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Spotlight Reviews

The Tides of Avarice: A Sagaria Legend

By: John Dahlgren
Publisher: Editions Didier Millet
Publication Date: June 2011
ISBN: 978-981-4260-53-4
Reviewed By: Cory Bickel
Reviewed On: January 27, 2012

"Each new day I’ve let the tides of avarice pull my ship away from shore and out into the seas of adventure…" (pg. 448) So says Captain Terrigan Rustbane, the most dreaded pirate in Sagaria, whose greed and cruelty have led him on a course of destruction and mayhem. Yet when these tides sweep up an unlikely hero, they can alter the fate of an entire world, setting the courses of many lives upon new paths of self-discovery, freedom, and redemption.

Sylvester Lemmington is living a quiet life in Foxglove as Junior Archivist and Translator of Ancient Tongues. He works at transcribing the scrolls that detail the Great Exoduses of the lemmings over the “Mighty Enormous Cliff to the Land of Destiny Across the Great Wet Without End,” in one of which his father took part long ago, never to return. He considers himself too bookish and timid to ever win the heart of Viola, his best friend and true love, and tries to resign himself to her marriage to the odious Mayor Hairbell. But everything in his small world begins to change one night when he rescues a stranger from drowning. The wounded ferret tells him of the lands across the sea from which he came, destroying Sylvester’s perception of the world taught to him by his religion. It also leads him to question all his beliefs despite warnings that speaking his questions aloud could land him a place in the next Great Exodus. The stranger, known as Keelhaul Levantes, also gives him a crumpled piece of parchment sought after by the dangerous man who gave Levantes his fatal wound. A few days later, a strange gray fox arrives in Foxglove asking about Levantes, and soon Captain Terrigan Rustbane and his band of pirates are wreaking havoc in search of the parchment, which contains the final piece of a map which will lead to the treasure of the Zindars. When Terrigan learns he has the map, Sylvester, along with Viola and her mother, is kidnapped by the pirates and forced into a perilous journey in search of the treasure.

The voyage aboard the pirate ship Shadeblaze with the foul and dangerous crew of rats, badgers, raccoons, and other animals plunges the lemmings into a treacherous existence where life and death hang on the whim of the heartless, bloodthirsty captain. They focus on surviving the ordeal with their skins intact, searching desperately for any opportunity to escape. As they make it through jungles teeming with deadly creatures, an attack upon the Shadeblaze by the Queen of Spectram’s navy, a mutiny against Rustbane, and an island inhabited by cannibals, Sylvester finds untapped courage and resourcefulness that win him the respect and love of the feisty Viola. His journey shatters his religious beliefs completely as he learns some terrible truths about the leaders of Foxglove and the purpose behind the doctrines taught to the citizens. But will his newfound strength be enough to free the people of Foxglove from tyranny? The treasure of the Zindars that Rustbane seeks has the potential to destroy the world or save it, depending on what is in the heart of its discoverer. On their journey to find the treasure, the battle of Sylvester’s goodness and integrity against Rustbane’s cruel cleverness will have consequences for all of Sagaria.

After reading the blurb for The Tides of Avarice, I was expecting some cute kids’ adventure story about lemmings and pirates. But this book blew my expectations out of the water. It’s smart, funny, sarcastic and yet big-hearted, with a solid, exciting plot, enchanting characters, vivid imagery, profound ideas, and great morals. Of course, the lemmings are adorable, but they’re also fierce and courageous, and the story is packed with adventure that both adults and children can enjoy. But, like Sylvester Lemmington himself, this book offers a lot more than it appears to on the surface.

Quill Says: In an imaginative, intelligent adventure where compassion and individualism triumph over evil and conformity, The Tides of Avarice plots a daring course through the vilest lows of villainy to inspiring heights of spirit.

For more information on The Tides of Avarice, please visit the book's website at: www.tidesofavarice.com

Article first published as Book Review: The Tides of Avarice: A Sagaria Legend by John Dahlgren on Blogcritics.

Letters to Zerky: A Father’s Legacy to a Lost Son…and a Road Trip Around the World (A Companion CD)

Artist: Bill Raney
Released by: www.hearthecallmusic.com
Purchase at: www. waltzingaroundtheworld.com
Reviewed by: Amy Lignor
Review Date: January 24, 2012

This CD is a stunning compilation of tracks that is a companion to one of the best books on the market.

Letters to Zerky, the novel, is a touching tribute to a son from a father, as he documented each and every place they had visited across the globe when his son was just a baby and too young to remember the amazing sites that he witnessed. The music that this CD offers brings readers even further along that magnificent journey, as they listen to flamenco music in all different styles; from the waltz to courtship dances, with overtones of everything from Mozart to harmonious Andalucian folk dances.

Beginning with a truly fantastic track titled, Zerky’s Waltz, Bill Raney began this CD as he began his book. This lovely song was actually inspired by Gounod’s opera, Faust, yet Mr. Raney - with his prowess in the world of flamenco guitar playing - was able to liven the beat and increase the pace. This track truly makes the reader feel as if they have just boarded the VW bus - “The Zerky Mobile” - and have sat down between a boy named Zerky and a dachshund named Tarzan to go for the ride of their lives.

As an FYI, Flamenco is a genre of music that stems from the Spanish region of Andalusia, which is noted for its energetic, staccato style. The principal facets of flamenco are the cante, which is the singing, the toque, which is the guitar playing, dance, and the palmas, which are the handclaps that can be heard.

