. The complexities of dating between members of the living and undead, identity crises and high school drama are but a few of the many resemblances. However, it is the way that this book differs from those of the Twilight series that makes it noticeable," says Justin Tenley.

"Although the plot revolves around the murder of a high school student, Never Bite a Boy on the First Date was written by a whimsical, light-hearted hand. Steering very clear from dark, serious conventions, the story is full of humor ... and young romance."

C.S. Forester is Flying Colours as he sails into the eighth book of the Horatio Hornblower saga. "For all that Horatio Hornblower is one of the great literary naval captains of the age, he spends very little time at sea in Flying Colours," Tom Knapp reports. "Here he pays the price for his highly successful actions against the French; forced to strike his colors against overwhelming odds at the end of Ship of the Line, he now languishes with his crew in a French prison awaiting trial for alleged war crimes against Napoleon.

"It speaks well for Hornblower (and, even more so, Forester) that this ship's captain performs so well as a protagonist even when deprived of his natural place at sea. While Hornblower's insufferable self-loathing, guilt and recriminations do at times grow tiresome, his endlessly clever mind and action-packed successes assures he will remain a beloved character for generations to come."

Haggai Carmon reveals The Chameleon Conspiracy in the third Dan Gordon thriller. "The introduction in the book compares Dan Gordon to James Bond. That link is tenuous in my mind," Wil Owen says.

"Yes, both characters are intelligence agents. However, Bond is always in the middle of an action scene, which makes you think he has more lives than a cat. Gordon, on the other hand, is a little more portly and spends most of his action scenes either running away or getting his butt kicked. This isn't meant to be comedic. Dan is simply more of a thinker, not a fighter. Dan's skill is in out-witting his opponent, not over-powering them with physical prowess."

Ross Macdonald is not your average Sleeping Beauty. "This is Ross MacDonald at his prime," Dave Sturm observes.

"This novel requires and rewards close reading. It is not slam-bang hard-boiled stuff. It intricately picks apart the history of a family that has long been in denial about the rotten things done in the past," he adds. "Red herrings? A ton of them. Don't even try to guess the ending, which only appears on the final page. But it takes your breath away."

Mark Allen takes a look back at a once cutting-edge title. "As in any entertainment medium, experimentation within the field of comics is important. And, while a handful of computer-generated comics were produced in the 1980s and '90s, for my money, DC's graphic novel titled The Dome: Ground Zero was one of the most worthwhile," he says.

"A combination of painted art and computer-generated graphics, much of Angus McKie's work is quite striking, even beautiful. However, as computer technology improves on pretty much an annual basis these days, the 1998 graphics will likely seem stiff, even antiquated to some. Still, the art never distracts from the story. And who knows? It may even be a draw for older readers who were more into video games during the '90s."

Becky Kyle takes a look at the new Disney take on A Christmas Carol. "A Christmas Carol is for the most part faithful to the Dickensian classic. Director Robert Zemeckis has, of course, added some heart-breaking and fearsome twists to the three manifestations of Christmasses Past, Present and Yet to Come," she says.

"He's also given Scrooge almost exactly the face I envisioned when I first read the story many years ago. He's a hawk-nosed, hard-eyed, bitter pill of an old man who looks like he's stewed in his own bitter pudding for many years."

Tom Knapp, less in the holiday spirit, goes creeping around in the basement looking for zombies in Resident Evil. "Video games have inspired a raft of movies over the past decade or two. Most of them aren't much good, either because they fail to follow the parameters established by the game or because they fail to rise above the source material," he says.

"Resident Evil falls among the latter; it's a lot like your standard shoot-'em-up zombie video game, in that you have people wandering through improbable locations splattering zombies with heavy firepower, but apart from cardboard characters and a flimsy plot, it offers little you couldn't find in a game."

You think we're done? Ha!! Come back for more next week.

We are sad to announce the death of Liam Clancy, who at age 74 was the last of Ireland's beloved Clancy Brothers. We hope brothers Tom and Patrick, as well as longtime partner Tommy Makem, are waiting to greet him, and the afterlife will resound with their songs.

Rambles.NET editor Tom Knapp fondly recalls an opportunity he had to interview Liam along with his nephew, Robbie O'Connell, in 1995. You can read the results of that chat here.

On the lighter side of celebrity news ... what kind of man pays his wife ($60 million, no less) to stay married to him? Damn, we suspect he could find someone at a much better rate on any street corner in New York City.

"Usually, there's one song I'll skip on a CD, but in this case, I can honestly say all 15 songs are well worth listening to. I've had the CD in my computer for a week now, and I will probably only replace it with Christmas music."

Fiona J. Mackenzie packs A Good Suit of Clothes for sharing her Gaelic songs. "Mackenzie has a beautiful voice ideally suited to the songs on offer here," says Nicky Rossiter.

"This is an excellent album of top-class if little-known songs sung by a fantastic singer with sensitive and never overpowering backing."

Anne Price serves up some nostalgia with Very Early Anne. "Price discovered some tapes of her performances at folk gatherings at Hunter College in 1965 and '66, when she was a student there. Obviously, they constitute a piece of her development as an artist, but for us, the listening audience, they constitute a trip back in time, back to every night you ever spent in a coffee house, bar or house concert, listening to an earnest, not ready for prime time, guitar-playing soprano run through the standard folk repertoire," says Michael Scott Cain.

"It was a time when singers didn't have to be singer-songwriters, when they built their sets out of traditional tunes, a touch of bluegrass and songs composed 

by the folk giants of the day."

The New Budapest Orpheum Society has front-row seats to share for the Jewish Cabaret in Exile. "The title of this CD refers to the economically based movement of Jews from the country to cities such as Vienna, Budapest and Berlin in the late 19th century," Dave Howell explains.

"The CD comes with an excellent 62-page booklet, which explains the history of this music. It is a unique, sounding like vaudeville played by classically trained musicians, sung in German and Yiddish, with the minor keys of Jewish music sneaking in here and there. It's a fascinating presentation."

Bearfoot is throwing open the Doors & Windows. "Originally intended to be a bluegrass band, Bearfoot's young founders changed direction when they couldn't find a banjo player in Alaska. So, while remaining acoustic, banjoless and drumless (at least in live performance; banjo and drums are heard from time to time on Doors & Windows), the group became something else not immediately classifiable, at least in the context it has chosen -- for now -- to operate," Jerome Clark says.

"Mostly original songs, the better part of Bearfoot is the Joni Mitchell/singer-songwriter sort of material, melodic, lyrically ambitious and well sung with engagingly ethereal harmonies. The less interesting part, too close to half of the album, suggests directions that may lead the band to Nashville to join the legions of forgettable, mainstream and ephemeral."

Joe Bonomo gets down to the nitty gritty in Sweat: The Story of the Fleshtones, America's Garage Band. "It is rare to hear a rock band whose taste in music seems to come out of your own head, like they were reading your thoughts. To me, the Fleshtones are that band," Dave Sturm remarks.

"It not only puzzles me, it angers me that such great talent has not been met with the reward it deserves. It is absolutely infernal that it has taken the French, who adore them, to keep their fortunes afloat."

Cassandra Clare unearths a City of Ashes in the second volume ofThe Mortal Instruments. "The blend of magic and real-world New York makes this series, in some ways, the very definition of urban fantasy. Add to it the inclusion of vampires and werewolves, a sprinkling of fairies and a flamboyantly gay wizard, and it starts to seem like every stereotype on the fantasy shelf. And yet, oddly enough, it works. The vampires are different than most of the modern vampires: they're scary and not the least little bit sexy or sparkly. The werewolves have a social structure that is different from most in modern fiction, with a harder edge than one might expect in YA fiction. And you don't even want to tangle with the fairies, 'cause they ain't Tinkerbell," Belinda Christ says.

