Cav's Place

If the first half of this series of novellas included with The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep got worse, the second half got better, so now I’m rather disappointed that I finished all of it. And I’ll once again point out that those who played the game would probably get even more from these novellas, and I didn’t. But, yes, I can say that I liked this one even a little more than Promises Made By Moonlight. The songs add a fair bit to it, but I also found both Fiona and “Soriac” quite likable, which is saying something when it comes from me, and in fact I’d consider it quite an omission that only Fiona was mentioned in the description I found. Not that I’d actually know, but I guess that the reason for that is that only she appears in the game, yet the novella really is about two characters, not just one. But it does offer information about that character and some more details about the world, features some interesting action even if it’s lighter on actual combat, has some moments that are at least somewhat amusing, and there are even a couple of twists that I doubt you can see coming.
Of course, I’ll once again point out that the good impression and rating take into account that this is just a novella written for a game, not a “proper” book or something that would be expected to stand on its own. And on top of being the shortest of the series, those included songs mean that it is in fact even shorter than it appears at first glance, so it makes rather liberal use of shortcuts in order to advance as desired, some things happening because they need to and others being all too quickly left behind, and the way things play out may not really stand scrutiny. But, again, if you take what it’s meant to be into account and keep your expectations in check accordingly, it’s a surprisingly pleasant way to spend a couple of hours.

Rating: 4/5

Now that I decided to finish this series of novellas included with The Bard’s Tale IV: Barrows Deep, I looked it up and found that this second half of it presents the backstories of some of the characters that can be recruited, so they should make more sense for those who played the game, and I didn’t. However, I found this one surprisingly good even so. It’s written well, and alternating between Sybale’s current adventure and her recent past that provides the backstory for it allows it to offer more, about both the character and the world, than I expected. There is some decent action as well, but I’d consider that much less important, the other elements creating the reasons to care.
Of course, the good impression and rating take into account the fact that this is just a novella, and one written for a game at that, so I’m not really comparing it to a “proper” book or to something that I actually expected to stand well on its own. The action could have been more thrilling, the information more detailed, and the romance should have definitely been developed and presented much better. And this last part is my main complaint, because it’s the motivation behind it all and yet it’s all too instant and then gets swept away after a single scene. Assuming that it’d have been done well, dedicating at least a chapter to this would have allowed the reader to actually understand what it’s all about, become emotionally involved instead of having to just take it for granted, take the character’s “word” for it, if you will.

Rating: 4/5

On October 25, I was saying that I hoped to be able to take a nap during the workers break, but they didn’t take a break. It did go quiet for a few minutes, so I got in bed at 11:55 AM, but then the awfully loud drilling started again and kept being relentless, and after being curled in a ball and covering my ears for a while, I managed to drag myself back out of bed a little before 12:40 PM. But then the noise seemed to lessen, so a few minutes before 1 PM I got back in bed and, despite initially hearing some more drilling and meaning to get up yet again and go out, I decided to wait a little longer and that proved to be the right choice, because the drilling got less frequent, most of the sounds seeming to be caused by some sort of scraping, and I guess that it eventually got quiet enough to allow me to fall asleep. And when I happened to wake up, just before 2:45 PM, it really seemed quiet, so I set the alarm to ring at 5 PM, to watch handball, and got back to sleep, actually waking up on my own mere seconds before the alarm rang, at which point I got up. And then, in fact at half time, I started reading Blood and Flame. And in the evening I napped for another hour and a half or so, until dad got back, at which point he said that the noise had started at exactly 7:56 AM in the morning and he had sent the upstairs neighbor a message to complain, but she replied that it was caused by the workers who’re retrofitting the building, and he also said that they probably don’t take a lunch break on Saturday because they leave earlier. Either way, since the hour changed but I didn’t stay up for another hour, in the morning I went to bed an hour earlier, according to the new time. And I could really sleep.

