Kilt, Four In The Crib (Oh Ha Music/Kilt Music Group Inc, 1999)

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“Kilt: From Cape Breton and Newfoundland come four fun-loving musicians with one purpose in mind … to make you dance.”
-From the Kilt Web site.

Canadian Folk/Celtic. That’s the best way to describe this particular group. It’s a very interesting mix of Celtic and North American folk music, with a good blend of vocals and instrumentals to keep it from getting too lively.

A visit to their Web site turned up the following information on them. Kilt is composed of Tony Ronalds (lead vocals), Bonny Jean MacDonald (fiddle, vocals), Brennan MacDonald (guitars, vocals), Brian Buckle (drums, percussion, vocals), and Scott MacFarlane (bass, vegetables(!) and vocals). They hail from Cape Breton and Newfoundland. Originally a group performing with other, better-known artists like Great Big Sea and Bruce Guthro, they broke out on their own with their 1997 debut album, Kilt, which immediately soared to the top of the HMV Halifax’s Maritime Music chart. Two years later, they’ve followed that effort with Four In The Crib, which further showcases their variety of talents.

There’s something different about Kilt, that I can’t quite put into words. They’ve got a lively beat and a slightly off-kilter (no pun intended) style that stirs the body even when you’re not completely listening. They switch from Celtic to folk without even breathing hard, and yet you can actually feel the switch, like walking from a sauna into a refrigerator. It’s not bad, it’s just profound, and fun at the same time.

Kilt deftly handles traditional reels (“Prince Albert’s Reel / Drowsy Maggie / Jenny Dang the Weaver / Lord Kinnaird”), jigs (“Lads of Duns / Dan the Cobbler / Shins Around the Fireside / The Beauties of Ireland”), traditional songs (“Lift Up Your Glass”) and their own material (“Dylan’s Ghost,” “Sight,”) and more. They finish with the unusual “(Dirty) Dinky Dorrian’s Reel,” described as a “bonus for traditional screaming guitar fans.”

So, are they any good? I’d say so. Kilt’s not my first choice for whiling away the night hours, but they provided me with several hours’ worth of enjoyment. I can see how they got their reputation and strong fanbase, and I look forward to seeing what they’ll do in the future. I recommend them as something a little new and different, a keen blending of Celtic and Canadian folk with a decidedly Newfoundland twist on the matter. If you’re tired of the same old same, Kilt definitely isn’t it.

Forgotten Fads and Fabulous Flops, by Paul Kirchner (Rhino Records, 1995)

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We’ve all had those moments of brilliance, where some idea so astoundingly splendid and mind-bogglingly impressive that we can’t believe no one else has ever thought of it pops into our head. You know, like pet rocks. Paper dresses. Instant fish kits. The “Interbang” (a cross between ? and ! to symbolize What the?!). Earring Magic Ken.

You get the idea. Okay, so maybe there are times when we’re not such clever monkeys after all, and what seemed like a good idea at the time turns out to be a major dud, or forgotten within a year. Smell-O-Vision? Animal of the Month Club? The Amphicar (good on land and in the water)? Premature Burial Alarms?

The sad truth is that sometimes, we’ll try anything that’s neat and shiny and new. For, oh, five minutes. And that’s where the fun comes in. This is a book composed solely of the most ridiculous fads to capture our attention, the most profound flops, the silliest patents, and the ideas that never got off the ground. Even the great geniuses had their off moments, such as Frank Lloyd Wright’s Mile-High Building, Buckminster Fuller’s Geodesic House (and Geodesic Bathroom, Geodesic Car, Triton City), Thomas Edison’s Talking Doll, and Nikola Tesla’s Death Ray.

Yes, this fascinating book covers the sublime and the ridiculous, with 237 pages devoted to hundreds of our finest moments as a tool-using, sentient, self-aware race. Numerous pictures and diagrams provide incontrovertible proof that -someone- thought that Reverend Moon’s movie, Inchon, would be a success, or that goldfish swallowing was a smart and popular thing to do, or that Death Magazine would be a bestseller.

Air-cars. Coca-Cola wannabes. NEW COKE. (So good it deserves capital letters.) Failed celebrity franchise restaurants (such as Minnie Pearl’s Chicken, Willie Mays Say-Hey Restaurants, and Tony Bennett’s Spaghetti House.) Smokeless cigarettes. Kudzu.

Really, you’d think we’d learn better, after seeing what previous generations attempted. Rabage, a combination of cabbage and radish with none of the popularity. The Foot-Operated Breast-Enlarger Pump. Bird diapers.

