Book recommendation: Sabriel by Garth Nix

As it’s International Women’s Day today, I thought it would be nice to celebrate one of my favorite female characters and also provide a series recommendation.

I have loved fantasy since I was in middle school, and often browsed the library for books that simply looked cool. And one day I picked up this book called “Sabriel” by this guy named Garth Nix. On the front was a young woman holding a little bell in one hand and a sword in the other with this cool blue surcoat on and a bandolier of bells across her chest. Behind her is a really scary-looking dark cloud with an evil face in it. So I checked the book out, took it home, and have loved it to this day. 

“Sabriel” contains some of my favorite fantasy elements: there’s magic, there are swords, there’s a powerful and mysterious book, there are talking animals who aren’t quite animals, and there are powerful objects you use to channel magic. The story begins in sort of an early 20th-century setting in a country called Ancelstierre, but takes place mostly in The Old Kingdom, which is a land of magic and quite a bit of danger and has more of a medieval feel. There’s also a magic system in the book that is relatively simple to understand for those of us who don't wanna get bogged down in the details. 

The character Sabriel is part of a long line of people called the Abhorsen, who work to protect the living world from powerful Dead creatures bent on destroying humanity. The Abhorsen carries a sword and seven bells, each whose sound creates a certain effect on those who hear it -- for example, one bell lulls enemies to sleep, one will either allow speech or make someone silent, and another will bring dead bodies to life as it pushes its wielder further into death. Of course, there are antagonists seeking to use Dead creatures to build an army or amass power and the Abhorsen is a role that has been around hundreds if not thousands of years to make sure the Dead stay dead. 

The Abhorsen is also uniquely able to enter the realm of Death, where he or she can use the bells to confront Dead creatures trying to make their way into life. This first book is focused on Sabriel’s journey to find her father, the current Abhorsen, whom she believes is in danger after he sends her his sword and bells. 

Now, I love this book and I love Sabriel as a character for quite a few reasons. The first is that...sometimes I want a complicated protagonist (like Kvothe of "The Kingkiller Chronicle"), and sometimes I want someone straightforward. Sabriel falls into the latter category in my opinion. She’s not morally gray. She accepts her duty as future Abhorsen, she’s both logical and compassionate, she’s very brave, she’s determined, she’s also not afraid to ask for help. She does, of course, have moments of fear and doubt as many heroes do but she pushes through. She’s not over-sexualized either which I do appreciate -- she’s just a GOOD hero and I think she’s really cool. And she’s not just limited to one book! 

The book “Sabriel” was first published in 1995 and had two direct sequels, “Lirael” published in 2001 and “Abhorsen” in 2003 as well as two more recent works that make up what’s called the Old Kingdom series -- Sabriel herself is in four of five of these books so if you read the series, you get to spend a lot of time with her.

In the first book Sabriel is 18 and she’s probably closer to 40 in the following stories. The second two books are mostly focused on Lirael, another heroine, and Sabriel’s son Sam, both of whom I also love and who are a bit more complex of characters; also in those second two books, "Lirael" and "Abhorsen," the talking cat (who is not really a cat) comes back BUT THERE IS ALSO A TALKING DOG who is not really a dog but who takes the form of a dog -- it’s great stuff. It can be a little scary and suspenseful at some points when you’re dealing with these evil ugly dead creatures and talking about walking through death, you definitely get a bit of a horror feel at times, so fair warning. From someone who is a bit of a chicken when it comes to these things -- I didn’t ever find the books too intense myself, even as a kid, so hopefully you will all be ok if you choose to make this adventure. 

I absolutely recommend the series to any lover of fantasy -- you can probably find cheap copies at a Half Price Books or a local bookstore because they’re kind of old at this point and I HIGHLY recommend the audiobooks -- the first three books in the series are read by Tim Curry and he does a wonderful job. If you don’t want to support the Amazon/Audible machine, you can check your local library to see if they will rent out audiobooks that you can download on your phone and enjoy Curry’s narration. They’re also not particularly long books which is handy for someone like me who wants to read them over and over. 