After doing the day’s squats and eating lunch, I went out a little after 7:30 PM, with the recyclables with the deposit symbol, picking up two more on the way to Kaufland and then putting them in the machine, ending up with three vouchers after splitting dad’s and “mine” and needing to use a second machine for one that was too small to be pulled in by the first one, so it’s a good thing that the other one had the belts closer together. But dad had left one that didn’t have the symbol among those that did, so I was left with that one and put it in a cabinet that I thought I locked, and then I think that I also washed my hands before entering the store, at 8:05 PM, and seeing a great evening discount for green onions, so I grabbed four of the largest bundles. Some bakery products were once again discounted by 50%, but I still wasn’t interested, so I just added four bottles of tomato sauce and a mozzarella and went to the self-checkout, needing to call an employee over when the machine didn’t accept the green onions as the correct product. And when I retrieved that recyclable from the cabinet I found that it hadn’t been locked after all. Either way, I had just done that when the closing announcement came, and then I arranged the purchases.
I wanted to get to Penny on the way back as well and that closes at 9 PM on Sunday, so I rushed. And the door to that machine seemed already locked when I got there, so I couldn’t put in the two recyclables picked up on the way, leaving them and the bag with the green onions behind the store’s door and entering with the backpack, to be able to rush in right away, since it was past 8:50 PM and the guard warned me that they were closing soon. But I just wanted some vinegar for dad, so I bought that and added it in the backpack after retrieving my things and walking out. And I grabbed more recyclables on the way back and put them in the machine from the nearby Mega Image, though I didn’t stay to cash in the voucher at that point.
I got back a few minutes before 9:30 PM, and when I put the other things in their place I forgot the mozzarella in the backpack. Either way, I ate an apple and a sweet pastry and washed what was in the kitchen while watching the race, and my plan was to dash back out after it and clean the litter box and go to drop the bag of trash down the chute after I’ll get back, but dad complained that Liza had used it and I hadn’t cleaned it, so I grumbled but eventually cleaned it before the end of the race, leaving the bag on the hallway… And it tipped over, so I ended up having to sweep what had spilled. But then I left it there again when I dashed back to this Mega Image, not wanting to put my hands on that if I’ll find discounted bakery products. But the top two parts of the shelves were cleared and what was left on the bottom part wasn’t discounted, so I just cashed in the voucher received earlier. And when I got back I wanted to glance at the windows meant to be installed in the other apartments, since they’re placed next to the doors, so I went up the stairs all the way to the fifth floor, where I stopped because the light turned on ahead of me, so somebody else was probably stepping out.
After actually getting back again and going to drop that bag of trash down the chute, I had mere minutes before midnight and just an idea for the week’s second post, so I posted just the title and one line that was sort of a summary… And minutes later I modified the title. And it was only then, after getting back to the kitchen, that I noticed that mozzarella and put it in the fridge as well. And it was past 12:50 AM when I went to the bathroom, to use the toilet and wash, being done at 2 AM but only going back to the kitchen again half an hour later, after spending some time on the computer. And what I used as bread had hardened, so it was hard to slice. Either way, I ate dinner between 4:25 AM and 5:15 AM, while actually writing the first paragraph of that post, finishing it after eating. And I got in bed at 6:30 AM. But the noise was manageable and, while after getting up just after 9:20 AM to pee it was at least an hour before I got back to sleep, I only woke up again just before 3 PM. And then I got right back in bed after checking the time and only actually got up a few minutes after 5 PM, though I was mostly awake during those two hours.