Not everything in this book is completely useless. Some of it was just way ahead of its time, like the pneumatic subway, and picturephones. But then you get “No Frills Books,” which were the ultimate manifestation of the generic concept. Entitled, simply, Science Fiction, Western, Romance, or Mystery, they delivered just that, using every cliche in the book.

Those who forget the past are doomed to fail when they inadvertently duplicate something already failed. Avoid Vietnam-styled theme parks, iceberg aircraft carriers, and women’s urinals.

This book makes for truly fascinating reading, both out of morbid curiosity and genuine amusement. It’s one of the finest looks at our least finest ideas that I’ve run across. Rhino Records seems to have an eye on culture and society, and they prove it here with Forgotten Fads and Fabulous Flops. Well-researched and cleverly written, it’s like a time capsule of the damned.

Skunkguard. Trepanation. Rocket Belts. Forgotten bands of the San Francisco Sound (Blue Crumb Truck Factory, Immaculate Contraption, Fifty-foot Hose, and more!). Failed television shows like Huggy Bear and the Turkey, Weekend Nun, and Poochinski.

Wait. I remember Poochinski. Oh dear.

Anyway, this is one book that any pop culture fan will be glad to have, if just for the sheer giggles it’s sure to create. But go ahead and laugh if you want, and say that we’ll never be so foolish as to give in to fads like that, or ideas that awful.

Two words, bunkie.

Beanie Babies.

Have a nice day.

Alison Krauss, Forget About It (Rounder Records, 1999)

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Honesty time. I really wanted to like this one. After all, I have a soft spot for female singer-songwriters. On the whole, my experiences with them have been pleasant. (Let me rephrase. My experiences with their music. At no time have I been er, associated with female singer-songwriters in any real capacity. Now get your minds out of the gutter, I’m trying to review here!) As a sidenote, Alison Krauss was one of the various musicians to make an appearance on the recently-released soundtrack for the Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed her contribution to that particular album (“Forget About It,” which also appears in a slightly different version on this likewise-named CD.)

Sadly, despite my attempts to go in with an open mind, I found myself gradually growing bored, and even a little bit frustrated with the songs on Forget About It. Not, mind you, because they’re bad. On the contrary, it’s because they’re good. Just not good enough. Does that make sense? It felt like Krauss was reaching for something and just not quite breaking through the final obstacles. As though she wasn’t quite living up to the potential I could sense. And after a while, the songs all started to sound fairly alike, falling into a certain range, without any one song truly standing out.

Thus, on the whole, I’d have to call this an average effort. Technically competent, and any one song on its own would be quite acceptable. An entire CD managed to grate on my nerves just a little.

But let me point out some of the other aspects of Forget About It before I make my final call. First off, we have Alison Krauss herself, providing lead vocals, occasional harmony vocals, fiddle, and strings where appropriate. Joining her are musicians Ron Block (acoustic guitar), Jerry Douglas (dobro), Barry Bales (acoustic bass, electric bass, harmony vocals), Sam Bush (mandolin), Jim Keltner (drums), and Viktor Krauss (acoustic guitar). That’s not all, but it’s most of the musicians listed as appearing on the majority of the tracks. Working as a unit, they manage to put together a run of rather nice, if not outstanding, songs.

If I had to sum up this album in a word, I’d call it mellow. A second word would be sentimental. It’s a very … nice album. I have no trouble seeing Alison Krauss and her guitar singing at Open Mic Night in a coffeehouse somewhere. However, I’m afraid that as nice an album as it is, I wasn’t impressed by Forget About It. I’m sure it’s to someone’s tastes, but it didn’t quite hit mine. As always, though, you’re the master of your own destiny. Give it a listen before buying, and see if maybe you have better luck.

Exploring Harry Potter, by Elizabeth D. Schafer (Beacham Publishing, 2000)

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Coming on the heels of the immense, almost unprecedented popularity of the Harry Potter books comes this gem. The full title is Beacham’s Sourcebooks For Teaching Young Adult Fiction: Exploring Harry Potter, and it’s the first in a series that will hopefully live long and prosper well enough to tackle more classic literature. The second volume in the series is planned to cover C.S. Lewis’ Narnia books. After that, who knows? Susan Cooper? Madeleine L’Engle? We can only wait and see, but if the next books are anywhere near as thorough or intelligent as this one, we’re in for a treat.

