Lammas Night

by Katherine Kurtz | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
ISBN: 0345295161 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingGoryDetailswing of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 11/10/2007
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This book is in the wild! This Book is Currently in the Wild!
7 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Saturday, November 10, 2007
I'd been on the watch for a spare copy of this book; even though it's just a mass-market paperback, it's been out of print for a long time and copies have been pricey, so I was pleased to find this somewhat-battered one for something much closer to the original cover price!

This is a fascinating novel set in WWII, pitting a coven of British witches vs. Hitler's dark practitioners. Here's the text from the back cover: "What Magic Can Stop Adolf Hitler -- History's Most Evil Black Magician? Modern War: The year is 1940. Hitler's Germany is about to employ the secret arts of evil witchcraft to destroy England. What can stop them? Ancient Weapon: It is the mission of John Graham, colonel in British Intelligence, to stop the onslaught of evil with an extraordinary strategy that defies all the rules of twentieth-century warfare: Unite the different witches' covens throughout England, drawing upon powers that reach back through dark centuries, in a ritual of awesome sacrifice on the first night of August, the magical... Lammas Night."

That may sound a bit lurid, but there's some basis in Hitler's obsession with the supernatural, and the novel itself is a well-crafted story. It provides a solid (and, as far as I can tell, well-balanced) look at the Old Religion and the concept of the sacrificial king, mixed with suspenseful wartime espionage and strategy. And I found the main characters quite involving; the relationships between them are the heart of the story. Here's a bit in which Graham is talking to Prince William, youngest brother of the King:
"Do you know what it's like being a fifth prince?" he asked in an even lower voice. "I sometimes think it's rather like being a fifth wheel - utterly useless."
Stunned, Graham let his chair drop on all four legs and reached across to grip the prince's forearm. He had not heard William so despondent in many months - not that the war allowed them to see one another that often, but this was a bad sign.
Not for the first time, he bitterly resented the orders that had removed William from the Intelligence Service, which he loved, and at a time when William was already foundering in the wake of personal tragedy. It had nearly destroyed him then and Graham was not certain the danger was yet past, though William generally made a good outward show of being able to carry on.
"William, I don't ever want to hear you say that again," he said softly. Put it out of your mind. I don't agree with the decision any more than you do, but it's done.
...
Orders or not, I still consider you a part of my team, William."

Not sure I'm describing it well, but it's very much worth reading - though if you're anything like me you should have some tissues handy near the end {wry grin}.

(There was an excellent review of this book on the Green Man Review site, but it seems to have disappeared. I did find this Lammas Night review by Arin Murphy-Hiscock on www.owldaughter.org; it's more of a discussion of the Old Religion aspects of the story than a literary review, but may be of interest.)

[There's a TV Tropes page on the book, with some interesting tidbits.]

Journal Entry 2 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Saturday, October 10, 2009
I thought I'd offer this book for a book ray, as it's one that I've enjoyed and it doesn't seem to be that well-known; see the forum post here.

The book is a paperback weighing about 8 ounces. I'll accommodate domestic-only (and other) mailing preferences as best I can; if I get enough participants who are willing to handle the necessary postage/customs-forms requirements, I'll make it an international ray. Please post a reply in the forum thread or PM me if you'd like to participate, and include any mailing restrictions you may have.

Bookray instructions:

When you receive the book, please journal it, and PM the next person in line for their address so you'll have it ready when you've finished the book.
Note: even if you've sent books to that person before, please PM them before mailing this one, to confirm that the address is correct and that they're able to take on a book ray at this time.
Try and read the book promptly - ideally, within a month of receiving it. If you expect to take longer, you can request to be put at the end of the list. If you find you're swamped with other books when the person before you contacts you about the bookring, you can ask to be skipped, and then let me know whether you'd like to be moved down the list or dropped entirely. If you receive the book and find it's taking longer than you'd planned to get through it, I'd appreciate an update in its journal entries or on your profile, just to let me and the other participants know you haven't forgotten it.

When you're ready to pass the book along, please add your comments about the book and indicate where you're sending it, either through a journal entry or through the controlled-release-note option. [If you make controlled release notes with your country/state/city as the location, the book will have a lovely map of its travels by the time it gets home.]

If you find that you're having problems contacting the next person in line, or don't think you can manage to mail the book as originally agreed, please let me know; I'll be glad to try to work something out!

Participants, in mailing order:
mellion108 [MI - USA]
perryfran [MD - USA]
LaPitchoune [Finland]
Lottiotta [UK]
mysticalzoe [ME - USA]
NMReader [NM - USA]

Journal Entry 3 by wingGoryDetailswing at Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, October 25, 2009

Released 14 yrs ago (10/26/2009 UTC) at Nashua, New Hampshire USA

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I'm sending this to BCer mellion108 in Michigan to kick off the book ray. Hope you enjoy it!

Journal Entry 4 by mellion108 from Waterford, Michigan USA on Saturday, November 21, 2009
Ok, I'm guilty. I've had the book for at least a week, probably close to 2 weeks now and this is the first chance I've had to journal. Sorry about that, but the book is here safe and sound and I hope to start it within the next week and getting it going again.

Thanks for sharing, Gory!
Paperback, 438 pages

Journal Entry 5 by mellion108 from Waterford, Michigan USA on Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Ooooookay....I've held on to this book FAR longer than I anticipated. I apologize for stalling this ray right out of the starting gate. However, I finished it and am determined to get this in the mail to perryfan this week.

My thoughts:

I love the basis for this story. WWII and Hitler are fascinating enough, but to throw in the occult interests that Hitler pursued add so much to the mix. Plus, I'm a diehard Anglophile, so I love books about Brits. (Ok, that doesn't really tell you anything about what I thought of the book, but I thought I'd throw that out there.)