A bit about the author -- author Garth Nix, an Australian, has been in the game for about 30 years and everything I’ve read by him has been very imaginative and he always has female characters front and center. I think in his recent works he has been more cognizant of including representation of different races and sexual preferences, BUT even back in 1995 when he published "Sabriel," there are non-white characters included. As far as romance in the books, it IS there but I wouldn’t say it’s heavy by any means, the author is more focused on plot and action and worldbuilding. As with anything I love I do have some critiques of this series but that hasn’t stopped me from reading them a bunch of times. 

If you are interested in the series, I would recommend reading in the following order: "Sabriel" first, then "Lirael," then" Abhorsen;" these are the original trilogy and I think they’re best as a set. Then you have "Clariel," which is a prequel of sorts, and "Goldenhand," which continues with the story of Lirael, Sabriel, and the other characters we know and love. I do like "Clariel" even though it’s almost entirely a separate set of characters and it does link to Goldenhand" -- however if there’s one I WOULD skip it’s that one. 

All in all, Sabriel has been part of my life for probably close to 20 years -- I think I read the book around the time I was 10 or 11 and I still love it to this day, so even though the character is 18 in the first book I think it’s a book you will still enjoy no matter HOW old you are!

Happy reading!

The enduring humanity of Wanda Maximoff

 This post contains spoilers for the series finale of "WandaVision," which aired March 5, 2021.

Dread it. Run from it. Grief arrives all the same.

Don't miss a moment of Marvel Studios' #WandaVision, now streaming on @DisneyPlus. pic.twitter.com/nq3j7ii6LP

— WandaVision (@wandavision) February 1, 2021

Wanda Maximoff has sat with grief more than anyone should have to in a lifetime. We get a front seat — both to her grief and her time processing it — in the penultimate episode of "WandaVision." After her parents’ death, we see her trapped under the rubble and then in her room at HYDRA, isolated and watching old shows to comfort herself, unable to escape her aching sadness. After her brother’s death, we never see his burial. And either way, Wanda is effectively imprisoned at New Avengers Facility, again sitting on a bed that isn’t hers as she watches TV, consumed by loss.

When Vision dies in "Infinity War", Wanda has a brief moment to come to peace with the fact he died to save the world before Thanos cruelly reverses time just to kill him again. There, Wanda has mere moments to grieve before being snapped out of existence, returning in "Endgame" to boost the Avengers against the Mad Titan.

There’s a funeral for Tony Stark and a bench thrown for Natasha Romanoff, but nothing for Vision. Wanda chooses not to hide from her grief but to confront it, first at SWORD headquarters and then in that empty lot in New Jersey. This is old hat for her at this point; we presume she didn’t get to see her parents’ bodies so she wants to see her love’s, to give herself some sense of closure. For once. So, she meets her grief head on. And it swallows her whole and takes a whole town with it.

For those of us without magic, grief manifests in less cinematic, but no less devastating ways. We grieve loved ones, relationships, friendships, careers, routines, and places. We grieve the loss of our good health, of a pet, of our childhood home. Grief has no blueprint for how or when it affects us. Some choose to hide it, only to have it come crashing in years later. Some choose to confront it, hoping to diminish it, and still feel as if they are exploding with the pain. It can reach out and affect every aspect of our lives — and the lives of those around us.

From the jump, I was wary of WandaVision. How many times in media have we encountered a powerful woman who became dangerous simply because she was emotional and “couldn’t control it” (Dany, Willow, Jean Grey, Elsa)? How many times have real women been pushed aside simply for expressing their feelings, dismissed as hormonal or crazy? Would this show about a powerful woman in the grip of grief be any different?