On October 28, it was pretty much quiet and I could really sleep, waking up for the last time when it was past 3:30 PM and getting up when it was almost 4 PM. Then I did the day’s squats, ate lunch, shaved, and left just before 7:40 PM, with a few recyclables with the deposit symbol. But I picked up several more on the way to Obor, where I put them in the machine from Auchan, using the voucher when I paid for what I bought from there, which included cabbage and corn, since I saw surprisingly good discounts for those. So, while the previous week I bought a cabbage from Auchan when I shouldn’t have, since I hadn’t touched it by the time it ended up being cheaper at Carrefour, it’s a good thing that I didn’t get another one from Carrefour, since this ended up being even cheaper.
After arranging the purchases a little, I continued to Carrefour, putting them in a cabinet and entering the store just after 9:05 PM, and on top of what I had gone there to get, I actually made use of the 50% bakery discounts to get a few sweet pastries and a bread, noticing that they had switched to placing the discounted bakery products into plastic bags, which I was a little bothered by. Either way, I then also used the voucher received for previous purchases, retrieved what I had in the cabinet, and continued to Kaufland, picking up a recyclable on the way… And finding that it had a coin in it as well… Which I found a little suspicious, so I took the coin, but after reaching Kaufland and putting that recyclable in the machine and the purchases in a cabinet, I went to wash it and my hands.
It was past 9:50 PM when I entered the store, and I saw an evening discount for Mandarin oranges, which also had a good discount through the store app, which I had activated on-line before leaving, so I took a few, wondering if the discounts would stack. And when I scanned some chocolate bars that I wanted to get for dad I found that the price was actually lower than the listed one, and the label also listed the 15% additional discount if you used the store card, so I wondered whether that would apply on top. Either way, after seeing that most bakery products should have been discounted by 50% there as well, but that the bakery area was almost cleared, probably by the employee who was cleaning at the time, I also made use of evening discounts for a few potatoes and a bag of carrots that looked much better than the rest, and at the self-checkout, which I was still using when the closing announcement was made, I saw that the discounts did indeed stack for both the Mandarin oranges and those chocolate bars. So I then also used the voucher received for that recyclable, retrieved my things from the cabinet, and took some time to try to arrange everything, walking out at 10:35 PM… Only for things to get rather complicated on the way to the Mega Image from that area that closes at midnight, because in a garbage can I found quite a number of large plastic bottles with the deposit symbol, taking all of them, along with a few others found on the way, though at least those were smaller. And I did consider going back to Kaufland and putting at least those large ones in the machine, since it wasn’t 11 PM yet and it should have still worked, even if I’d have had to keep the voucher for another time, but I didn’t want to miss what I hoped would be the 90% discounts from that Mega Image, so I just kept going.
Well, that proved to be a big waste of time. I got there a little after 10:50 PM, put the purchases into two cabinets that I locked and the recyclables into two others that I didn’t, and then waited for the employee to start making the bakery discounts, which did happen around 11 PM… But when he walked away for a moment and I actually had a look at the labels, I saw that the discounts were only of 50%. And the other discounted products that I saw were also only discounted by 50%, so after wandering around a little longer I retrieved my things and took some time to move the cabbages into the backpack. And after walking out I stopped again and arranged the recyclables, finally walking away at 11:20 PM. But having all of the purchases with the exception of the cabbages in a single bag made things difficult to carry, and two bags of recyclables in the other hand weren’t making things any easier, so after a while I stopped on a bench and spent quite a long time struggling to add a couple more things in the backpack and tie the corn on top of the cabbage, so it’ll also be there even though it didn’t actually fit. And I picked up some more recyclables on the way back.
It was a few minutes after 12:30 AM when I got back, with about 14.5 kg, though that’s an estimate, since after cleaning the litter box and going to drop a bag of trash down the chute, grabbing a recyclable from the garbage room as well, I drank most of the tea and ate a Mandarin orange and a sweet pastry that I already had before weighing myself and seeing a difference of exactly 14 kg compared to what I had while I was carrying everything. Either way, I then put the purchases in their place and only went to wash when it was 2:20 AM, worrying that the water was going to be rather cold at that hour but finding that it was great, so I was only done at 3:05 AM… And it was 3:25 AM when I finally got back in the kitchen, and I had things to wash and also moved something into a jar, only eating dinner between 5:20 AM and 6 AM. And I got in bed at 7:10 AM.

At least I wasn’t woken up right away, and it’s possible that when I did wake up, some time after 10 AM, it was because dad got up and I “detected” movement nearby and not because of the workers. But there was some noise, so after a while I checked the time, seeing 10:19 AM, and if I initially got back in bed, a little later I got up to pee and clean the litter box again, and then I got on the computer. The problem was that, while until then the noise might have stayed at a level that I might have more or less slept through if I’d have managed to get back to sleep, a little after 11 AM it got worse, so I stayed at the computer for a while longer, even after dad left, getting back in bed at 11:50 AM, hoping to make use of the workers’ break… Only for that break to once again not exist. Still, the bad noise was brief and occasional, and after a while it might have stopped, because I definitely caught naps. They should have most likely added up to at least another two and a half hours, so at least five in total, possibly a little more, but I really don’t know. And the odd thing was that I might have slept less after things went quiet, which definitely happened well before 5 PM. Possibly even a little before 4 PM, but I really couldn’t say. What I know is that it was 6:30 PM when I decided to check again and get up if it’ll be past 6 PM, since that’d mean that I had caught another nap.