I actually found the bits about war strategy and factual battles to be the most interesting things about the book. I'm not big on war stories/movies, but this one really caught my interest. Graham's stiff upper lip and methods of dealing with some pretty intense emotions surrounding his affection for and loyalty to Prince William added just the right touch to the story. I did, however, get a little tired of reading passages about people gazing up with awe and love and wonder and...so on, but I'm a curmudgeon that way.

Overall, I liked the story. It's definitely different than anything I've read in recent memory and quite difficult to categorize. Historical fiction perhaps? Anyway, I'm so glad I had the opportunity to read this. Thanks again for sharing, Gory. I have the book packaged and should get this in the mail before the weekend.

Thanks!

Journal Entry 6 by mellion108 from Waterford, Michigan USA on Thursday, January 21, 2010
UPDATE: I mailed this to perryfran today. Delivery Conf. #0309 1830 0001 0655 1886

Enjoy!

Journal Entry 7 by wingperryfranwing from Elk Grove, California USA on Monday, January 25, 2010
Received in today's mail. This one definitely looks interesting. I'll try to get to it soon but I have 2 other rings in front of it. Thanks for including me.


Journal Entry 8 by wingperryfranwing at Bookring/Bookray, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada on Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Released 14 yrs ago (3/2/2010 UTC) at Bookring/Bookray, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- Canada

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Sending this on to LaPitchoune in Finland. I will be moving soon and don't have time for a lot of reading so will be sending on some of the rings in my possession.

Journal Entry 9 by LaPitchoune from Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Thursday, March 11, 2010
The book arrived today. Yay! Thanks, everyone :)

Journal Entry 10 by LaPitchoune from Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Saturday, April 10, 2010
Unfortunately, I found this book incredibly lame somehow. It just didn't catch fire or get going the way I expected. Anyways, thanks again for the ring. The book will get on its way to the UK next week.

Journal Entry 11 by Lottiotta from Aberdovey, Wales United Kingdom on Friday, April 16, 2010
Argh, are you people trying to drown me in books!!!???? :P This is the fourth bookring I've received this week, and some of them I gave my address weeks ago! It's like they know, isn't it? You wait weeks, and then they all appear at once. Le Sigh.

Anyway, saying that, this one looks really interesting and different, and I've been looking forward to it since I saw it. So I can't say I'll be sending it right on to the next person! ;) What a great idea for a book.

I have two bookrings ahead of this one - Runemarks by Joanne Harris and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson, and you can see how far through them I am on my Goodreads page. I will let you know here when I start reading this one - could be around 3 weeks, at my current rate. :)

Thank you very much, LaPitchoune, for sending this to me. :) And thank you for organising the ring, GoryDetails. :)

12th May 2010
I'm about a quarter of the way through so far, and I am really enjoying it! I'm getting really into it, even though sometimes it gets a bit information-loaded for my tired brain. I really hope it doesn't end the way it looks like it will, so far. If I can see the ending a quarter of the way in it probably won't end that way, right? RIGHT??

I'm sorry it's taken me a while to get to it. I'm reading a fair chunk every night, so I should be done within a week or maybe two. If I'm not, please don't hesitate to badger me by PM.

15th May 2010
Spoilers below, in white - highlight to read them.
The only reason I'm giving this less than ten starts is because the ending was heart-achingly sad. It was very "right" and proper, though.

This is one of the best books I've read in a long time, and I just wish the ending could have been happier - apart from the beginning of the end of the war, that is! ;)

Aside from that, I loved the details about the war, and maybe this is a bit strange but I loved the way the author wrote conversations. There was a lot of exposition to handle, and sometimes you could really tell, but she made it interesting. And all the other conversation was really fun and gripping to read.

I'm going to PM Mysticalzoe for an address now. Thank you, GoryDetails, for sharing such an awesome book.

Journal Entry 12 by Lottiotta at By mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases on Saturday, May 15, 2010

Released 13 yrs ago (5/15/2010 UTC) at By mail, A Bookring -- Controlled Releases

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CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Posted this half an hour ago to Mysticalzoe by surface mail, printed paper, to the USA. Could take around 6-8 weeks, but it'll probably be quicker since this is a quiet time of year for post. :) For my own reference - I used a Royal Mail printed postage label, and the parcel weighed about 250g.

Journal Entry 13 by rem_EOL-341852 on Monday, May 24, 2010
Recieved today!

June 3rd~I have to come clean I have only read to the first chapter, it did hold my interest, but I haven't been able to sit down and read it since last Friday. Today is a rainy day and I am going to try and sit down and relax and read. I apologize for holding it up fo over a week. I will try and read asap thank you.

June 5th-I cannot get into this book, it's boring me, I am sorry! I kept it too long only to be bored. I'll PM the next in line. I guess I am not into War Books, and witchcraft.

Journal Entry 14 by rem_EOL-341852 at Gardiner, Maine USA on Monday, June 7, 2010

Released 13 yrs ago (6/7/2010 UTC) at Gardiner, Maine USA

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Sending off today to NMReader enjoy!

Journal Entry 15 by NMReader at Herndon, Virginia USA on Thursday, June 10, 2010
It arrived today. Added to mount TBR. I will read as soon as it reaches top

Journal Entry 16 by NMReader at Reston Regional Library in Reston, Virginia USA on Sunday, April 16, 2017

Released 6 yrs ago (4/16/2017 UTC) at Reston Regional Library in Reston, Virginia USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Donating to the Friends of the Public Library for their sale

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