It should be noted, right away, that this is not approved by J.K. Rowling, but is drawn from intensive study of the first three books, interviews, press releases, advance material regarding the fourth, and general information. Thus, while not official or authorized, it’s still one of the best studies of the series out there at the moment, and could easily be used as a textbook in class or at home.

But what’s it all about? It’s about Harry Potter, naturally. However, it approaches things from a scholarly viewpoint. The book contains nearly 500 pages in a hardback format, divided into chapters grouped by subjects, starting with “Beginnings,” which goes into a brief biography of J.K. Rowling, and how the whole Pottermania phenomenon got started and where it’s going.

The next section is the longest and most comprehensive. Entitled “Reading Harry,” it takes a detailed, thoughtful, intelligent, analytical approach regarding characters and themes, settings, school life, food, sports, geography, mythology, archetypes and Biblical references, history, science, witchcraft and magic, literary qualities, moral and social codes, and finally illustrations and foreign editions. Where appropriate, the sections look at the meanings and interpretations of names, classical inspirations for Rowling’s choices, literary and historical antecedents, and much, much more. Quite simply, if it’s in the books and it can be analyzed or interpreted, it’s in this section. Everything from gender roles to the uses of color in description to the relationship between names to good versus evil to numbers to life in an English school. It’s quite exhaustive, to be frank.

After that comes “Teaching Harry,” which breaks the series down into the first three books, and offers overviews, chapter developments, projects and activities, discussions, and ways to improve writing and critical skills. This is basically the workbook section, geared towards using Harry as a scholastic or heuristic source. A timeline combining the real life and literary events of Harry Potter follows.

Next is “While You’re Waiting For The Next Harry Potter Novel,” which contains ways to keep yourself amused between books. There’s an extensive list of other books people might enjoy, drawn from children’s, classical, and fantasy literature, far too extensive a list to try and reproduce here. Conjectures on the future of the series and its title character come next, along with more activities and possibilities for discussion topics.

Section 5, “Bibliography and Appendices,” is exactly what it says it is, and is invaluable for providing straightforward lists of characters, creatures, objects and more, as well as an appendix devoted to mythological beings cited earlier in the book.

Finally, the last section is devoted to online resources, and actually points the reader to Beacham’s Web site at www.beachampublishing.com, which is a far smarter thing than trying to list such material in print, given how quickly the Internet can change from day to day. An index at the very end of the book provides help in finding specific names or concepts.

What can I say about Exploring Harry Potter except that if you like the series at all, this is a perfect companion piece. It’s intelligent, immensely detailed, educational, and high quality. I’m impressed by what I see, and I think there’s a future for the Beacham series if they can keep it up. While it draws upon the popularity of Harry Potter, it’s good enough to stand on its own as a piece of academic excellence. And if it can help turn the phenomenon of Harry Potter into something people can also learn from, so be it. This book comes very highly recommended, and can be found in most local bookstores, or online via the usual sources.

The author, Dr. Elizabeth Schafer, has been actively writing about history, children’s literature, and science for several years now, and was the recipient of the Shirley Henn Memorial Award for Critical Scholarship in Children’s Literature from Hollins University in 1998.

Rook, C'mon (EP) (Fucking Kid Records, 1999)

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Rook is another one of those fascinating little discoveries that I love to spot and single out for attention. In this case, they came to me by way of Folk Tales’ publisher, who sent C’mon to me with a side note stating that he thought I’d enjoy them.

To my pleasant surprise, he was right. I didn’t just like Rook, I loved them. And coming from me, that’s high praise indeed. You see, I have a somewhat unfortunate flaw. I don’t like Celtic music on the whole. Oh, sure, I’ve been known to enjoy specific bands, or certain songs, or some styles. But on the whole, I’m not really a Celtic music fan. I don’t know why, but after a while, it all starts sounding the same to me.

Rook, on the other hand, is a refreshing breath of difference in a great many ways. For one thing, they satisfy my FHL rule about music.

FHL?

Faster. Harder. Louder. Yup, that’s right, I’m actually a rock ‘n’ roll fan.

Anyway, I learned this about Rook from the liner notes: They’re a Tacoma, Washington based group, formed in 1996 by Shane Scot (guitars and lead vocals), and Tim McCarthy (bagpipes, backing vocals). They stayed a duo for several years, working as a studio band. They picked up several more musicians in early 1999, in the form of John Rice (drums, percussion), Sarah Roark (fiddle, backing vocals), and Gary Thompson (bass). Once they worked the kinks out, Rook as we know it was born, “a five-piece band ready to play live, record albums, and establish a fan base.” C’mon is their first album.