Dad had said that the electrician will come to work at the upstairs neighbor once again at 10 AM, but I was woken up a little after 8:30 AM by drilling from the workers who’re retrofitting the building. Still, I eventually managed to get back to sleep, being woken up again at 10:25 AM by the electrician’s drilling, and if at first I thought that I might still catch some naps, the noise quickly became terrible and paralyzing, so it was 10:47 AM when I managed to get up. He seemed just about done about half an hour later, but at that point I was eating the apple and waiting for the tea to be done, so it was a little before 11:30 AM when I got back in bed, still without setting an alarm, since I thought that I’ll get woken up again anyway. However, after eventually managing to get back to sleep despite the workers still making some noise, and definitely getting right back to sleep if I happened to briefly wake up again at a later point, when dad wasn’t back the next time I actually woke up properly I thought that it was still quite early… Only to check the time and see 2:37 PM! So I jumped out of bed, ate the yogurt, which had expired a few days earlier, with cereals and almonds, went to the toilet, though I couldn’t afford to stay there long enough and still felt that something was left there, also ate two nicer biscuits, with added honey, but forgot to drink any of the tea before leaving, at 3:50 PM, wearing the full running gear. I asked dad, who was back by then, to check the temperature at 4 PM, but he didn’t, so what I know is that the reported temperature was 22°C at 3 PM and about 20°C at 5 PM.
The time was 48:55.82, with sector times of 4:23.19, 5:01.16, 5:56.60, 4:31.00, 5:06 (5:05.12), 5:56.53, 4:54 (4:53.75), 5:08.28, 6:03 (6:02.47) and 1:57.72, making for lap times of 15:20.95, 15:33 (15:32.65) and 16:05 (16:04.50). I hoped to stay under 48 minutes, but the first sector’s time was rather poor and, while the second sector was better, I just failed to cover even that first lap in the 15:20 that’s the target lap time for 48 minutes, so I was thinking that I should resign myself to just staying under 49 minutes. Sector one of lap two made that even clearer, but after the end of the lap I wondered whether I might just squeeze under 48:30… Only for a shoelace to get untied on sector one of lap three, and retying it caused me to lose over 20 seconds, probably more like 25, making it perfectly clear that just staying under 49 minutes was the only possible target. And I seemed to be quite safe from that point of view after sector two of lap three, so I was somewhat surprised but not concerned when the following sector was slower than I thought it’d be, and then there was no point to keep pushing on the final sector, and on the last few meters I actually slowed.
The conditions were fine, but the people caused some problems, the first notable one being on the long straight of sector one of lap two, when I slowed to squeeze through a roadblock that was actually formed by three other runners who were almost stopping, one saying that she thought that another had been going too fast. Then, on the following sector, I hesitated when I noticed a kid spinning his scooter just as I squeezed through a group, so I thought that he was on it and was about to cut me off. And on the long straight of sector two of lap three there were two roadblocks, and while I just slowed in order to squeeze through the first one, I almost stopped because of the second. But, of course, the major loss of time were those 20 to 25 seconds spent retying that shoelace, right on the long straight of sector one of lap three. And on sector three of lap three I stopped for a couple of seconds, because my eyes wouldn’t focus and I wanted to make sure that I saw the time correctly. And that sector was also when I noticed the only specific physical issue that I can mention, and that was a certain pressing need that suddenly appeared and was actually pretty bad.

