SimplyMaggies

“Breath and Bone” is a second part to a two-part saga telling a story of a rebellious magician and diviner, Magnus Valencia de Cartamandua, who refuses to conform to the limitations and restriction his parentage and the long lines of diviners have established for him.

In “Flesh and Bone” (the fist volume of the saga), we get to meet Valen (as he prefers to be called) and witness his struggles with an addiction to an enchantment that turns pain into pleasure and his mothers prophecy foretelling his doom. And we get to see how, despite of himself, Valen learns that friendships and loyalties are sometimes far more important than his own feeble life.

In “Breath and Bone” we see Valen sold to the terrible prince as a part of his heirloom while the land of Navronne sinks deeper into war and bloodshed. While Valen risks both  body and soul to save an innocent child in the surrounding chaos as well as heal the dying land and bring it to its rightful king, he runs into many that would like nothing more than put their hand on this one of a king sorcerer. And what is the secret behind his extraordinary powers? Will he discover where his abilities come from and how he can use them in time to heal the land of Navronne and help his king? Or will he fail, unable to resist the constant hunger for nivat and the release it brings?

Both books are written in a beautiful English that resembles the 19^th century novel writing, which makes reading them an exciting and pleasurable experience. Berg’s narrative is intense and suspenseful while the characters are well-developed and three-dimensional, which is an important detail for the fantasy novels.

“Breath and Bone”, as well as “Flesh and Spirit” are filled with sorcerers, magic, intrigue, dark secrets and characters both noble and weak. One of the most endearing qualities to the novels are the vividly depicted details. AS Sharon Shinn (author of “The Thirteenth House”) writes: “Berg brings to life every stone in a peaceful monastery and every nuance in a stratified society, describing the difficult dirty work of ordinary life as beautifully as she conveys the heart-stopping mysticism of holiness just beyond human perception.”

“Lies and illusions”, directed by Tibor Takacs and starring Christian Slater and Cuba Gooding, Jr., tells a story of a self-help book writer whose long-time girlfriend gets kidnapped and killed. Upon her death, Slater’s character finds out that not only did his fiancée had a house he knew nothing about but also an account and a safety deposit box, which one of the mob bosses is after.

Yet again, we have the story of a poor schmack, who is dooped into thinking he knows the woman he plans to spend the rest of his life with only to find out that the person he fell in love with did not exist. This time, however, the story is told in such boring fashion that you feel like poking your eyes out 20 minutes into the movie!

While the beginning is somewhat promising with its similarities to the ‘50s Bond movies and the French detective films, one quickly realizes it is not to be so… The story drags, the actors fail to portray the dilemma and the tragedy a person would experience in such situations and there is nothing there to keep you from turning it off.

And if you think that both Slater and Gooding will make a good movie, you are sorely mistaken. I’d say: don’t waste your time and two thumbs down!!!!

Yesterday I had one of the most surprisingly good days. It started awful…

I woke up congested and with a terrible headache and simply did not feel like getting out of bed at all. It took me about half an hour to convince myself I should (since I already paid for the trip I was supposed to attend). I finally dragged myself out of my warm and comfy bed and somehow got ready for this trip (which, at this point, I started to dread). And off I went…

As it turned out, my friend (who, by the way, convinced me to go in the first place) was also not feeling too chipper herself (we both shared symptoms of either common cold or flu, who knows…). And thus, we found ourselves sitting at the back of a van, sneezing every so often and drinking water to stay hydrated…

Perhaps it helped because by the time we got to the orange farm, we forgot about the cold or flu (or whatever it is) and actually started having a good time. However, the good time was just beginning…

The nice farmer and his wife welcomed us to their home as if we were part of their family. Then we went orange picking–the whole reason for the trip. It was an experience in itself, especially for someone like me, who likes nature but more form the distance than first hand. And here I had a chance to experience it first hand, not only covered nearly up to my knees in mud but also walking in weeds almost hip high just to get a chance to pick my own Sicilian blood oranges. Crazy, isn’t it? How I didn’t end up covered in ticks is simply beyond me… But I did end up having a time of my life,even though I had to carry my bag of oranges (that most likely weight about 10 lbs) up the muddy hill!

As if that wasn’t fun enough, we had this wonderful Sicilian lunch, which included lots of home-made wine and freshly-squeezed orange juice waiting for us at the farm. This was the perfect ending to a very adventurous morning. And the day that began dreadfully, turned out to be one of the best experiences of my life.

The funny thing is, I think you can only experience something like that only here in the Mediterranean. People are simply so friendly and they welcome you as if you were not this stranger but part of their family, which gives it a different meaning. And makes it far more special…