Unfortunately, while everything on C’mon is original to Rook’s repertoire, it’s a short album, consisting of a mere five songs and a bonus … er, track that has to be heard to be believed. Also, unfortunately, they’re noted as being released on the dubiously-named “Fucking Kid Records.”

Don’t let either of those facts worry you. Rook has some serious potential, and a good future ahead of them, if they can maintain the quality I detected in what I’ve heard.

The first song, “Christine’s Troubles,” has a story to go with it, with the Christine of the title being Rook’s original fiddler, a lady who, shortly after being recruited, was evicted, engaged, and laid off, in that order. The song itself is a lively, fast-paced bagpipe-and-others tune that fully conveys the feeling of events spiraling out of control. It starts off quietly, with the bagpipes bringing us into the song slowly, setting up the anticipation. Then, after a suitable pause, it launches into a much less restrained attitude, the other instruments joining in. Round and round it goes, getting louder, faster, and harder with each moment, until finally, it pauses for another bagpipe solo, and then the other instruments come crashing back in, faster and faster, harder and harder, slamming home with a final push and crash.

Lord, but I’d hate to try and dance to it. I can’t even begin to convey the power of the song. On the basis of that song alone, I’m a fan.

Rook doesn’t slack off, either. The second song, “Look So Long” is a demented little tale of a man who leaves a woman, and then tries to convince her to take him back. Can we say, “Ooops?” This song introduces the talented vocals section of Rook’s abilities. You know how some bands can’t sing, and shouldn’t be allowed to? Well, Rook can sing. This tune’s lively in an entirely different way, and they manage to make their instruments speak for them. And trust me, anyone who’s ever been jilted by a capricious love will applaud the way this song turns out.

The third song is “Ironman,” named after the traditional J. Scott Skinner strathspey, but with Rook’s unique flavor added to it. It’s mainly notable for being the first collaboration between McCarthy and Scot. It’s something of a letdown compared to the first two songs, until you get about a minute into the bagpipe opening and the guitar tears in with a bass roar to undercut the traditional atmosphere with a modern feel. Not so disappointing now, if you ask me.

Next up is “Gypsy Charm,” described as a love-sick song with a pipe solo worth checking out. Rook slows down for this one, reintroducing us to their vocals, and their sense of humor. This is another one to dance to, as long as you can keep up.

The last song is “Dreaming of Spain.” The liner notes state that the first two songs in the set were inspired by the music of Galicia (described as a Celtic region at the northwest tip of Spain), while the song ends with a traditional Scottish jig, “Atholl Highlanders”. Like other Rook songs, it starts slowly, focusing on bagpipes, and then opens up with energy and enthusiasm. Ah, percussion. There is a drum solo nearly four minutes into the set that simply kicks ass, and it’s immediately followed with a powerful followup into a strong finish.

The bonus track has no name that I can tell, but if I was to name it, I’d call it “Messing Around,” since that’s basically what they do for about thirty seconds. It fades in some seconds after the previous song fades out, messes around, introduces us to the possible origins of “Fucking Kid,” and then dances on out the door.

Would I recommend Rook? Oh, in a heartbeat. They’re a rare cut above the best, one I thoroughly enjoyed, and one I’ll listen to again quite happily in the future.

You can check them out at their Web site. Now, the site wasn’t accessible when I tried, but you may have better luck. If not, I’m sure someone here at Folk Tales knows how to find more Rook CDs. It’s worth the effort, in my book.

Changer, by Jane Lindskold (Avon Books, 1998)

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“Anything he has studied he can shape. Long ago he committed a vast number of creatures and their variations to memory. Some of the animals he can shape are extinct, but he has made no effort to restore them. To do so would be to court stagnation, and he is the Changer.”

Changer is, as best I can figure, the mythological version of the X-Files. Everything you know is true, yet, at the same time, everything you know is false. In the world of Changer, there exists a race known simply as the Athanor. Immortal, powerful, and unpredictable, these beings are responsible for virtually every myth and legend known to mankind.

Really. Name a mythological figure, be it god, demigod, monster, hero, villain, or trickster, and the chances are, it was one of the Athanor. They exist as the truth behind the legends, the reality behind the illusion, the puppeteers behind the history of the world. They exist alongside us, yet we’d never know they were there, or that they were for real.