I jogged back, but not quite all the way, and then I ate a banana and a sweet pastry, changed, albeit leaving the running t-shirt on, and then went to the ten-year commemoration of the Colectiv fire, jogging all the way to University Square, since the march was supposed to start at 7 PM, people had been asked to start gathering from 6 PM, and it was already past 6:15 PM when I walked out. And jogging all the way and only focusing on getting there in time meant that I went past that recycling center where I want to take the gathered newspapers and catalogs without checking the closing time and whether there had been any changes in what they accept and pay. But at least I got there with enough time to spare to also go to the toilet in the underground passage, being surprised to even find soap when I washed my hands.
I was at the statues at 6:50 PM, and after taking the jacket out of the backpack and putting it on I noticed that gendarmes were standing at the entrances to the area where people had gathered, which was fenced off, and had just stopped a guy to check his backpack, so I caught the eye of one and started digging through mine, to take out the camera, which I had taken with me, and meaning to show that I otherwise just had a candle and empty bags, but that gendarme just told me to speed along when I approached him. So I did, taking a sticker when someone offered me one, placing it on my jacket, and starting to take some pictures until we got moving, which actually happened right at 7 PM. And then I continued to take pictures, getting to the head of the column, getting back to the end while looking for signs, and then returning to the head of it and staying there until we reached the destination, at 7:45 PM.
I later saw that the gendarmes had been somewhat bothered that the march was on one side of the street and not on the sidewalk, but the understanding had apparently been that it’ll be on the sidewalk if there will be less than 1000 participants and there were definitely more, though I really couldn’t make my own estimate and the media reports I saw limited themselves to just saying that we were over 1000. Either way, there were no problems with the gendarmes while I was there, the only annoying moments being when a guy shouted at us to “burn like those at Colectiv”, though when he was challenged by a whole lot of people he twisted things around and said that he was referring to the politicians who had allowed it to happen, and when another guy cycled past us while chanting in support of Calin Georgescu. And during the march I heard people talking about a guy with a huge flag who had showed up and was apparently also part of that far right crowd, and it seems that the organizers had asked the gendarmes to remove him, but he nevertheless showed up again after we reached the destination, once again being kept away by the gendarmes, at the request of the organizers.
Either way, after lighting the candle and placing it among the rest, I wandered around, took some more pictures, occasionally listened to a few bits of conversations, and wondered whether something else was planned for the evening. But there didn’t seem to be, and after a while the crowd started thinning, so even if I had initially meant to stay there at least until 9 PM, I started feeling that I was dallying around for too long for someone who hadn’t been directly affected and, after several minutes spent around the edges of the remaining crowd, I left a little after 8:50 PM… And that night I saw that, after 11 PM, the organizer of the march was fined because some two dozen people were left and the event was considered to have exceeded the agreed duration. The Gendarmerie later apologized for that and the gendarme who wrote the fine got in trouble from all sides, but the fine still has to be challenged in court in order to be annulled… And, when interviewed, that gendarme also mentioned the fact that the organizers had kept asking to have that guy with the flag, and possibly a few others from that group, kept away from the area as a reason for considering that it was still an ongoing organized event and not simply people coming to commemorate what had happened.
Getting back to the chronological order of things, I had picked up some recyclables before walking away from there and meant to put them in the machine from the first store that I passed by, but it wasn’t working. And when, after having also picked up one of those small and oddly-shaped bottles, I entered another one, I saw that it collected the recyclables with the deposit symbol manually and decided against trying to cash them in there, though it’d have been a good idea to do so, since on top of having that bottle, I only had a small bag that I meant to use for such recyclables and it was full by the time I reached Kaufland, where I finally put them in the machine… Which once again “ate” that oddly-shaped bottle. And I was quite sure that it was going to happen and having the camera with me made it the perfect moment to get proof of it as well, but despite thinking to film the moment, I decided against it, so I’ll just recover that amount in some other way once again. On the other hand, two other recyclables that I found there were accepted after a few attempts, and I put them in separately, so I ended up with three vouchers. Then I washed my hands, entered the store at 9:50 PM, and got two pieces of kashkaval that were among the expiring products and plenty of roes, which had a great regular discount plus that 15% additional one if you used the store card. And, after also using those three vouchers, I arranged the purchases and walked away just after 10:25 PM.
After picking up a few more recyclables, I entered that Mega Image that closes at 11 PM with everything and bought some bakery products that had the 90% discount, arranging them in a bag and continuing to the non-stop Mega Image, where I had to try quite a few cabinets until I found one that actually locked to put my bags in, entering with the backpack but not seeing anything discounted by 90% and not being interested in anything that was discounted by 50%, so I just retrieved my things and added something to the recyclables by the time I reached this nearby Mega Image, which I entered with everything. Just one bag of bakery products that had the 90% discount was left and I wasn’t interested in what was in it, but I saw some expiring products that were discounted by 50% that I thought dad might be interested in, so I came up to drop off the purchases and ask if he wanted me to buy them and then rushed back to do so after he said that he did. And the cashier rounded down the total, only asking for 13 RON instead of 13.15. And on the way back I grabbed a couple more recyclables, after having spotted them before coming up the first time.
I was finally back at 11:40 PM… And I noticed a bag containing what must have been nearly everything that had been in the litter box, even if most of it was quite dry, so after grumbling to myself a little I asked dad what that was about and he said that it wasn’t dry and he had to take it out because he won’t let Liza go in that filth. So I obviously got angry, but just stomped away in silence and started moving the other trash into that bag, since he hadn’t even used the bag that already had trash in it… Yet instead of leaving me space to perhaps cool off, he offered to take that bag out, and when I remained silent he came over and asked where it was, then kept running his mouth over the matter even after I warned him to stop talking to me just then. So I really lost it again, as it usually happens when it comes to this, slamming doors as I went to drop that bag down the chute and remaining angry as I put the purchases in their place and went to wash. At least that meant that I did so at 12:20 AM and was done a little after 1:05 AM, but then I spent some time on the computer, noticing some more double clicks from the middle button of my mouse, and only got back in the kitchen at 1:30 AM. But I did exchange some more words with dad at that point, both of us grudgingly ignoring what had happened earlier, and then washed what was in the kitchen, also dealt with that bread which I had bought for myself two days earlier, and only took a first bite of lunch at 2:40 AM… But then a long time passed during which I only took a couple more bites, only actually starting to eat when it was past 3:20 AM, and that was still on and off, so it was 3:55 AM when I was done. And I ate dinner between 4:45 AM and 5:35 AM and got in bed at 6:50 AM.