In some ways, yes. And in other ways, no. And I think that’s all right. Wanda Maximoff’s love for Vision created the Hex, but it wasn’t ultimately what broke that scarlet barrier. It was her humanity. It was the realization that her “perfect neighborhood” had so deeply traumatized the regular inhabitants of Westview, who were collectively grieving the loss of their autonomy and agency as they stepped towards her in the street. It was Dottie (Sarah), it seems, who really reached through Wanda’s grief with her own as she begged to be able to hold her little daughter. Perhaps this hit a nerve with Wanda, who was only a little older than Dottie’s daughter when she lost her own mother. And Wanda has a touching moment with Monica near the end of the episode where Monica tells her, with compassion in her eyes, that she would have done something similar if it meant bringing her mother back. It’s a reminder to Wanda that all of us grieve.

Well, maybe not ALL of us. As Vision told Wanda in episode 8, he does not know grief because he has not had anyone to lose. We see him experience joy, fear, surprise, anger, and love in the Hex — all human emotions, just as grief is a human emotion. Wanda may be some prophesied sorceress, yes, but she is still human. She showed that humanity by choosing to take down the Hex and allow the townsfolk to live freely again, effectively erasing her life with Vision and the twins. Yes, it was the right thing to do, and who knows how long the Hex had been active, but it still took strength and compassion to do — to expose her battered soul to more grief.

And before she loses Vision a third time, she tells him, “You are my sadness and my hope. But mostly, you’re my love.”

After all, what is grief if not love persevering?

Our failures, ourselves: Missing the World Cup

I am disappointed.

There is still an ache in the part of my heart that loves soccer, and loves my team, and I understand how our players must feel. I am disappointed for so many US Soccer servants who may never see a World Cup again: Bradley, Howard, Dempsey, Guzan, Beasley, Wondolowski, Zusi, Cameron, Bedoya, Jones and McCarty are all 30+ and could retire before Qatar in 2022. I am disappointed for my friend Donald and many members of American Outlaws who pour their heart and soul into following our USMNT around the country and across the water, who scream and cheer and push us to "believe that we will win." I am disappointed for the young players who missed two Olympics and will now miss a World Cup.

U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard lies in the goal area after being scored upon by Trinidad and Tobago at a World Cup qualifying match at Ato Boldon Stadium in Couva, Trinidad and Tobago, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

I’m also angry. I have never played at a professional or international level, so I don’t understand how this happened, but I am pissed off. And who am I, even? Just a fan who wants to see the red, white, and blue tested against the world’s best. A fan who expects that, when our players put on that shirt, they know I am watching and they want to do right by me because I am an American, and they represent me on that field. They represent all of us. The USA shirt is heavy --but they know that every time they pull it on. They go to work. They make their money. They play under the floodlights, they see little kids wearing their name and number, they live out the childhood dreams of millions.

They carry the weight and expectations of a nation as they run across that green grass.

That weight is different now.

So, what happened? We can blame the loss on a lot of things. Cockiness. Lack of rest. Field conditions. Formation. Bruce Arena. Jurgen Klinsmann. Sunil Gulati. The referees. Our 2-1 loss to Trinidad is the focal point right now, but look back and see that this was of our own making. Of our games in the Hex, we won 3, tied 3, and lost 4. We didn’t deserve to go through. A tie in Trinidad or some goals in another match should not have shaped our destiny. We failed.

United States' Clint Dempsey reacts during a 2018 World Cup qualifying soccer match against Trinidad and Tobago in Couva, Trinidad, Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

CONCACAF is not a surprise or a great mystery. Our players and other CONCACAF member players meet in the MLS weekly. We were crowned Gold Cup champions against these same opponents mere months ago. Before and after the Gold Cup, we failed to win our World Cup qualifiers in Costa Rica, Panama, Honduras, and Trinidad. Was the Gold Cup win (and our fourth place finish in Copa America the year before) because we only played on American soil in front of US Soccer faithful?

Why, then, did I stumble dumbly out of Columbus’s MAPFRE Stadium last November after a 2-1 loss to Mexico, freezing cold and covered in someone else’s beer, having seen the magic of “Dos a Cero” fail us? Why were we embarrassed in New Jersey in September, when Costa Rica put us down 2-0 in New Jersey? Bruce Arena can comment all he wants about how hard it is to qualify through CONCACAF. We proved his point this week, I suppose. Anyone can blame the field in Trinidad, can't they? Even as our US Women and our NWSL still struggle to get equal field condition footing with the men, on turf or on grass? Even as Belgium defeated Bosnia on a field that wasn't any better this week? Surely we didn’t lose because these US boys forgot how to get their boots wet, right?