"In other words, what Clare has done is go back to older myths for her source material. Everything has a harder, darker edge than some of the YA books coming out today. In some ways, it is like comparing the Disney versions of fairy tales to the Grimm tales. The older versions are earthier, darker and, ultimately, more frightening."

William H. White takes on the First Barbary War, a little-known period of American naval history, with The Greater the Honor, a novel that sets fictional midshipman Oliver Baldwin in the heart of the action. "Baldwin isn't the hero here; rather, White sets him among numerous real, larger-than-life naval figures, such as Commodore Edward Preble, who commanded the blockade of Tripoli in 1803 from the deck of the mighty USS Constitution, plus Stephen Decatur, William Bainbridge, Isaac Hull, James Lawrence and more. Through Baldwin's eyes, we see the burning of the capture frigate,Philadelphia, as well as the bombardment of the walled city and attacks on various vessels in the Tripoli fleet," Tom Knapp says.

"There are some weaknesses, however, that might put off some readers."

Jessica Day George unveils the Princess of the Midnight Ball. "With one exception, all of the recent retellings of 'The Twelve Dancing Princesses' have been spectacularly mediocre. There's Dia Calhoun's overtly psychological The Phoenix Dance, Suzanne Weyn's overwrought The Night Dance and Juliet Marillier's forgettable Wildwood Dancing," says Jennifer Mo.

"Princess of the Midnight Ball blows them all out of the water. Seamless storytelling meets understated magic, sure-footed prose and surreptitious knitting in this satisfying retelling."

The second volume of The Sword finds former paraplegic Dara Brighton seeking revenge against the man/god who murdered her sister. The journey takes her and two friends to the Bahamas ... and she even gets to fight pirates along the way," Tom Knapp says.

"Much of Water is taken up with Dara's journey and search for Zakros. The rest is a fierce and thrilling duel of powers and will -- and readers will learn just what a creative mind can do with water."

David Hadju examines a four-color controversy in The Ten Cent Plague: The Great Comic Book Scare & How It Changed America. "It is one of the book's greatest ironies that those in charge of images and storytelling in a highly commercial venue, with a vast reservoir of creative talent at its disposal, were unable to grasp how quickly public sentiment had turned against them. They lost control of the rhetoric early on and never got it back. This was due largely to the fact that they didn't treat the growing threat seriously enough until it was very late in the game," says comics reviewer Mary Harvey.

"For a while, comic-book publishers tried to walk the line by forming the CMAA, their own version of an in-house censoring panel, but the reforms that were demanded literally left nothing to the imagination. The result was that hundreds of talented artists and writers were, by the end of 1955, working as security guards, post office clerks and secretaries. But it certainly wasn't the end."

Dave Sturm's first viewing of Waltz with Bashir became an opportunity for discussion. "I am somewhat film-savvy and was well aware of what it was about and drove nearly an hour to see it," he recalled. "There were only three people in the audience, myself included. The other two were an elderly married couple. After it ended, the couple immediately came up to me. They were very disturbed and wanted to talk to someone, anyone, about what they had just seen.

"Let there be no doubt -- this is film art of the highest order, and a landmark in film history."

Tom Knapp offers up a big ol' hiss for Anaconda. "Let me say this about Anaconda: an opening scene with Jennifer Lopez in a sheer nightgown is just about the best special effect in the film," he says.

"Otherwise, the effects are pretty terrible. When, for instance, the giant snake attacks the hungry panther, you will believe that a computer-animated serpent can kill a stuffed cat. And when that giant snake attacks members of the cast, you will believe the actors were between jobs and really just needed an income."

You think we're done? Ha!! Come back for more next week.

Maggie MacInnes is Leaving Mingulay with music closely identified with that abandoned Scottish island. "MacInnes, who grew up on Barra 12 miles north of Mingulay, has followed an impressive career as Scottish harp (clarsach) player, singer and composer. Leaving Mingulay (A Fagail Mhiughalaigh) remembers the island with authentic songs and airs associated with its once-thriving rural culture," Jerome Clark says.

"Accompanied by some first-rate Scottish musicians on pipes, fiddles and other native instruments or providing harmony vocals, MacInnes offers up a dozen cuts' worth of something like musical perfection. Her strong and clear voice communicates emotions even if in a language with which few of us are conversant."

Tanya Tucker is taking My Turn with some well-known bluegrass tunes. "There was a time when a new album from Tanya Tucker was an event. My Turn, her first album since 2002, doesn't quite qualify. On it, she takes on familiar songs first done by men and gives them what the promo for the CD calls a 'female twist,'" says Michael Scott Cain.

"The problem is, she doesn't twist them far enough. Tucker's approach to this material is too cautious, too tentative. She never cuts loose; her essential energy rarely breaks through. It's as though she doesn't want to offend anyone, anywhere, as if she's anticipating negative reactions and wants to cut them off before they come."

Caroline Herring's Golden Apples of the Sun gets a second look from Jerome Clark, whose review of this album came in hard on the heels of another by Dave Townsend. "Small miracles abound on this marvelous recording. It arises from an unlikely, in lesser hands unpromising, premise: a modern-day folk singer's effort to pay tribute to two 1960s heroes, Judy Collins and Joni Mitchell," Jerome says.

"Every song is some variety of alluring. I've heard few singers who have so perfectly integrated art and folk song. And unlike Mitchell, Herring knows the tradition well -- it's part of her natural vocabulary -- but it is very much her own personalized vision of that tradition."

Felipe Salles presents a South American Suite for your listening pleasure. "South American Suite is Brazilian music presented in a somewhat formal context, using jazz arrangements. It is not orchestral as the title might indicate, however, since only eight musicians are used," Dave Howell reports.

"Some of the compositions are more like tone poems than songs, and at up to 15 minutes in length, a few might have been tightened a little. However, Salles changes the dynamics often in these pieces and takes the melodies through some twists and turns. This is a worthy experiment that is pleasant to listen to, and successfully reflects the wonderful variety of Brazilian music."

Taking another look at the Festival Club at the Celtic Colours International Festival, Kaitlin Hahn focuses on a spellbinding performance by Pierre Schryer and Quinn Bachand.

"They were looking at each other, with their faces only inches apart, and I swear, it was like they were reading each other's minds," Kaitlin says. "Schryer did a fancy descending run down his fingerboard, and Bachand did the same, flawlessly. They were playing off of one another so well and they blasted through tune after tune, consistently wowing the crowd."

Laini Taylor makes a memorable mark in the fantasy realms with Lips Touch: Three Times. The book is a collection of three stories, "each centered around the importance of a single smooch. All are fantasy-based -- two contemporary, one set in a bygone time -- and each is, in its own way, haunting. Beautiful. Lush," Tom Knapp says.

"While it's easy to draw comparisons to other authors, I would pay Taylor a disservice if I didn't acknowledge her unique voice and presence, which swept me away in a manner uniquely her own. Her writing is simply gorgeous, her plot and character development rich and stylish."

C.S. Forester's adventures of Horatio Hornblower continue with Ship of the Line. "Picking up almost immediately after the conclusion of Beat to Quarters, Ship of the Line takes Horatio Hornblower and his crew aboard the 74-gun HMS Sutherland to escort a convoy of merchant ships to safety and patrol the coast of Spain," Tom says.

"Action, of course, follows hard on his heels. And, once he rejoins the fleet, he is given the freedom of three days to take his own initiative against Napoleon's forces. In the pages that follow, Hornblower orchestrates an astonishing, pulse-pounding series of assaults by land and sea. This right here is ample evidence why Hornblower, the character, is a brilliant navy captain and why C.S. Forester, the author, was a brilliant writer."

Terry Brooks offers a bleak future in The Gypsy Morph, the third book in Genesis of Shannara. "Terry Brooks has long since proven himself a master storyteller," says Becky Kyle.

"He kept us enchanted with Shannara for many years and through many novels, then moved to The Word & the Void, a trilogy. Now, with the third series in this multi-book universe, he's finally revealing to his fans where Shannara originated from."

