The Wicked Day

by Mary Stewart

This is the afterward to Mary Stewart's classic Merlin trilogy: The Crystal Cave, The Hollow Hills and The Last Enchantment.

This book completes Arthur's legend, picking up just before the trilogy leaves off and ending with Arthur's death. Where the trilogy is told by Merlin himself, this book is told in the third person, omniscient point of view. It's basically a narrative of the final days from Mordred's point of view, but since Mordred wasn't a poet, it wouldn't have really made sense for him to have told his own story. Also, this allows the author to explain some things that Mordred wouldn't have understood. It makes for a much different feel but it's a worthwhile addition to an excellent series.

Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus

by Mary Wollstonecraft (Godwin) Shelley

If all you know of Frankenstein and his monster is what you've seen in the movies then you don't know Frankenstein. There is more to this tale than dark laboratories and goofy electrical gadgets. And there's nary a mention of neck bolts anywhere in this book.

This is a pretty fast read and it's actually a surprisingly good story. It's not particularly scary but the subject matter is relatively deep. Written at the dawn of the industrial revolution, it questions the wisdom of man wandering too close to God's territory. Is it wise for man to understand the secrets of life? It also raises questions about good and evil. Is man born evil or is it something that he learns from his environment.

Frankenstein's monster (who never receives a name) is not the lumbering grunting hulk of the movies. He's huge and hideous but at the same time he's also superhuman and extremely intelligent. By the time we actually meet the monster, he has learned to speak flawlessly and he's learned to reason. He's also learned that man is terribly unkind to those he fears. He claims that he wanted acceptance and companionship. Frankenstein has denied this to him and so has everyone he's met since his creation. Was the monster created evil or has he merely become such? And is mankind (and Victor Frankenstein) to blame for his turning out evil?

This is certainly not the best book I've ever read but it was quite enjoyable and the questions it raises are thought provoking. It's definitely worth the short time required to read it.

The Arabian Nights Entertainments

edited by Jonathan Scott

The classic collection of Arabian tales. These tales have inspired countless other creative works ranging from books, to films, to video games. Unfortunately, I can't say that they did quite the same for me. Perhaps the fault is with this version (not the one pictured), which is particularly long and could have benefited from the services of a good editor. The version I read was produced in the late 19th century and comprised of four volumes of the most syrupy and overly romanticised prose I've had the misfortune to slog through. After about the fiftieth tale of star-crossed lovers who fall devotedly in love at first sight, I was ready to put it down and move on to something else. I eventually dragged myself through most of the first two volumes before skipping to the end.

The story is promising at the start. A woman voluntarily becomes the wife of a woman-hating sultan who has vowed to wed and kill a different bride each night. Her plan is to distract him by telling him stories which so captivate his attention that when she is obliged to stop for the morning, he'll delay her execution until he's heard the end. The trick, of course, is that the story NEVER ends. And I found that to be the most annoying feature of these stories. Just as one story appears to be winding down, the principal character of that story will find an excuse to begin another story, which will never fully resolve because the principal character of THAT story will start another story, which will lead into another story, and so on and on and on.

Now don't get me wrong, there are some good stories in here. Some of them are quite entertaining. The problem is that most of them are not. The version I read was downloaded from Project Guttenberg so I could read it on my PDA. If you'd like to give these stories a try, I would suggest you try and find a more modern compilation and look for one that is heavily abridged. (The Richard Burton collection pictured at the top looks promising.) 1001 nights is just a bit too much; I'd have been much happier with about 20.