Look, teams miss the Cup. Germany’s missed it. England’s missed it. The Netherlands aren’t going this year. It happens. It’s embarrassing. I hope the discussion among fans and pundits does not stop. The men’s game needs to be shocked into action. Why didn’t our young players qualify for the last two Olympics? They are the vanguard now, and they have missed out on three incredible opportunities to play at the highest level of competition. What will this team look like by then? Who will be the manager? Will we still be reliant on one man, one star who can shine abroad, one “secret” weapon we desperately can’t stop talking about? Will we see players like Brooks, Wood, Green, Johannsson, and Yedlin making bigger names for themselves outside of the MLS?

A thought on CP: We should not have to rely on the skills of one young man to pull us through. Pulisic is brilliant, and he is the future of US Soccer, but the entire weight of the country cannot sit on one teenager’s shoulders. We cannot expect him to pull us out of every situation, Messi-like, rising like a god to save our skins and do what everyone else on the pitch cannot. It is a heavy weight to bear. A team that revolves around and relies upon one player is not a team. Pulisic probably won’t go the way of Freddy Adu, our last young phenom, but it worries me how we look to him as a savior.

Perhaps Pulisic and some of our younger players are lucky. They have four years to get ready for this again. They have time to grow, and find success, and let this disappointment fester. They have time to crave the taste of WC competition, time to think about how to get there and breathe that rare air. So do we, the fans. So does the USSF. Nothing matters now but 2022. We need to be ready for it. The time starts now.

Books I've read in 2017: The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

My name is Kvothe.

I have stolen princesses back from sleeping barrow kings. I burned down the town of Trebon. I have spent the night with Felurian and left with both my sanity and my life. I was expelled from the University at a younger age than most people are allowed in. I tread paths by moonlight that others fear to speak of during day. I have talked to Gods, loved women, and written songs that make the minstrels weep.

You may have heard of me.

I have read (and listened, via Audible) to a beautifully-wrought fantasy series by Patrick Rothfuss several times this year. A friend of mine introduced me in 2014 and I discovered the story of Kvothe slowly, reading the books off and on before finally being hooked. Now, I'm on my 5th re-read and discover a new piece of the puzzle every time.

I suppose that part of the series' appeal right now is that it is unfinished, and the depth of storytelling allows fans to analyze the intricate writing to try and speculate about Book 3. It's been 10 years since The Name of the Wind was published, and 6 since its sequel The Wise Man's Fear. We're still waiting on the third installment in the series, tentatively called The Doors of Stone. Through the expansive first few books, Rothfuss carefully crafts a world of magic, music, and myth.

Our hero Kvothe--or perhaps our antihero--was once regarded highly as a singer, swordsman, magician, genius, and overall legend. Now, he has fallen from public grace after starting a war, perhaps faked his own death, and now manages a quiet inn, a shadow of his former self. Rothfuss describes him at the beginning and end of each book as "a man who is waiting to die." It is the story of his life, told in his own words, from an idyllic childhood as a trouper to the murder of his parents by a mysterious group of people, to the University where he searches for answers to their death, and far beyond.

At the same time, the frame story reveals how dangerous the world has truly become, and how Kvothe blames himself for everything that happened.

I am not quite sure what I will read after I finish Wise Man's Fear for the fifth time. I may take a break. I may delve back in. Hopefully, if nothing else I've said so far has, this will be what convinces someone to give these a try--the fact that this series is worth that many rereads!

Click here for an excerpt of NotW from Pat Rothfuss' official site!

"The Weight of These Wings" review--finding peace and finding yourself

The lasting image of Miranda Lambert in many people's minds is the Miranda Lambert we met on her first two albums--the one who would burn a cheating ex's house down, kill an abusive husband, or fight an ex's new flame in a bar. But her more recent albums showed a steadier side, as she settled into a long relationship and began feeling comfortable in her own skin.