Israel del Rio's Honeycomb "expounds upon the fascinating idea that every life being lived slowly generates the one true God, as opposed to a god having created life. Del Rio explains this theory through the heart-wrenching stories of various interconnected individuals living in modern-day Denver and Santa Fe, all of whom are potential incarnations of the main character," Whitney Mallenby says.

"Unfortunately, the overemphasis on the logistics of the underlying idea of a constantly generated god or Honeycomb detracts from the merits of the actual stories being told through the main character's dilemma about which life to choose. The constant explanations take the readers out of the story and away from the more touching and appealing aspects of this book."

Mark Allen checks in with Conan the Barbarian for a collection titled Conan the Reaver. "A straightforward tale, to be sure. As is common in Conan yarns, however, it isn't the intricacies of the story that are the highlight, but the intensity, purity and realism of the characters, as well as the action and artwork," Mark says.

"Emotions run high in this tale, be they results of the contempt of the elite for those less fortunate, the ghastly glee of a pagan priest as he offers a helpless sacrifice, the horror experienced as one comes face-to-face with the Mother of Darkness, or the seemingly selfless acts of one considered a barbarian."

Tom Knapp prepares to take a beating over his dim view of Twilight: New Moon. "I avoided theTwilight frenzy through all the books and first movie. But when New Moon, the second film in the four-film series, came out, there was a birthday wish that needed granting. And so, despite my firm bias against vampires who sparkle in the sunshine, I find myself sitting just three rows from the big screen with Molly, my broadly grinning 11-year-old daughter," he says.

"So, let's look at this first from an adult's point of view. It was telling that the packed theater had relatively few adults in the seats, and a few at least were quietly texting rather than watching the screen."

Dave Sturm, meanwhile, has time to spend Fighting. "This is about as intense a street-level view of the crummier parts of New York City as you're ever going to get. The helicopter shots are stunning as well. At ground level, some set pieces really put you there, including an opening street brawl in front of Radio City Music Hall. This is Gotham as tourists seldom see it -- tacky shops, low-rent hotels, cheesy diners, crowded side streets with that only-in-New-York jumble of signage," he says.

"But make no mistake, this is a B movie. Standard acting. The bad guys all sneer outrageously. The fighters endure punishment no one really could. The love subplot is off the shelf."

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Eleanor McEvoy has been Singled Out for yet another review. "Listening to this CD one tries to classify the unclassifiable. She strides across styles with ease," Nicky Rossiter says.

"At time you think of Mary Chapin Carpenter and then you say it's deep down blues or rocking country. This CD may never get the audience it deserves on radio so it's up to you to go out and get it."

Buffy Sainte-Marie is Running for the Drum with her latest collection of folk and Native American music. "It's a beauty," says Michael Scott Cain.

"The world has changed a lot in 45 years, but Sainte-Marie has remained insistently her own woman, going her own way. She has neither become a nostalgia act, burdened by her old music, nor has she abandoned her earlier styles and concerns. She has, however, deepened. Her work is stronger, truer and more powerful than it has ever been."

Jerome Clark follows bluegrass North to Ontario for this 2009 edition of a well-made compilation. "Inasmuch as Canada boasts country and blues musicians in reasonable abundance, it should be no surprise that another Southern genre is well represented, too," Jerome says.

"The current edition of North to Ontario -- there are three predecessors, none heard by me -- documents the bluegrass scene in Canada's most cosmopolitan province. Appropriately, however, the two compilers, Gene Gouthro and Tom McCreight, have rural or small-town mailing addresses, possibly quelling fears of the traditionally minded that the sounds to follow are uptown ones. It turns out that -- at least if North is any indication -- Ontario bluegrassers tend to opt for the downhome approach."

Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin travel with a pair of youngsters to Arthurian times in The Taker & the Keeper. "If you know an 8-year-old who wishes the Back to the Future movies had gone just a little -- well, OK, kind of a lot -- further back in time, go ahead and hand him Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin's The Taker & the Keeperfor a brisk romp through the age of chivalry," Jennifer Mo suggests.

"The story is simple and occasionally a bit illogical, but it's still a fun, fast-paced read that plunges straight from one adventure into the next," she adds. "While it won't win any prizes for subtlety or sophistication, at under 200 pages, The Taker & the Keeper is a short but enjoyable read for Arthurian fans (ages 8-10) who are just a little too young for the Gerald Morris series."

Brant Randall and Bruce Cook do a little Tommy Gun Tango in this sequel to Randall's earlier novel, Blood Harvest. "Like the first novel, there is more than murder and mayhem in this one. Instead of the KKK, we now have the Hollywood elite and a corrupt police force," Wil Owen states.

"I was happy to revisit several of the characters from Blood Harvest. The writing style is still witty. The books both read quickly and are full of dark humor."

Georgette Heyer makes a Royal Escape for fans of historical fiction. "Charles II's Royal Escape provides Georgette Heyer's readers with both an accurate account of the true monarch's adventure and a coming-of-age story through one of England's most unusual royals," Whitney Mallenby says.

"This day-by-day saga showcases Heyer's talent for transporting her readers back through time and giving them a grand tour of the various lifestyles then lived. Moreover, she portrays the young Charles II with both great tenderness and much playfulness, which makes it easy for readers to stay by his side along his physical and mental journeys."

Jake Adelstein's Tokyo Vice: An American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan is "journalism, a business novel, outsider memoir, cultural analysis and true crime. It's a page-turner, too," says Carole McDonnell.

"When the typical North American reader of police procedurals picks up a true crime book written by some intrepid journalist, we're pretty aware of the basics of the American law and culture. We assume things. The same with books on travel to Japan. Again, we assume. All those assumptions have to go out the window when one picks up Adelstein's book. Luckily, we're in good hands: Adelstein not only has to explain Japanese culture, but Japanese newspaper culture, Japanese cop culture, Japanese sex crime laws and the workings and upiquitousness of the yakuza. He does a great job."

Tom Knapp spends a little time with DC Comics' Bad Girls. "Take elements of the movies Heathersand Mean Girls and mix with any number of low-grade superhero comics. The result, if you avoid tainting the recipe with too much originality, creativity or decisive character development, might beBad Girls," he says.

"Attempts at intrigue fall flat, and the few surprise twists fail to inject any real excitement into the tale. Bad Girls is the most unforgivable of comic-book failures: a bore."

Mark Allen is a fan of Xenozoic Tales, a Kitchen Press release later reprinted by Marvel Comics' Epic line as Cadillacs & Dinosaurs. "I really like dinosaurs. And I enjoy well-done comic book material on dinosaurs. For my money, Xenozoic Tales is probably the best series ever done on the subject, from both art and storytelling standpoints," he says.

"Xenozoic Tales is set 600 years in the future, when dinos roam once more and souped-up automobiles race alongside them. An odd combination, to be sure, but creator/writer/artist Mark Schultz made it all work."

Mary McGrigor takes a careful look at a true-life hero of the Napoleonic wars in Defiant & Dismasted at Trafalgar: The Life & Times of Admiral Sir William Hargood. "Hargood, unless you're a scholar of the Napoleonic wars, is likely an unfamiliar name. But this valiant officer led a storied career in the service of Britain, including bold action at Trafalgar that demonstrates amazing courage and loyalty," Tom Knapp says.

"Mary McGrigor -- working with a rare copy of Joseph Allen's biography commissioned by Hargood's widow and written shortly after Hargood's death -- gives this hero his due in Defiant & Dismasted at Trafalgar."

Tom Knapp looks back at Dracula 2000, one of the truly bad movies of that year. "Vampire films, by their very nature, skirt a thin line between stylish and cheesy, hokey and horrific," he says.

"Dracula 2000 is both hokey and cheesy. Except for a touch of gravitas by Christopher Plummer as the ageless Van Helsing and a swift chuckle earned by Danny Masterson as vamp fodder, there is very little else to say about it."