What’s more, they take the notion of parallel myth into serious consideration. In what manner? Well, certain Athanor can’t help but influence civilization. And they’ll do it in multiple identities throughout the centuries. Remember a guy by the name of Arthur Pendragon, King of Britain? He’s here. Not only that, but in another lifetime, he was known as Gilgamesh, one of the first great hero-kings. He was also Rama, Akhenaton, and Frey. Note the pattern? In every life, a hero and king, but one doomed to watch his accomplishments die along with his mortal life.

Name another. Merlin? Once upon a time, he was known as Mimir, to whom Odin sacrificed an eye for wisdom. Enkidu, Gilgamesh’s companion? Ever by his friend’s side, as Bedivere, and Heimdall. Lilith? Of course. Nimue? Still kicking around. Anansi the Spider? You don’t need to look far. And then there’s the Athanor musician with a penchant for self-destructive behavior, who’s been known as Orpheus, and, believe it or not, Elvis.

Playing “spot the myth” in Changer is a great game, as is trying to figure out just which Athanor might have been which deity or legend in his or her time. As the common link between all of the Athanor is immortality, it’s not uncommon for many of them to adopt numerous identities throughout the centuries.

Let me continue to set up the premise for you. Athanor come in three varieties: the humanborn, those born as humans, who spend their lives in that shape, and who are the ones most likely to influence history and rule the Athanor; animalborn, which are just that — immortal creatures of land, sea, and air, who may or may not possess extraordinary intelligence or powers; and Theriomorphs, creatures of mythology, such as fauns, satyrs, and sasquatches.

They’re linked by a mysterious source of energy and life called Harmony, and they are governed by a set of rules called the Accord, which is primarily maintained and championed by none other than Arthur Pendragon. His wary ally is Duppy Jonah, the Leviathan, King of the Sea. It’s an uneasy peace, to say the least, as it insists that all Athanor must remain in hiding, keeping their unusual natures and powers secret from the rest of the world. This does not sit well with everyone, including the theriomorphs.

Into this mix, throw the Changer. Rumoured to be the oldest of them all, he’s the undisputed master of shapechanging, in a race where shapechangers are common. Sure, that’s all he can do with his powers, but none come close to matching him in his realm. After fifty years as a coyote, someone has just murdered all of his coyote family, save one lone pup. And for revenge and justice, he’ll re-assume human shape, reenter human society, and be drawn into the middle of a vast conspiracy that threatens to destroy the Accord, shatter the peace, and bring about another Ragnarok. (Yes, Ragnarok was real, and it was the last great war between the Athanor.)

Before the story’s done, the very nature of the Athanor will be rocked, secrets will be revealed, and the status quo will mythologically be challenged. See if you can guess the villain behind the conspiracy before his identity is revealed.

I’ll be blunt here. This book is one of the best I’ve read in ages. The premise is original, the set-up engrossing, and the follow-through never lets up. Lindskold is a master storyteller, and all of her considerable talent shines through in this epic tale. It’s one of those stories where I couldn’t quite let go when it was done, and my first thought was, “I want more!” Luckily, my sources tell me a sequel’s in the works. To give you another idea of how good this book is, it actually overcame my near-universal loathing of books written in the present tense.

True, keeping track of who’s who may be difficult at times, but Lindskold isn’t shy about reminding you about who’s who, and who -was- who. And while the plot meanders at times, it does a fantastic job of tying together the various threads before the end, while still leaving things open for further stories told in the world of the Athanor.

Changer is one book that stands out from the crowd. At World Fantasy Convention 1999, Charles de Lint and Terri Windling both made a point of recommending this book during a panel (to the somewhat embarrassed chagrin of Jane Lindskold). And you trust Terri Windling and Charles de Lint, right? I thought so.

I’m not hard to please. I love a good story as much as anyone. But because I read so many books, it really does take something special to make me want to point it out to everyone else. This is one of those books. It’s an urban fantasy with epic undertones, and you’ll never look at those dry old mythologies the same way again. The one real weakness of the book is that while it excels as a whole, I was hard-pressed to find any passages that stand out, as I could with The War for the Oaks.

But that’s minor quibbling, and shouldn’t put you off in the least. Find this book. Check it out. Put off buying the latest Star Trek novels, and give this one a chance instead. And I’ll give a cookie to anyone who can make a full list of the Athanor and their mythological identities. Chocolate chip, no less.