Well, it seems that the electrician didn’t finish the work upstairs the previous day, because a few minutes earlier than when he had started then, I got woken up by terrible drilling that sounded pretty much the same. And it probably stopped around the same time as well, though I was at the computer and not paying that much attention, only getting back in bed at 11:55 AM. But various noises continued, both upstairs and elsewhere, and I doubt I got any more actual sleep, possibly just about drifting off for mere moments a couple of times. And less loud but steady, relentless drilling started again around 2:05 PM, and just before 2:25 PM I managed to drag myself back out of bed. And I didn’t just not even try to get any more sleep later, but even got in bed at 5:20 AM in the morning. But, while I was once again woken up by drilling a little before 10:30 AM, it was brief and then I could get right back to sleep, only finally getting out of bed at 4:50 PM, though by then I had been pretty much awake for well over an hour, and probably more like an hour and a half. And that evening I finished the book and wrote what was initially a quick review, posted just before midnight, which I then expanded into a more proper one before going back to the kitchen to continue making mamaliga and edited a little more after eating. And today it was quiet until dad started cooking and also went to clean some more stuff from the balcony that’s still destroyed, so I got up at 1:55 PM.

Full disclosure: I received this book through a giveaway on The StoryGraph. This has in no way influenced the opinions expressed in this review.

To be blunt, that notice shouldn’t even be needed when I have to say that what I appreciated in Blood and Flame mainly has to do with what isn’t there rather than what is. To say that I wasn’t particularly bothered by anything specific that was presented or took place may sound like praise, and to some extent it is, but what I actually made mental notes of was being relieved when the entire time spent by the main characters in their respective Academies was treated as mere background information and rushed through in two chapters, one for each of them, and definitely, and much more importantly, the fact that the romance was treated as perfectly normal, without any case being made over its “kind” at any point, which is just how it should be. Other than that, sure, the book is easy to read and the focus on the action and the way the characters get through it all avoids any moments when it may get either tedious or too tense, so you should be able to read it quickly.