Dave Sturm takes a look back at Sorcerer. "I saw Sorcerer in a movie theater when it first came out (having seen and like director William Friedkin's two earlier films) and was knocked for a loop. I wonder how many of the critics today who disparage Sorcerer have only seen it on a TV screen. Because, I gotta tell you, some parts of this movie seen on the big screen are mind-blowing," he says.

"This is truly one of the great adventure movies."

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New from the World Music Network, The Rough Guide to Irish Folk "is a great addition to a series of CDs highlighting the music of various countries. This collection will appeal to visitors and natives alike because of the variety and the quality of the performers as well as the songs," Nicky Rossiter says.

"Karan Casey, Cara Dillon, Arty McGlynn and a host of other big names in the business rub musical shoulders with a number of performers who are new to me over the 17 tracks on the album."

Caroline Herring takes a new musical tack with Golden Apples of the Sun. "While her music tends to fall into the alt-country/Americana format, this CD has more of a stripped-down folk sound. It is a nice mix of original songs and some very uniquely arraigned covers," Dave Townsend says.

"With Golden Apples of the Sun, Caroline proves that she is not only a talented singer-songwriter, but also has a strong ability to give us interesting interpretations of other people's songs. Both of those qualities make this a very enjoyable CD."

Will Scott makes his music debut with Gnawbone. "When it's good, Gnawbone is fine, but when it isn't, it's because it's all over the place -- unfocused, leaping from style to style. It's as though Scott wanted to take this opportunity to show us how versatile he is, but it sounds as though he's firing a shotgun instead of taking carefully aimed shots with a rifle," Michael Scott Cain says.

"Still, it's hard to fault an artist for being ambitious. Will Scott might be a singer-songwriter who is all over the place, offering up blues, rock, power ballads and folk, but he's also a man who appears to know what he's doing and determined to do it his own way."

Jerome Clark takes a look at a diverse pair of Muldaurs: Geoff Muldaur & the Texas Sheiks in their new self-titled CD, and Maria Muldaur & Her Garden of Joy in, likewise, a new self-titled CD. "The musical and marital partnership of Geoff and Maria Muldaur ended its run in the early 1970s, but here, by happy chance, their separate new releases arrive in the same mail. Even more remarkably, they're both jug-band discs marking returns to their roots in a style that first brought them to popular attention," Jerome says.

"Jug-band music (JBM) encompasses all of those, but in its original incarnation in the 1920s, as a Southern urban-street music with rural references, it was an African-American genre. It was a good-time music, sly and humorous, not in short a vehicle with which to examine the darker side of human existence as was its contemporary, the Delta blues. JBM is roughly analogous to, if less musically sophisticated than, the Western swing that was soon to sweep the southwestern section of the nation."

Greg Dawson pays tribute to his mother -- and her struggle for survival as a Jewish Ukrainian during Hitler's domination -- in Hiding in the Spotlight: A Musical Prodigy's Story of Survival, 1941-1946. "The facts serve as testimony to the power of music, offered under even the most dire and most horrific of circumstances," says Corinne Smith.

"Hiding in the Spotlight is a compelling narrative that deserves wide readership. Even non-musicians or readers apart from The Greatest Generation will be thunderstruck by this true tale. It is the kind of book that makes you shake your head as you read it."

Chelsea Quinn Yarbro enters A Dangerous Climate -- in Russia, during the reign of Peter the Great -- with this new tale in the saga of the vampire Count Saint-Germain.

"Yarbro's intensely detailed historical background offers readers a very dense and accurate account of life in early Petersburg. Her plot, which centers around an unknown stranger appearing during Saint-Germain's undercover work and claiming to be the Count Saint-Germain himself, makes small impression against the true facts included in A Dangerous Climate because, from start to finish, it remains a network of slow-moving loose ends. The threats to Saint-Germain's physical person are easily eluded and lacking context, the impostor's threat to his identity never comes to a satisfactory conclusion, no female character claims the role of heroine or even romantic interest, and the Count's mission itself fails to really alter events.," Whitney Mallenby says. "In short, while both well researched and well intentioned, no aspect of this episode of Count Saint-Germain's life manages to rouse enough interest to really engage its readers."

Dudley Pope doesn't waste any time getting into the action in Ramage, the first in a series of sea-going adventures. "There are weaknesses here. One is Ramage's habit of day-dreaming when his attention really should be focused elsewhere; this is obviously a tool Pope uses to bring readers up to speed on important information, but it strains believability to have a man of Ramage's station drift off during combat, for instance, or while being interviewed by the esteemed Commodore Nelson. Ramage's endless stream of good luck and happy coincidences also tests the reader's credulity," Tom Knapp says.

"But there is plenty to like here, and I like Ramage a great deal. This is only the first book in an 18-book series, and I know already I'd love to read the lot. Ramage is a promising character with boatloads of growth potential, an interesting set of character flaws and a personal history that could stand in his way. Pope, meanwhile, has an obvious knowledge of and love for the sea, and it shines through in his writing." This, by the by, is Tom Knapp's 2,200th review for Rambles.NET.

Alex Bledsoe mixes vampire stereotypes in Blood Groove. "Baron Rudolfo Zginski was a vampire of the old school, a powerful, Eastern European bloodsucker who was finally revealed and staked in a small Welsh village in 1915. Sixty years later, the stake is removed by a medical examiner in a Memphis, Tenn., and Zginski rises once more," Tom says.

"But the United States in 1975 is nothing like the world Zginski remembers. The few vampires he finds in the city are timid, filthy beasts who know little of their true power. And the public perception of vampires seems to be reflected in the contemporary blaxploitation film, Blacula, which Zginski watches with the single-minded fascination of a person who has never before seen anything like it."

Cassandra Clare touches off The Mortal Instruments with City of Bones. "Author Cassandra Clare has taken a blend of fantasy and horror characters and mixed them liberally with the spice of Goth and a dash of urban myth, then dropped them into a gritty New York setting," Belinda Christ remarks.

"Highly entertaining and well-written, City of Bones is a blend of adventure, high and urban fantasy, with a smidgen of romance thrown in for good measure. I breathlessly breezed through the book, drawn in by Clare's unique world. But an unexpected turn at the end of the book had me the book left me so devastated that I nearly decided to give the rest of the series a pass. In the end, I chose to complete the series, a decision that was rewarded time and time again."

The Luna Brothers, Joshua and Jonathan, launch a new series, The Sword, with style and flair. "Volume one of this new series from Image, titled Fire, introduces college art student Dara Brighton, a paraplegic, who is sharing a pleasant dinner with her parents and sister when a trio of strangers bursts into the house, calling her father by an unfamiliar name and demanding a stolen sword from him. Not getting what they want, the strangers exhibit strange powers, which they use to torture and kill Dara's family. Only a fluke keeps her alive but, crashing through the floor of her burning house, she finds a hidden -- yes, you guessed it -- sword," Tom Knapp says.

"Fire is a brilliant kickoff to the series," he says. "The twists and turns as friends and foes alike seek Dara and the sword, as the police chase her and a secret government agency tries to lock her down, as her new friend Justin reveals her father's secrets and Dara discovers just what this centuries-old sword can do -- well, it's a page-turner that, when you finish, will have you looking for volume two."

Jesse Rice testifies for The Church of Facebook. "Rice is concerned about the death of community in our time and the building of a new one. Facebook, he says, with its millions of users who are creating networks of 'friends,' is becoming our new community. What we do not have in face-to-face relationships, we will get in virtual ones," says Michael Scott Cain.

"The problem, however, is that as our list of friends grows, as we're trying to keep up with more and more people, the quality of our online relationships declines; we keep up with dozens or hundreds of people, but our relationship with them is superficial. We have limited 'channel capacity' and when we try to keep up with more than 15 or so people, we begin to overload."

