Author Biography Nancy McKenzie has written multiple novels inspired by Arthurian legend, primarily centered on the figure of Guinevere. She lives in Connecticut. Published By: Alfred A. Knopff Year: 2009 ISBN: 978-0-375-84346-4 Reading Level: Grades 7 and up Reader’s Annotation: Young Guinevere joins her family at a conference of kings and finds herself despised by the High King’s sister, Princess Morgan. When Morgan’s scheming turns dangerous, what will Guinevere be forced to gamble in order to stop her? Plot Summary: Thirteen-year-old Guinevere has enjoyed new respect from her uncle and aunt, King Pellinore and Queen Alyse, ever since she thwarted the treacherous Sir Darric’s rebellion. Enough respect that when young King Arthur summons them to a conference in Deva, they bring her along. With her comes Llyr, her close friend and guardian from the pagan tribe known as the Old Ones. In Deva, Guinevere meets an exciting array of people, including the friendly Prince Trevor of Powys, the kindly Sir Bedwyr, and the legendary Merlin the Enchanter. But she finds herself inexplicably disliked by King Arthur’s jealous sister, Princess Morgan. And when the crafty Morgan learns of Llyr’s connection to Guinevere, she takes advantage of the royal assembly’s anti-pagan prejudice to frame him for the theft of a valuable dagger. Unless Llyr’s innocence is proven, he faces certain death, but no solid proof is in sight. What can Guinevere do to save her friend? Critical Evaluation: This second and, so far, last book of the unfinished Chrysalis Queen Quartet is the epitome of a character-driven novel, as opposed to the slightly more plot-driven Guinevere’s Gift. It’s essentially a series of loosely connected events that happen to Guinevere and those around her during the course of the royal conference. The most significant plotline, involving Llyr facing death on trumped-up charges and Guinevere’s efforts to save him, only appears in the book’s last third, while other seemingly-important plotlines (e.g. a near-fatal riding accident that Guinevere innocently causes, a strange illness that strikes Queen Alyse, a “love triangle” between Guinevere, Llyr and tribal girl Alia) appear briefly, then vanish. This episodic structure is the book’s chief weakness. All the same, the cast of characters is engaging enough to carry the action. Guinevere’s sulky cousin Elaine, the complex Queen Alyse (unfortunately less of a presence than in Guinevere’s Gift), the devoted Llyr, an appropriately sinister Morgan Le Fey who nonetheless earns some sympathy with her tragic backstory, and last but not least, the tomboyish and awkward yet iron-willed Guinevere herself, still a fairly standard YA fantasy heroine but still easy to like and admire. Her future with Arthur and Lancelot is neatly foreshadowed, as she struggles to accept the prophecy from her birth that foretold both glory and tragedy for her. While not quite as strong as Guinevere’s Gift this one is still worthwhile for young lovers of Arthuriana. Curriculum Ties: •Arthurian legend •Feminism Challenge Issues: •Mild profanity •Violence Why This Book? Flawed and episodic though it may be, Guinevere’s Gamble will still be lapped up by teenage lovers of princess-themed fantasy novels and of Arthurian legend.

Viajando aos pulos _____________________ INVESTIGADOR: Então tenho uma pergunta. Se a Frota Trissolariana que foi lançada é capaz de viajar a um décimo da velocidade da luz, ela deve levar apenas quarenta anos para chegar ao sistema solar. Nesse caso, por que a senhora diz que eles vão levar mais de quatrocentos anos? YE: A questão é que a Frota Interestelar Trissolariana é composta de naves espaciais incrivelmente imensas. A aceleração é um processo lento. Um décimo da velocidade da luz é só a velocidade máxima, mas eles não podem viajar a essa velocidade por muito tempo antes de desacelerar para chegar à Terra. Além do mais, a propulsão das naves trissolarianas é feita por aniquilação de matéria e antimatéria. Na frente de cada nave tem um grande campo magnético, em forma de funil, que coleta partículas de antimatéria do espaço. Como é um processo lento, só depois de muito tempo é que se reúne antimatéria suficiente para permitir que a nave seja acelerada por um período curto. Desse modo, a aceleração da frota acontece aos saltos, entremeados com longos intervalos de inércia para coletar combustível. É por isso que, para chegar ao sistema solar, a Frota Trissolariana vai levar dez vezes mais tempo do que uma sonda pequena. _____________________________ O problema dos três corpos Cixin Liu 2006