"Four the Record" definitely contained some sassy numbers ("Mama's Broken Heart," "Fastest Girl in Town"), but it also contained the heartbreaking "Over You," which she wrote with ex-husband Blake Shelton.

On "Platinum," we began to see how self-aware Lambert is of her celebrity status and of her role as a mentor to younger artists. She muses about aging ("Gravity's a Bitch,") about teen pregnancy ("Babies Making Babies,") about staying in a lasting celebrity marriage ("Priscilla,") and about the good ol' days growing up, when life was a little less hectic ("Automatic").

Here, on her sixth studio album "The Weight of These Wings," we find a woman who endured a very public heartbreak at the pinnacle of her career. We find a woman who was broken and who has dragged herself back into the light after what surely were some of her darkest days. We find a woman who, to borrow a phrase from Lin-Manuel Miranda, wrote her way out--and gave us a double album in the process.

The lead single, "Vice," should tell you enough--it's told from the perspective of a woman who is drinking, sleeping, and driving her way through her own personal hell. That theme continues, with hazy musings about living a vagabond life and spending too much time at bars, as the woman behind it all re-learns who she is and what she wants out of life.

In the buildup for the album, Lambert hasn't said much. There were no big sit-down interviews about who wronged who in her past relationship. Her Instagram is full of dog photos and musings about making music. She could have gone the old route, burning old bridges with glee and stopping to think about it later. But she's older now, and perhaps the temper has tempered--or perhaps she just doesn't think it's worth the effort to confront her demons with fire and steel.

(Photo: Daniela Federici via MirandaLambert.com)

"The Weight of These Wings" doesn't contain any collaborations with big names. It's a mostly subdued epic, a tour de force from someone who will be remembered as one of country music's greatest. It's raw and it's heavy at times, and you hear it in the way Lambert's voice breaks and soars over 24 tracks. It feels familiar to those of us who have ever been heartbroken. It feels like a smoky bar and a taxi and a morning sipping coffee on your front porch before the sun is up. It feels like waking up after a night wrestling with demons--unsure how you're going to move forward, but determined to do so however you can. 

What happened last night at the CMAs?

Man, I'll tell y'all what.

We were saved. 

Ok! I can finally talk about one of the greatest weeks of my life! Thank you @Beyonce ! You slay. All day! pic.twitter.com/XJCOrdweih

— Natalie Maines (@1NatalieMaines) November 3, 2016

The 50th anniversary of the CMAs offered country music an opportunity to dig deep into its (whitewashed) recent past and bring some of the genre's most storied names back on stage.

You almost forget about whiny pop-country acts like Luke Bryan, Florida-Georgia Line, and their ilk when Reba, Clint Black, George Strait, Alan Jackson, "Mr. and Mrs. Yearwood," and Randy Travis pop back out there and sing. It's a heartening reminder for those of us who feel like we are drowning in white boys in white t-shirts, embroidered jeans, and snapbacks. Dolly Parton picked up a lifetime achievement award. Garth Brooks won entertainer of the year. Randy Travis sang after his stroke. This was a good year.

And then Beyoncé G. Knowles-Carter showed up. And she brought the Dixie Chicks, whom country music hasn't really forgiven for bashing George Bush back in 2003.

Texas. 

Image Group LA/Getty Images

Even country music doesn't exist in a vacuum, so I'm sure this audience knows a few songs off of "Lemonade." We know Miranda Lambert does, and her love for her fellow Texan has been well-documented.

If you have been living under a rock, "Daddy Lessons" is a stomping, brass-led beauty of a song that touches upon some of country music's favorite standbys--guns, bad relationships, and advice from your daddy.

The online reaction was mixed. Celebrities and Beyhive members were floored, inspired, enthusiastic, and ready to crown Bey queen of Nashville.

Some country fans, however, were less than impressed--perhaps still smarting from Beyonce's purported anti-police views, they feel it was "disrespectful" for country music to welcome her to the stage. Simply wade into any of the posts on the CMA Facebook page, and there you have it.  