Mel Gibson's Hamlet has a lot going for it ... but it has one major problem, too: Gibson's age. "Gibson, who was 38 when this movie was released, was far too old to play the role of the young prince, who is no more than 20. So why would the producers of the film choose to cast a man twice the age of the character?" Belinda Christ asks.

"While Gibson does an admirable job in acting the emotions of the character, his age cannot be hidden. His physical appearance becomes a detriment, particularly in the scenes opposite Glenn Close. Every attempt was made to make Close look older and Gibson look younger, but with only a nine-year age difference between the two, scenes between mother and son seem awkward at best."

Dave Sturm says "those who say Stir of Echoes isn't as good as Sixth Sense are really saying, 'Kevin Bacon isn't as famous as Bruce Willis.' That's unfortunate, because Stir of Echoes (the vague title probably should have been changed to something more chilling, even though it's the title of the novel by Richard Matheson on which the movie is based) stands up very well."

The movie, directed by David Koepp, is "a perfectly serviceable whodunit mystery that happens to have a scary/supernatural element," he adds.

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The new CD 65 Roses isn't just a collection of good music, it's also a fundraiser for a good cause. "65 Roses is an album that you can buy as an excellent showcase of very good local Irish talent or you can do your bit for a cystic fibrosis charity -- either way or both, you will be the real winner," Nicky Rossiter says.

"This recording has been a cooperative effort that attracted a wide range of singers and performers and is a worthy tribute to a young girl who left this world all too early, but in her life she touched worlds as diverse as those of her pupils in the local technical college and that of composer Phil Coulter, who spoke movingly at her funeral," he adds. "But this is not a maudlin album. It is life-affirming and reflects her love of music and its deep enjoyment."

Kerstin Blodig "has a clear, cool voice that can send chills up your spine -- and surely will on at least one of the 13 tracks gracing Nordic Soul. No need to mince words: this is uncommonly good stuff," says Jennifer Mo.

"Mythology, musicianship and more than a little magic meet on this CD. It doesn't matter if you've never heard Scandinavian folk music before; Nordic Soul is readily accessible while remaining fresh and evocative. It also doesn't matter if you've never heard of Kerstin Blodig; her voice and acoustic guitar are pitch-perfect and arresting from the opening notes of the CD."

Wheeler mixes both gospel and pop sounds into its bluegrass for its self-titled release,Wheeler. "This is not Bill Monroe or the Stanley Brothers but something that used to be called newgrass, in other words more bluegrass-like -- or (as misanthropes and mouldy figs would insist) bluegrass-lite -- than the thing itself," Jerome Clark says.

"While Wheeler hails from Virginia, it sounds neither especially Southern nor particularly Appalachian. It could have come from anywhere, in contrast to Mountain Roads' other releases, which highlight a more traditional, more clearly regional sound. My listening preferences are not generally newgrass-oriented, but I know the worthwhile stuff when I hear it."

Ashley Lennon Thomas "can sing, there's no doubting that. When she wraps her warm, rich contralto around a song, it stays wrapped. In fact, it's so thoroughly covered that it'll stay comfortable right through the winter," Michael Scott Cain reports.

"Thomas's brand of blue-eyed soul, languorous and subtle, is, for much of the album, a pleasure to listen to. She has the lingering aroma of Memphis in the 1970s in her songs, with a hint of Stax-Volt in her vocal and instrumental arrangements," he adds. "When Sparkle Plenty is good, it is very good, but not all of the disc is up to the standards set by the best of it."

Kaitlin Hahn files another report from the Celtic Colours International Festival; this time, she comes to you from Wagmatcook and the From Coast to Coast fiddle extravaganza featuring Qristina and Quinn Bachand, Fidil, Ashley MacIsaac and Sierra Noble.

"The Wagmatcook Culture & Heritage Centre is a nice little venue, right on the Trans Canada Highway in Wagmatcook. Before the show, I took a little time to look around the room as people took their seats," Kaitlin says. "There is a beautiful mural of a tree on the back wall, which portrayed the beliefs of the native people of this area, and in one of the front corners of the room, near the stage, there was a group of these very people who were performing their native songs and drumming. The pre-concert music was a really nice touch, and the audience was appreciative."

"I read this book in one sitting. It is, at 113 pages, short enough to read quickly, but the narrative also gets its teeth into you and doesn't let go easily. (I tried to stop reading for the night at least twice, but never managed to put the book down until I had finished.)"

C.S. Forester once again must Beat to Quarters in the first novel he wrote in his highly acclaimed Horatio Hornblower series but the sixth in the chronological order of the tales. "Although in some ways lacking the polish of his later books -- Forester's habit of writing with a wink to innovations and expressions unknown in Hornblower's time is especially irksome --Beat to Quarters is a nonstop thrill. From the insane Central American dictator who fancies himself a god to the noble lady who shares Hornblower's ship and pokes holes in his indomitable facade, the book just rolls along at a heady, breathtaking pace," Tom says.

"Of particular note, however, are the sea battles -- three in total, all against the same Spanish ship of the line that outweighs and outguns Hornblower's newly commissioned frigate, Lydia. TheNatividad boasts more guns and crew, it's true, but the Lydia has Hornblower, who remains more than a half-century after his invention one of the best and truest fictional heroes of the British navy."

C.L. Talmadge begins the Green Stone of Healing with The Vision. "The strengths of this book are many and varied. The writing is crisp, clear and fast-paced, creating a real page-turner. The characters are definitely well-developed and three-dimensional," Chris McCallister says.

"The story is also replete with complexities, including religious oppression, racism, political intrigue, attempted murder, kidnapping and complex interpersonal relationships. ... Underlying all of this there is the hinted-at possibility that this world and its culture are the surviving remnants of our world after some form of cataclysm. This is not clearly stated, but there are enough clues to leave the reader guessing."

Perry Moor reveals a Hero in this off-the-wall novel. "High-schooler Thom Creed is trying to come to terms with two life-altering changes: the development of his superpowers and his emerging sexuality. It's not easy being a teen superhero, but being a gay teen superhero is an extra helping of angst. Add to that the fact that Thom's father Hal is a disgraced former hero with a troubled past he won't discuss with his son. This sets the stage for one of the more interesting hybrids -- or rather, what should have been one of the more interesting hybrids -- to emerge in the superhero genre in the last few years," Mary Harvey reports.

"As stories go, it's interesting in places, but about halfway through, Hero begins to fall short of its own expectations before dissolving into hazy mess of borrowed plot lines and a total loss of empathy for the lead character, who seems to do little more than muddle through life at the complete mercy of events."

Mark Allen lauds the four-color adventures of Conan the Barbarian. "One of the best series ever produced by Marvel Comics was, in my opinion, Conan the Barbarian. Begun in 1970, Conan was the first adaption of Robert E. Howard's wandering Cimmerian to comic books. It made an instant splash among what became rabidly loyal readers, most likely due to the ready-made fan base inspired by the novels," he says.

"To simply label Conan a 'sword and sorcery' comic does it an injustice. Though it certainly had its share of wizards and magicians -- and there was, indeed, plenty of steel clashing and teeth-gnashing -- this particular sequential series was about a man of indomitable will, from a hard, unforgiving place, making his mark on the world -- whether the world liked it or not."

Zecharia Sitchin takes his readers along on Journeys to the Mythical Past. "Journeys to the Mythical Past concentrates on various archeological findings to establish his hypothesis that aliens actually visited Earth in the distant past and not only built several ancient monuments and space stations, but genetically created mankind," Whitney Mallenby says.

"While Sitchin's sensational writing style does hook the reader in, it does not extend to cluing in the audience to opinions conflicting with the author's notions unless coupled by insinuations that those other opinions are the faulty results of the duped or cover stories. Add to that the fact that his one-sided explanations of the points he brings up lack references to other sources than Sitchin's previous works, and his credibility fades to nothing."