SFF in Conversation is a new monthly feature on The Book Smugglers in which we invite guests to talk about a variety of topics important to speculative fiction fans, authors, and readers. Our vision is to create a safe (moderated) space for thoughtful conversation about the genre, with a special focus on inclusivity and diversity in SFF. Anyone can participate and we are welcoming emailed topic submissions from authors, bloggers, readers, and fans of all categories, age ranges, and subgenres beneath the speculative fiction umbrella. We continue our ongoing new series of posts called “SFF in Conversation” with a guest post from Andrea K Höst, author of fabulous Science Fiction and Fantasy novels that never fail to impress us. Please give it up for Andrea, everyone! Shelves Full: the 99 Author Challenge “Women don’t write science fiction”. “The majority of fantasy writers are men.” How many times have you heard that? I’ve lost count. The response to these worn and yet strangely inevitable statements is almost invariably a list. Lots of lists to call attention to a vast and jostling horde of books, apparently invisible to a portion of the reading populace. When I make lists myself, I tend to […]

Add To GOODREADS She dreams of a knight… but he shuns the title. Can he win her heart? Read the exciting new Medieval Romance series by debut author Everly Gregg! Fifteenth Century, Burgundy. Eva of Utrecht is an unrecognized, illegitimate daughter of the Duke Philip III. She fears she will never rise above her roots as a simple tailor’s daughter. Her birth defect, a club foot, brands her even less desirable. When the missive arrives inviting her to attend the May Day Festival at Coudenburg Castle, hope rallies. Under Lady Isabella’s wing, Eva blossoms into a confident young woman—one blinded by pride. She sets her sights on the life of a lady, determined to win the love of a gallant knight. Little does she expect her heart to be swept away by a simple horseman who’s shunned his chance at knighthood. Mathieu of Liège was on a warrior’s path when he brutally witnessed how power can taint the title. He bears the scar on his face and the horrible memory as reminders. The ostler believes he does not need the sword and spurs to uphold the principles of chivalry. He leads a simple life, training the horses and hunting birds for Duke Philip's court. Mathieu, though, is lonely, and dreams of finding a lady love to share his life, one who will appreciate his quiet strength and infallible dignity. When Matthieu falls hard for Eva, he must find a way to convince her of his valor... even if he doesn’t wear the armor. Can their love take flight? ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Eva of Utrecht is the illegitimate daughter of Duke Phillip. Born with a club foot and raised by her mother and her husband, Eva had no hope of a better life. That was until her true father's Duchess sent for her. Mathieu of Liège has warrior blood in his veins but refuses to become a Knight. He is happier looking after and training the animals in the Duke's stables. This historical romance is very different to most. Not only is our heroine living with a permanent disability but our hero is a lowly ostler with no ambition to be anything else. The sisters are all fascinating characters and hopefully will each get their own story. There is plenty of adventure, danger and one very helpful little owl. I loved it. AMAZON.US * AMAZON.UK * AMAZON.ES Everley has been fascinated with the Middle Ages ever since the second grade, when a book on Early Netherlandish painting arrived in her lap. The glossy pictures of these works fascinated her, haunted her, and eventually led her to an obsession with all things medieval. Renaissance Faire, anyone? In undergrad, Everley studied Latin so extensively, there wasn't even a class for her--they assigned her a private tutor so she could advance in this "dead" language--one she spoke as if she'd known it all her life. She went on to study manuscript illumination, and earned her MFA in creative writing from Lesley University. After publishing a number of romance novels in several genres under the pen name Claire Gem, Everley decided to go for it: write the medieval romances living in her heart all of her life. All of Everley's historical novels are, as you might have guessed, firmly based in true history. Research? Another obsession. Everley resides in New England, USA with her HEA husband of 42 years and a very spoiled Persian cat. She loves to hear from her readers! Website * Goodreads * Facebook * Twitter

Kazuo Ishiguro – Il gigante sepolto Traduttore: Susanna Basso Einaudi Per il suo settimo romanzo Ishiguro torna ai temi a lui da sempre cari – la fallibilità e il ruolo della memoria, la dime…

Roberto Piumini – La barba del Manzoni Marietti 1820 Descrizione I luoghi e i personaggi sono gli stessi dei Promessi sposi, eppure in questo romanzo breve qualcosa non torna. Spetta al letto…