On the surface, some of the complaints are that Beyonce's music does not belong on this awards show. But any country music fan--or artist--who scowled during this crossover simply based on its musicality is kidding him or herself. How can you allow Taylor Swift back on stage in 2016, then, if country music is suddenly such a sacred entity? Why do we allow Luke Bryan and Florida-Georgia Line to infuse hip-hop, and even make call-outs to hip-hop, in their music, without batting an eye? How are Sam Hunt and Jason Aldean permitted to rap in their songs and still win awards? Aldean even has performed on stage with Ludacris! Nelly has re-done Thomas Rhett's "Die a Happy Man." And last year, Justin Timberlake (a southern boy, yes, but no country artist) sang on stage with Chris Stapleton at these very awards.

Suddenly, a black woman performing a country song on her album is such an egregious offense?

Surely, given all that country music has taken from hip-hop lately, this argument is null and void. And thus, we get to the heart of the argument--it's political at best, and racial at worst.

I think the Associated Press sums it up nicely (emphasis mine):

Not everyone was prepared to welcome Beyonce with open arms. "Let me have my country music in peace" wrote one critic on Twitter. Another suggested that whoever had invited her should be fired. Still another threatened: "I was going to watch, but not now." 

But many others sounded thrilled, including country singers Brad Paisley (who tweeted "Welcome") and Cassadee Pope (who said, "I'm gunna explode."). The CMAs have previously invited non-country artists before, as they did last year with Justin Timberlake.

Jennifer Nettles was just happy to hear the song: "Everybody loves the harmonies, loves the music. Don't get it twisted. It's about the music. If you make it about it about something else, you're wrong," she said after the show. 

Beyonce has been criticized by some for her half-time show at the Super Bowl that referenced the Black Lives Matter movement, Malcolm X and the Black Panthers, as well as her video for "Formation" that includes images of a hooded black child facing police and graffiti scrawled on a wall that reads "Stop Shooting Us."

The problem, if there is one, is not with country music. It's with its fans. As referenced above and in some earlier media coverage, country artists responded well to "Daddy Lessons."

The fans are the ones with a problem. The fans are the ones who can't let go of what Natalie Mains said in 2003. The fans are the ones who can't stomach someone on stage who feels differently than them. The fans, also, are the ones who continue to buy and request country crossover songs by Bryan, Aldean, Hunt, FGL, Chase Rice, and a whole host of other men desperate to cash in on the latest trend--appropriating a traditionally black sound for their traditionally white audience because it "sounds good."

Does it really sound good?  

If country music is looking to hip-hop, "Daddy Lessons" is the song to look to--and after all, let's not forget that the roots of country music run much deeper than the last 50 years with Dolly Parton. And, some of the original trailblazers look a lot different than the white-bread fellas and gals we see at every country awards show.

Freedom to lead

Five years ago I was at a conference in Washington for students interested in working towards peace in Darfur. It was then I first learned about Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel Peace Price-winning leader from Burma (Myanmar). I was inspired by her work to get her people out from under the heel of an oppressive military regime--millions of people displaced, ethnic oppression and intimidation, forced labor, sexual violence, etc.

A few days after the conference (2010), she was released from 15 years under house arrest for her work to bring democracy to the country.

A little over three years ago, I drove to Indiana to hear her speak and sat with hundreds of people from her home country who view her as a hero (as I do).

And in the past few days, Myanmar held elections, seen as the most democratic in 25 years.

Tonight, the AP reports that Daw Suu Kyi has won her seat in Parliament--note that she is not allowed to be president because the military specifically wrote a law to block her from the position. However, her party is expected to win most of the seats in the government.

This is a HUMONGOUS step for Burma and also a test for this new government, as hundreds of thousands of Rohingya Muslims are still persecuted in the largely Buddhist country (and have been blocked from voting).

I am incredibly happy to see the beginnings of change (assuming, of course, the military steps down and allows new leadership). I am also hopeful that the new government is representative of all people in Burma.