Mr. Raney’s creative mind and fluid guitar playing offers track after track that truly draw readers into a different time and place. In fact, playing the CD in the background while reading the marvelous novel is a joy. With Tarantas (Track 2), the listener can almost hear the tires of that VW bus ‘buzzing’ along the asphalt. There is no distinct compass, as the artist says, and the music feels that way. A VW bus with no direction, but with a whole lot of love, warmth and fun inside its doors.

Tracks follow that include classical overtones reminding the listener of the lovely photo in the book of Zerky playing in a field of flowers. The strings of the Zapateado, which is a traditional ‘male’ dance, makes listeners feel as if they have entered a lone bar nestled in a small village in the Alps. Although the snow and freezing temperatures are right outside, the music tells the tale of the happiness and warmth located inside the small pub, where friends gather to laugh and have fun while Old Man Winter does its best to rattle the windows.

From fast-paced flamenco tunes such as Granadinas, that makes the listener feel as if they are running away from a guard of some sort - a man in uniform that is chasing them around the city; to a slower, more romantic track like Sevillanas, where a man and woman seem to flirt in front of your eyes as they begin their life together, this CD offers a wide-range of styles. With each song, the listener is transported into another world where time has stopped and only the magic of countries never before seen comes to life.

Alegrias will most likely be every listener’s favorite, as Bill Raney offers this lively tune that makes people want to get up and enjoy life. With this song, the snow melts and the sun rises high in the sky. Everything is right with the world, and all you want to do is go out and relish all the days you have left in your own journey through life.

Once again, as with the novel, Bill Raney has brought a ‘story’ to listeners that they will truly never forget.

Quill Says: Get in your car, play this CD, and hit the road! This is the music to get your own adventure started.

For more information on Letters to Zerky: A Father’s Legacy to a Lost Son…and a Road Trip Around the World (A Companion CD), please visit the book's website at: www.letterstozerky.com

Article first published as Music Review: Letters to Zerky [A Companion CD] on Blogcritics.

Letters to Zerky: A Father’s Legacy to a Lost Son…and a Road Trip Around the World

By: Bill Raney (with JoAnne Walker Raney)
Publisher: Nickelodeon Press
Publication Date: November 2009 (First Ed.)
ISBN: 978-0-9821384-1-0
Reviewed by: Amy Lignor
Review Date: January 13, 2012

Whether it’s because their favorite characters are heading out on another adventure, or their favorite writer has come up with a new story to tell, there are books that readers simply cannot wait to receive. But very rarely does a novel come along that book lovers are honored to read. This is that book.

Bill Raney is a man who hit the open road with his loving wife, JoAnne, a fantastic son named Zerky, and an adorable dachshund named Tarzan. Back in 1967 this fascinating quartet took off in a VW bus to see what all the world’s countries had to offer, and during that long journey Bill wrote letters to his son. Being that the boy was only a ‘babe among men’ when he was a part of this journey, Dad wanted to make sure to record all the sights, sounds, experiences and people they met along the way so that Zerky could have a record of all he saw once upon a time. Those letters sat in a file for thirty-six years and just recently Mr. Raney put them into book form to allow readers into his son’s life. The stories, the pictures - everything honors a young man who was taken far before his time.

Bill was from North Dakota and wanted nothing more than to be a flamenco guitarist. Ending up in San Francisco at the infamous ‘Monkey Block’ building, he found himself among the ‘beatniks’ and smack dab in the political and social upheaval that the Vietnam war was providing America. He was lucky enough to meet his bride, JoAnne, at a bar one night called “The Place.” Joanne owned the small movie theatre down the road, and soon this couple got together and adopted a beautiful blond-haired boy they named Zerky. He was only ten-months-old when the family sold the theatre and got on a plane that took them to Germany - a plane trip that is seriously hysterical because the Germans treated little Tarzan like he was a terrorist ready to strike.

From here on out the readers are brought on this fantastic journey that goes from the coldest of places (where the family had to buy a heater for the VW bus in order to remain alive); to places as rich and vibrant as the French Riviera. A beautiful letter came from the tiny village of Andorra, a place the family went to that once existed in peaceful serenity, far away from the rest of the overbearingly greedy world. Unfortunately, as with all things, the modern world found that mystical little place and brought it into the 21st century.

Spain and the flamenco craze is offered, as well as time in Portugal to meet up with friends and see the beautiful sites that included a mini-cathedral dating back to the sixth century. Prague in 1967 was one of the most intriguing places, as the family went from “a Technicolor to gray world.” Prague was beautiful with its medieval sites; a city covered in soot that was headed into yet another frightful time. The lessons in history were a great deal of fun as the author mentioned the vibrant pasts of places like Olympia and Persepolis. Tarzan and Zerky played in everything from the Matterhorn snow to the rocks in the Italian Alps, and even entered into the more dark and disturbing places such as the concentration camp at Dachau and the Spielberg Castle in Brno.

The journey involved everything from a ‘run-in’ with border guards to a ‘tense’ event with a would-be kidnapper on an Arabian horse, and the stories and pictures the author provided are more than memorable. There are tales of humor, wit and charm leading to an ending that will leave readers breathless. Not only is this book a huge treat, but when readers realize that it’s a tribute and not a scrapbook, it’s certain to become the one book that will forever be kept on your bookshelf and in your heart.

Quill Says: There is no reviewer on this planet who is good enough to form the words this book deserves. Extraordinary is the closest I can come.

For more information on Letters to Zerky: A Father’s Legacy to a Lost Son…and a Road Trip Around the World, please visit the book's website at: www.letterstozerky.com

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Article first published as Book Review: Letters to Zerky: A Father's Legacy to a Lost Son... and a Road Trip Around the World by Bill Raney (with JoAnne Walker Raney) on Blogcritics.

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