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Amos Oz – Michael mio – Traduttore: Rosy Molari – Feltrinelli “Decisi di sistemare in soggiorno la branda di mio marito. Da quel momento volevo occuparmi io del bambino” “Scrivo q…

Medioevo magico La magia tra religione e scienza nei secoli XIII e XIV di Graziella Federici Vescovini pp. 600, € 24,00 Rusconi editore, 2021 EAN: 9788818036619 Che cosa è stata la magia nei secoli, in particolare in quel periodo ritenuto magico per eccellenza, ossia il Medioevo? Quali le relazioni tra magia, scienza e religione, illusione e realtà? Che cosa si intende per magia? Qual è il ruolo del Demonio nella magia? A questi interrogativi il lettore potrà trovare in quest'opera articolati chiarimenti secondo un tracciato storico individuato su documenti e testi poco noti di autori dei secoli XIII e XIV. Una storia della magia che si configura pertanto come una storia della filosofia, della scienza e dell'occultismo nel periodo maturo del pensiero medievale. Graziella Federici Vescovini ha iniziato i suoi studi presso la Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell’Università degli Studi di Firenze e li ha completati a Torino, dove si è laureata in Filosofia presso la Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell’Università degli Studi di tale città nel 1956 con una Tesi di Filosofia Teoretica sul pensiero matematico di Nicola Cusano. È stata successivamente Assistente Volontaria presso la Cattedra di Storia della Filosofia Medievale di Eugenio Garin dell’Università degli Studi di Firenze e poi a Torino Assistente di ruolo di Storia della Filosofia di Nicola Abbagnano, con cui ha collaborato attivamente fino al 1971, anno del ritiro accademico di Abbagnano. Libera Docente di Storia della Filosofia Medievale nel 1963, ha insegnato ininterrottamente dal 1965 al 1981 Storia della Filosofia Medievale presso la Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell’Università di Torino. Vincitrice di concorso per Professore Ordinario di Storia della Filosofia Antica e Medievale, ha insegnato queste discipline presso la Facoltà di Magistero dell’Uni-versità degli Studi di Sassari dal 1981 al 1985. Successivamente ha insegnato dal 1985 al 1996 Storia della Filosofia presso la Facoltà di Lettere e Filosofia dell’Università degli Studi di Parma e quindi Storia della Filosofia e Storia della Scienza presso la facoltà di Scienze della Formazione dell’Università degli Studi di Firenze. Ha ricoperto cariche direttive come Presidente di Corso di Laurea, rispettivamente nelle tre Università di Sassari, Parma e Firenze e Direttore di Istituto e Dipartimento nelle Università di Sassari e di Firenze; attualmente è Presidente del Corso di Studi in Formatore Multimediale e Coordinatore della Commssione Campus, Facoltà di Scienze della Formazione, Università di Firenze. È stata insignita del Premio Salotto Veneto nel 1988, sotto la Presidenza di Visentini, per la migliore opera culturale e scientifica per l’edizione critica del Lucidator dubitabilium astronomiae di Pietro d’Abano, opera per la quale, insieme ai suoi altri studi più rilevanti di storia della scienza come gli Studi sulla prospettiva medievale, è stata cooptata quale membro corrispondente e poi effettivo nell’Académie Internationale d’Histoire des Sciences (Parigi), Accademia che è la sola oggi a fare parte dell’Union Académique Internationale. Dal 1962 a tutt’oggi è membro della Société Internationale pour l’Etude de la Philosophie Médiévale (S.I.E.P.M.) (Louvain-la-Neuve). Attualmente è inoltre socia della Société Internationale d’Histoire des Sciences et de la Philosophie Arabes et Islamiques (Parigi), del cui Consiglio Direttivo è stata eletta a far parte. È membro della Fédération Internationale d’Etudes Médiévales (F.I.D.E.M.) (Louvain-la-Neuve). È socia e membro del Consiglio Direttivo dell’Accademia Sperelliana di Gubbio, socia dell’Accademia Pontaniana e dell’Accademia di Lettere, Scienze e Arti di Napoli.

Getting your book wrong on holiday is almost as bad as choosing the wrong hotel. So how to choose a riveting read from the many titles out there? We asked someone who reads for a living – Assistant Editor of fiction at Pan Macmillan, Jayne Osborne – to share her edit of the top 10 novels to try this summer. From romance to thrillers, these are the ultimate summer reads to see you through the holidays.