Unfortunately, that’s more of a relief than an actual positive remark, because even those aspects mentioned above come with serious caveats. The romance is just poorly written and developed, and while it may be said that, refreshingly, that’s not the focus of the book, the action is, and that’s not much better either. It largely reads like going through a checklist of challenges that the author probably believes the characters are “supposed” to go through in such stories, some of them quite clearly inspired by the works that form the basis of the fantasy genre but without any of the associated impact. You may worry about the outcome once or twice, but soon enough it’ll be clear that they’ll actually be quite fine regardless of how things look, and while healing abilities provide the means to get away with a lot, hero’s luck and powerful magic that’s explained far too little play a large role.
As for everything else… I’m tempted to ask what “everything else” may there be to talk about. This is just a swashbuckling adventure in a fantasy setting, sword and sorcery at a level that I’d say couldn’t even be described as “young adult”, but more like something meant for teenagers. That impression is strengthened by the other characters reacting to noticing potential romantic moments in ways that seem more suitable for a high school setting, which setting would also be more fitting for the behavior of the other attendees during those chapters that rush through Dara and Wynne’s time at their respective Academies, but the main problem is the lack of depth and detail. The worldbuilding is quite rudimentary, the magic system leaves ample room for explanations that aren’t provided, the writing style is, for lack of a better term, workmanlike, getting the job done but pretty much exhausting any potential to do any more than that after the first two paragraphs, the dialogues just don’t feel right, and any character except Dara and Wynne hardly has any depth. Not that they offer anything like what such characters should offer from that point of view either, especially when they’re supposed to develop quite notably over the course of the book and yet it just doesn’t feel like they do. Plus that the initial contrast between them is way too forced… And then there is the issue of what is revealed to them, which is far too blatant and obviously known by too many to need to be revealed in such a manner, to not be sufficiently common knowledge for a sizable resistance movement to already exist. Or, if that was crushed, for a resigned acceptance on a large scale.

To conclude, the rating may seem a little harsh when Blood and Flame isn’t necessarily a bad book, but there are hardly any reasons to recommend it. It may be a decent read for teenagers, or maybe for some young adults who are rather undemanding and perhaps also less experienced with the fantasy genre, but for anyone else it probably can’t be more than a pretty quick and easy way to increase the number of books read by one. The idea behind it may have some potential, but it’s lacking in pretty much every aspect when it comes to actually realizing it and, while being the first of a planned series leaves room for things to improve and may even provide a justification for some of the missing explanations, it’s far from enough of an excuse and it doesn’t offer enough of a motivation to want to continue.

Rating: 2/5

After initially refusing to comment on the report that he and quite a number of other members of his party are trying to convince the organizers to withdraw from hosting next year’s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel will be banned, Austria’s chancellor decided to speak out and firmly reject the ban, though he doesn’t seem to have mentioned the possibility of withdrawing from hosting the competition. Since he stated that he’ll never support such a ban “based on [Austria’s] history alone”, I have to once again wonder how much longer will the admittedly undeniable atrocities committed against a group of people in a period that ended more than the average lifespan ago be used as an excuse to turn a blind eye against the similar acts committed by them against another group… But this is a post about musical events, so I’ll leave it at that for now and say that the German chancellor displayed even more of that historical guilt by actually stating that Germany should boycott the ESC if Israel won’t be allowed to participate. At least another one of the big payers, Spain, made a firm decision to boycott the event if Israel will be allowed to participate, making them the most important country to have made such an announcement so far. But the vote regarding the ban, which was supposed to take place next month, was called off, proving that the EBU is still hoping that it’ll all blow over and they’ll keep being allowed to get away with their double standards on the matter.
On the other hand, from the articles I read for this post I learned, with some delay, of the No Music for Genocide movement, which describes itself as a cultural boycott of Israel, albeit one limited to music, the participating artists and labels geo-blocking and removing their music from there in response to Israel’s genocide, occupation, ethnic cleansing and apartheid against Palestinians and the repression of pro-Palestine efforts. The movement now reports over 1000 participating artists and labels, and the list keeps growing. Admittedly, that’s a drop in the bucket, especially since very few are big names, but there are a few of those as well and, either way, it’s something that’s being done from this point of view. And, sure, it does almost exclusively affect regular Israelis, including those who oppose or even openly protest against the regime’s actions, but Israel’s crimes are also against regular Palestinians, including those who oppose Hamas, and in fact provide Hamas with a way to justify their existence and drive desperate people towards them. That doesn’t make it fair, of course, but when we’re talking about something that’s so much less severe that there can’t be any sort of comparison, at this point this can’t be used as an argument against it.