The thing is, Year One isn't all that funny. Certainly it pales beside that classic caveman flick, Caveman, starring Ringo Starr. Now, read that last sentence again and realize just what that means for Year One."

Dave Sturm takes a look back at The Counterfeiters (a.k.a., Die Falscher). "The Counterfeiters is the true story of the largest counterfeit operation in history, Operation Bernhard, in Nazi Germany during World War II. The Nazis recruited about 20 expert engravers, printers, photographers, etc. -- almost all Jews -- and stashed them in a secret compound at Sachsenhausen concentration camp," he says.

"At first the men are astounded at their 'good luck' at being spared the gas chambers. Yet as they work and become successful forgers (especially with the pound), they face a moral dilemma -- they are helping the Nazis in the war effort. One of the forgers, the only one who knows the rotogravure processs to make passable dollars, begins sabotaging the operation. The others are ready to throttle him because he's putting their lives at risk."

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The Baileys caught Tom Knapp's attention with A Song for Ireland. "Whether or not you've been to Ireland, this 20-track CD will have your heart longing for its shores," he says.

"The Baileys are the real thing. Sure, the Irish music tradition these days is saturated with world-music influences and glitzy electronics, but these two gents -- Michael Banahan and Anthony McDermott -- are the true, pure sound of Irish songcraft. ... At its heart, this recording is a couple of guys who love their musical tradition and offer it up with touching sincerity."

Jerome Clark examines a pair of new releases: 500 Miles: The Blue Rock Sessions by Cliff Eberhardt and How to Rob a Bank by Willy Porter. "Singer-songwriters keep on chuggin' along into the 21st century," Jerome remarks.

"Though 'singer-songwriter' as a genre got its name in the mid-1960s, performers who sang mostly their own material date at least to the 1920s. Probably not too many observers would cite Blind Alfred Reed as a pioneer of the genre, but unlike just about anybody else, one of his songs -- 'How Can a Poor Man Stand Such Times & Live?' -- is still sung and recorded, most recently by no less than Bruce Springsteen. With the rarest of exceptions, songs by singer-songwriters get sung only by the songwriters. Too many have no business writing songs at all."

Jason Ring offers a Patchwork selection of his music on this multi-faceted recording. "With skill on about a dozen instruments, Jason plays his version of bluegrass, the blues and a couple other genres on his CD," Wil Owen says.

"The title refers to the various styles of music he brings together to showcase different aspects of the American culture. I should note that this is a solo CD and while you will hear a total of seven instruments, he is the only musician playing."

Perfectly timed for the season comes a new, hefty collection of short-shorts titled Half-Minute Horrors. "The challenge with short-shorts is giving readers an entire story, with characters, conflict and resolution, in such a short space. Well handled, these tales can be a delight," Tom Knapp says.

"'Delightful' describes maybe half of the entries in Half-Minute Horrors, a new volume out just in time for Halloween, edited by Susan Rich and boasting work by a who's who of contemporary writers. The other half, sadly, are less satisfactory.

Raymond L. Atkins worries less about the mystery, more about the folks, in Sorrow Wood. "You don't read Atkins for plot. Sorrow Wood has a murder at the heart of the story, but it's really not that important. We don't even discover that it has taken place until we're a hundred or so pages into the novel," says Michael Scott Cain.

"No, with Atkins, what counts is the characters. He has a keen eye for the oddballs and outlaws of the American South and loves them, loves being in their company and rendering them alive on paper. He is also good at puncturing the balloons of self-inflated people who think money and position make them somehow better than the rest of us."

Bruce Hennigan continues the Jonathan Steel Chronicles with The 12th Demon: Vampyre Majick. "I wasn't quite sure what to think when I encountered this genre. Most Christians tend to eschew vampire fiction, but here Bruce Hennigan is writing about both vampires and demons. The concept of Christian dark fantasy intrigued me enough to pick up this book," Becky Kyle says.

"The Twelfth Demon is an interesting and mostly stand-alone read. Dr. Hannigan (a radiologist by trade) writes very well and does a decent job of integrating demons and vampyres into his fantasy landscape."

Broos Campbell offers No Quarter in the first Matty Graves novel of nautical adventure. "Campbell is a relatively new voice in the rich tradition of naval fiction, and he is a welcome addition to the ranks. While many top novelists have followed in the wake of Forester and O'Brian in detailing the valor of the mighty British fleet, Campbell instead takes on the fledgling American navy at a time when it was small, weak and poorly regarded," Tom Knapp says.

"Campbell breathes life into an obscure chapter of American history, and I look forward to reading the further adventures of Matty Graves."

Jan Dynes "may have a dynamite story to tell, but she has to learn to write better in order for me to finish it," Dave Sturm grumbles. "I saw plenty of 'wow' reviews for Refraction and thought I'd check it out. After starting it I kept thinking, 'It has to get better.' It didn't.

"Sorry, this book is lame."

Richard Russo summons That Old Cape Magic for a book whose only real failure is its brevity. "Russo's best books -- in particular Empire Falls and Bridge of Sighs -- held my and other readers' attention over the course of 500 pages or more. In that space, Russo's characters shifted from the past to the present, sometimes -- like in Bridge of Sighs -- giving us a peek inside what they're up to at 10 years old, 20 years old and middle age," Eric Hughes says.

"In That Old Cape Magic, Russo lays the groundwork for a similar decades-long story to be told, but then, unfortunately, just never gets there. Glimpses into the past, for example, are truncated into bite-sized recaps, as if That Old Cape Magic was whittled down by a heavy-handed editor."

Artist and writer Melissa Lakso-Gross "takes an unvarnished look back in this collection of wry, poignant semi-autobiographical sketches based on life in grade school" in Escape from "Special", Mary Harvey says. "This debut graphic novel is perceptive and unstinting in its unsentimental look at childhood and early adolescence. It's also morbidly funny, dark and twisted. It is about as far from idealized and romanticized as a writer can get, which is what sets this eloquent and touching story apart from the rest.

"Escape from 'Special' is a portrait of an actual, lived life, set down as it happened. It's as urgent as it is unnerving. Lakso-Gross pulls off a great feat: she makes you feel less like you're reading it and more like you're living it right along with her."

In The Hanged Man, Mark Allen says, "Adam Cadman is a condemned man on his way to the gallows, long after the death sentence has been abolished on English soil. A cold-hearted man, with seemingly no redeeming qualities or value, fate has decreed that he meet his end dangling from a rope ... or has it?

"Writer Alan Grant draws the reader in by presenting the possibility that such an ignoble character could be changed for the better. In the story, Cadman is directly confronted with the terrible deeds he has committed, and he even experiences a tightening of the noose around his neck when he is caught in betrayal, cowardice or the like. As a result of his sins being ever before him, a part of Cadman begins to emerge that has long been buried, if it ever existed at all."

S.E. Schlosser deals a pack of Ghost Stories in this new collection of tales that's perfect for reading in a small group by firelight. "Schlosser has written a fair number of spookycollections over the years, but for some, even reading from a book is too cumbersome. Now, working with illustrator Paul Hoffman and designer Danielle Deschenes, Schlosser has made it even easier to share haunted tales around a campfire or other setting," Tom Knapp says.

"It's a deck of cards.

"Ghost Stories comes with 50 cards, each illustrated, presenting a short, spooky tale on both sides. Obviously, these stories are very short -- perfect for swapping tales in any small gathering. And, because they're in card form, they can shuffled up, dealt or traded among the group so everyone can take a turn."

Tom Knapp digs into the seedy side of supernatural Chicago with The Dresden Files. "Constantine has much to answer for," Tom laments. "It's bad enough that the movie took the concept of Vertigo's groundbreaking Hellblazer series and diluted into an uninteresting shadow of itself. It's bad, too, that British mage John Constantine was transformed into a California wizard played with a single note by Keanu Reeves. It's worse still that the movie, even standing apart from the graphic series that spawned it, is a soulless mess.

"Now I learn that the short-lived Dresden Files TV series, which lasted only one season on the Sci-Fi Channel, would have been a feature film if Constantine hadn't beaten it to the punch and cornered, undeservedly so, the supernatural detective market. Even banished to cable and a lower budget, however, The Dresden Files stands head and shoulders above its competitor."

Carole McDonnell says Knock 'Em Dead, Kid "is not your parent's coming-of-age flick. And, unless your neighbor is into indie flicks, it's probably not your neighbor's coming-of-age flick either.

"At the core of its $3,000 indie heart, it's a cautionary tale about the dangers of being an unthinking slacker. It's an unexpectedly sober treatment of most of the basic tropes and of the typical guy film -- and their consequences. Unthought-out violence, beat-downs, substance abuse, one-night-stands. Not that the film isn't funny. And not that it's dark, either. Like its commercial counterparts, it's full of raunchy sex scenes, fat jokes, etc. But it has an earnestness that is almost downright evangelical. Don't worry, it isn't. Religion doesn't really pop up. The spiritual awakening in this film is the wakening to common sense."

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Eamon Friel may prove Smarter than before with his latest release. "Eamon Friel continues to plough the fertile land of personal experience. His songs are rooted in the ordinary, the everyday, in what you and I can and do experience," Nicky Rossiter says.

"He maintains a strong output over the 11 tracks on offer and proves the adage that to appeal to the world you should keep it local."

Sarah Goslee Reed presents a sedate disposition on It's About Time. "It's About Time is folk music; very quiet, calm, dispassionate folk music, as played by a classically trained artist," Michael Scott Cain says.

"They are nice songs, nice in every way, polite songs that clear their throats trying to get your attention instead of shouting at you. If Reed feels passionate about this music, it doesn't show in her performance. Mostly ballads, the songs settle into the background. They're good but in a never-insisting way."

Patty Loveless keeps her music alive with Mountain Soul II. "Mountain Soul IIshowcases all of Loveless's many strengths and picks up where Mountain Soul (Epic, 2001) left off, with the sounds of acoustic country, bluegrass, gospel and her native Kentucky. Soul deservedly garnered much praise, but as doesn't always happen with sequels, Soul II is even a little better, perhaps simply because Loveless continues to work conscientiously at her craft," Jerome Clark says.

"If you haven't heard Loveless, think of a less ethereal, more grounded Emmylou Harris -- in other words a rooted artist with brains and taste to spare. Not to mention a spectacular singing voice."

Lalgudi G Jayaraman provides over an hour's worth of music on Violin Soul: South Indian Classical Music. "If you enjoy classical Indian music and/or the violin, Violin Soul: South Indian Classical Music might be the CD for you," Wil Owen says. "For me, this CD always makes me hungry. Fortunately, there are several good Indian buffets in my town. Maybe this CD should come with a warning that it might lead one to becoming fat...."

Virginia MacIsaac files another report from Cape Breton regarding Sandy MacIntyre's Trip to Toronto, a spotlight performance from the second night of the Celtic Colours International Festival.

"This tribute to Sandy MacIntyre was a concert and more," she says. "The delight and appreciation for the man of the hour was evident from the opening moment to the final note. The venue at St. Matthew's in Inverness is a small, intimate setting, but the music was vast and vibrant."

Kaitlin Hahn also reports from opening night, when the Festival Club demonstrated the caliber of talent gathered for this year's event.

"One of my favorite things about the Festival Club is how artists are taken from their various bands and are put together in different configurations for impromptu, often unrehearsed performances on the stage," she says. "It keeps things exciting and interesting, which brings audiences back again and again."

"Unlike its predecessors, The Lost Symbol occurs over a period of about 12 hours. No chance for sleep on this one. (That goes for both you and Langdon, as events fly by, from multiple characters' perspectives, in rapid succession). In this respect, The Lost Symbol is more frantic, given that much of Langdon's decision-making must be made and finalized right away. Granted, there are a few instances where the characters break from the main action, but not many. There just simply isn't time."

Douglas Clegg introduces readers to Isis, a novella Tom Knapp says "evokes a time when horror fiction was cerebral, like Poe, rather than visceral, like every slasher film to hit the big screen in the past few decades.

"Clegg doesn't spatter readers with gore; he haunts them with feelings of loss and remorse. And the dead who wander here don't rend flesh or crave brains for sustenance; they linger in a much more painful, pitiful state," Tom says. "Isis fits neatly, I am told, into Clegg's ongoing Harrowseries of books. I am not familiar with Clegg's other writings, but Isis stands alone as a dark, lyrical tale of sadness and regret. It is a short but spooky read that will stick with you long after the pages are closed."

C.S. Forester is back for more with Hornblower & the Atropos. "It's amazing how much can happen without the usual flash and bang of cannons and broadsides at sea," Tom says.

"Atropos is not action-packed by any stretch, but it is packed stem to stern with historical detail and rich characterizations that make C.S Forester's novels such a joy to read. Now five books into this classic series, I find it hard to put down a Hornblower tale even for the basic necessities such as sleep and work! It is a thoroughly enjoyable problem to be so engrossed in a story."

In the fictive universe of Kelly McCullough's MythOS, "magic, science and mythology are all equally powerful and equally true," Chris McCallister says.

"As with the previous books in this series, the action is non-stop, the characters are not only well-developed but are also evolving and the plot is complex but coherent," he says. "The author gave himself the task of creating another entire type of reality that differs from the one in the prior books. The resulting story therefore has a freshness that would be hard to create otherwise. Meanwhile, the bits and pieces of disaster-remnants, that keep showing up, add a sense of urgency and tension, as they suggest that terrible things are happening back home, but not in any definitive or clear way."

Matthew Loux's Salt Water Taffy: The Seaside Adventures of Jack & Benny is the sort of comic that gets maligned as being 'an all-ages romp' or, worse, 'fun for the whole family.' Which is true, but unfortunate. 'All ages' has become associated with dull, placid stories where people learn the value of teamwork, and often a cute animal inexplicably talks to deliver half-funny jokes," Sarah Meador remarks.

"But as young brothers Jack and Benny soon discover, The Legend of Old Salty is a very different sort of story. From the time they pull into town, they find characters more often associated with late-night horror movies than afternoon cartoons."

Mark Allen, meanwhile, takes a look at Aztek, The Ultimate Man, who leapt from the pages of the Justice League of America at the hands of Grant Morrison and Mark Millar. "Aztek showed a lot of promise as a superhero book. The combination of an intriguing lead character with a solid supporting cast, set in a brand new city in DC lore (Vanity), gave the book the best foundation any new comic could have," Mark says.

"And yet, despite having everything going for it, Aztek's sales figures deemed it unworthy of continued production, and it was given the ax by DC."

Mark Steele questions the practice, if not the intent, of religion in Christianish: What If We're Not Really Following Jesus at All? "Steele's is an important message but, as a reader, I've got a few problems with the book," says Michael Scott Cain.

"First, he's not that graceful a writer. His development technique is to state something and follow up the statement with a series of sentence fragments. Second, he has structured the book as a sort of memoir; most of the examples come from his own experience and he hasn't managed to make the examples quite as compelling as they should be."

"With his 1992 Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino threw down the gauntlet, promising that his was a talent to watch. In Pulp Fiction, he delivered on that promise. But what makes Tarantino so unique? He does something few directors are brave enough to attempt: he trusts the audience."

Tom Knapp offers this counterpoint to Cherise Everhard's enthusiastic review of 300. While Cherise, in 2007, wrote that the film "was like watching artwork come to life, a feast for the eyes," Tom has a different opinion.

"Far from appearing like a movie derived from a comic book, which it is -- and believe me, I have a great respect for films of that subgenre -- 300 looks like a movie made from a video game," he says. "Not a very deep or plot-driven game, either -- 300is all about the style of hack and slash, the graceful dance of pivot and stab, the severed limb, the sundered head and the spray of blood."

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Ronan Tynan is once again The Yankees' Tenor, and he marks that status with a very short -- but memorable -- recording. "My favorite singer and my favorite sports team! A two-track CD! A recording officially licensed by Major League Baseball! Somewhat unusual, no?" Bill Knapp remarks. "At the time of this writing, the Yankees are still in the playoffs. If they make it to the World Series (or win it) and Ronan Tynan sings "God Bless America" in the stadium again, this CD will become very special to me. Now, if I could just get Ronan Tynan and Derek Jeter to autograph it, how great would that be?"

Ana Popovic is Blind for Love on her new selection of blues. "Equally at home with electric and acoustic guitar, this woman wails. Her playing is hot, skilled and moving. She takes the old blues cliches and turns them inside out, creating something new out of the old. Sure, she knows the formulas and uses them but she goes beyond them, giving the music her own original twist," says Michael Scott Cain.

"This one will spend a lot of time in your CD player."

Ben Winship and David Thompson kick back with a little Fishing Music II. "Songs about recreational fishing aren't exactly a staple of American folk and popular music, but they're hardly absent," Jerome Clark says.

"If you have no interest in fishing -- I last fished when I was 10 or 11 years old, and that isn't because I live far from any pastoral fishing hole -- you may think, reasonably enough, that this CD has nothing for you. You would be wrong. Frankly, I don't see how anybody who likes music could dislike this record. More than fishing alone, it celebrates the communion of human beings and the natural world."

Shotgun Party demonstrates a Mean Old Way in music. "The Austin-based acoustic trio Shotgun Party doesn't entirely elude classification, but it comes close. Whatever it is -- a cracked 21st-century take on Western swing probably gets nearest -- it's weird and wild, in the old Johnny Carson catchphrase," Jerome says. "Mostly, though, it's music, literally and metaphorically, to jaded ears. It's also a high-wire act, something that couldn't go the distance without exceptional musical chops, bracingly unhesitant vocals and songwriting of a high order."

The 13th Celtic Colours International Festival kicked off in style last Friday, and while editor Tom Knapp is bewailing his absence this year, Virginia MacIsaac was on hand to catch the opening show, Island to Island: The Cape Breton-Ireland Musical Bridge, in Port Hawkesbury. "Amid the coloured haze and beams of light in autumn hues against a black backdrop with a stylized silver Cape Breton Island hanging like a shining moon, the musicians delivered a solid opening concert, and it was both a reunion and a beginning to something fine," Virginia says. Read her review for more ... as Tom sobs quietly into his pillow.

Jonathan Groff, star of the Broadway musical Spring Awakening and the recent movie Taking Woodstock, took some time to visit his hometown, and Tom Knapp took the opportunity to chat with him. "Waiting tables in New York City isn't all that bad. Working with director Ang Lee on a movie is better -- and a lot more intimidating," Tom learns. Read on to see what Groff has to say about his experiences on stage and screen.

Cherie Priest brings a new sensibility to 19th-century Seattle in Boneshaker. "There were zombies running amuck in Seattle in the 1880s -- but this is not the Seattle we know," Tom Knapp says.

"Cherie Priest has built quite a world here, an Old West variation on the popular steampunk theme. The separate but inexorably entwined stories of Briar and Zeke are densely packed with suspense and amazement. The menace of the mindless rotters provides a constant undercurrent of tension to the more immediate dangers presented by Dr. Minnericht -- a shadowy figure with a great many secrets and, perhaps, a few answers -- and the ominous yellow clouds of drifting blight gas. Trust me, you will find yourself holding your breath while reading this one -- and again while waiting for the upcoming sequel!"

Michael Harvey takes this mystery to The Fifth Floor for this sequel to The Chicago Way. "This mystery series is a real winner, and I hope that it continues," Corinne Smith says.

"Those readers familiar with the streets of the Windy City will appreciate the dedication to accuracy in the setting. But you don't have to be from Chicagoland to be able to picture the action. And you don't have to have read The Chicago Way to understand Kelly and the other characters in this book. Harvey reminds us that there are indeed some bad guys out there, and they can come in either gender and any color. And maybe private detective Michael Kelly isn't the only person taking matters into his own hands."

Terry Brooks concludes The Word & the Void with Angel Fire East. "If, like me, you've read Running with the Demonand Knight of the Word, you'll want to know what happens to series protagonists John Ross and Nest Freemark. Answers are waiting in Angel Fire East," Becky Kyle says.

"While I still love Ross and Freemark, it almost feels like some of this story is templated -- particularly the fight scenes. I'm glad to have read the book. It's good to know what happened to two characters I value, but this is a lackluster end to what I consider a stellar beginning."

Mark Allen has a blast with Doris Danger Giant Monster Adventures! "Any true comics fan has at least a passing knowledge of the monster comics published by Timely/Marvel Comics in the late 1950s and early '60s. These comics have become famous, and quite admired by some, for their corny, over-the-top drama, goofy monster names and indefinable charm. Very nearly a parody of themselves, they are the definition of 'kitsch,'" Mark Allen says.

"I say 'very nearly' because, as parodies of those curiously classic tales are concerned, Chris Wisnia has set the standard with his wonderfully whimsical digest-format graphic novel, Doris Danger Giant Monster Adventures! While spoofs of this material have been done in the past, none have offered the humor, the creativity and the sheer (strange as it may be) imagination of DDGMA."

Sarah Meador scrutinizes the new Tales From the Crypt series with volume one, Ghouls Gone Wild. "Tales From the Crypt was first a comic anthology in the early 1950s. Stories were introduced, with rotten puns and great cheer, by the Crypt Keeper and his friends. The stories followed a predictable pattern of petty betrayal, death and vengeance from beyond. Enthusiastic melodrama and often wonderful art lifted Tales above itself," she says.

"But as the Crypt Keeper would agree, you can't keep a good haunt down, and Papercutz has brought Tales From the Cryptback to life -- or undeath -- in its original, unfettered comics form. The new series has all the old trademarks. Like the earlier incarnations, it's horror for a younger audience, with gore and violence often played as comedy. Exaggerated character flaws, ghoulish punishment and improbable crimes abound. There's even the old Crypt Keeper, with his friends the Old Witch and the Vault Keeper, to bring back the old, painful puns."

John Luther Adams delves into the creation of sound in The Place Where You Go to Listen: In Search of an Ecology of Music. "Adams is one of the more interesting composers working today, and I mean that in a very complimentary way: his music seems as much translation as composition, based on a wide understanding of music as sound and sound as meaning," Robert Tilendis says.

"The Place Where You Go to Listen is a book about the creation of one of his works, of the same title, that illustrates perfectly what I mean. ... it's partly a journal, partly a set of essays, some technical, some philosophical, partly a reverie on art and its place in the human sphere, and humanity and its place in the world."

Today, Tom Knapp takes a look at two divine movies: Bruce Almighty and its stand-alone sequel, Evan Almighty.

"In Bruce Almighty, Bruce (Jim Carrey) is temporarily given the powers of God (Morgan Freeman) in order to earn a revelation through his own trials and errors. In the sequel, Evan Almighty, Evan (Steve Carell) is given an order from God (still Freeman) to build an ark," he says. "Watch Bruce first, then give Evan a chance. You'll enjoy both -- but chances are good you might watch Bruce a second time."

Dave Sturm gets a little post-realistic with Umberto D. "When I plunged into Italian neo-realism -- Paisan, Open City, Bicycle Thief -- I had seen most of the earlier movies before I encountered Umberto D," he says. "It took me by surprise. The tough-mindedness of the earlier films did not prepare me for the naked emotion of this story of a proud pensioner trying to maintain his dignity while on the verge of becoming homeless."

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