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Tie-In Omnibus

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Angel: Hollywood Noir, by Jeff Mariotte (Pocket Books, 2001)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All In A Row, by Christopher Golden (Pocket, 2000)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Tales of the Slayer (Pocket, 2001)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Monster Book, by Christopher Golden, Stephen R. Bissette and Thomas E. Sniegoski (Pocket, 2000)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Watcher’s Guide Volume 1, by Christopher Golden, Nancy Holder, and Keith R.A. Decandido (Pocket, 1998)
Buffy The Vampire Slayer: The Watcher’s Guide Volume 2, by Nancy Holder, Jeff Mariotte, and Maryelizabeth Hart (Pocket, 2000)
Slayer: The Totally Cool Unofficial Guide to Buffy, by Keith Topping (Virgin Publishing, 2000)
 
Into each generation, a Slayer is born…
 
Anyone who’s been paying enough attention over the past six or so years is at least somewhat familiar with the cult phenomenon that is Buffy The Vampire Slayer, the hit television show featuring Buffy Summers, a nice, normal everyday average Californian blonde who discovered that her true destiny was to slay vampires.  And demons, and giant lizards, and monsters… In fact, it seems like every week, she’s saving the world from yet another threat.  Luckily, Buffy’s picked up a few friends along the way to make life easier, and to back her up when things get rough.  Over the years, the group’s members have come and gone, but the core membership remains generally stable.  Rupert Giles, British-born librarian with a tweed exterior and a dark past, serves as her Watcher, part of an ancient Council sworn to watch over any and all of the constant lineage of teenage girls destined to fight back the darkness.  (Why teenage girls?  Why not football players, or Bruce Campbell?  I’ve always wondered who in their right mind would entrust the fate of the world to a teenage anything…)  Willow Rosenberg, computer genius turned powerful Wiccan spellcaster, and Xander Harris, the slighty goofy everyman of the group, back Buffy up constantly, never far behind her.  Other members of what has affectionately been dubbed “the Scooby Gang” or “the Slayerettes” have included Kendra, a foreign Slayer doomed to fall in battle; Anya, an ex-vengeance demon; Tara, a quiet witch with a dark family secret; Faith, the rogue Slayer; Angel, the only vampire with a soul, and the only man Buffy’s ever truly love; Riley Finn, college student by day, military agent by night; Oz, the quiet-spoken werewolf; Cordelia Chase, vapid, vacuous, sharp-tongued social ruler of Sunnydale High; Jenny Callendar, computer teacher with a dangerous connection to Angel; and Spike, bloodthirsty vampire whose life has become irrevocably intertwined with the gang.
 
They’ve fought everything under the sun, and some things that certainly never saw the sun.  They’ve survived just about everything the supernatural could throw at them, and come back for more.  They’ve survived high school, and moved on into college and the real world.  They’ve experienced love and heartbreak, and gone through all the teen angst anyone could ever ask for.  The plot twists that have been a hallmark of the show would take a much longer article than this to discuss, so we’ll skip over them, save to note that in the fifth season, Buffy’s younger sister was magically “retconned” into the show.  Never mind that she never even existed until then, suffice it to say that she was there afterwards.  Also, after the third season, the show produced a spinoff, Angel, starring the so-named vampire with a soul and several of the other characters previously seen in Buffy.
 
What we’ll do today is take a look at some of the numerous books about and starring the Buffyverse’s characters and situations, as well as those that explore the rich depth of mythological and folkloric tradition that the show draws upon.  Three of the books are authorized companions, one is an unauthorized companion piece, and the last three are all examples taken from the various fiction lines inspired by Buffy and Angel.
 
First up, The Monster Book.  Like your critters?  Love the monster-of-the-week?  This book’s got them all.  Expanding and exploring the role of monsters are foils, antagonists, and themes for the show, it goes into rich detail about the wheres and hows and whats of the various beasties and boggarts the Scooby Gang has faced over the years.  While a good portion is, quite naturally, given over to vampires and their historical and literary presence, there’s quite a lot of detail given to monsters falling into the categories of demons, ghosts, magic users, primals, the walking dead, invisible people, and the human monster.  Tons of pictures, plenty of quotes pulled from the show, and lengthy essays on the subject matter provide hours of fun.  We have discussions on the dozens of different races of demons the show has portrayed, possessed ventriloquist dolls, computer-inhabiting demons, evil clowns, boogeymen, ancient mummies, Frankensteinian monsters, zombies, werewolves, hyena spirits, giant snake gods, and so on and so forth.  With over three hundred pages devoted to the topic of everything bad you could ever not want to face in a dark alley, The Monster Book makes great bedside reading.  While the book gives traditional monsters their due, it also puts a lot of emphasis on the unique Buffyverse twists that have been incorporated into many of the featured creatures.  This is certainly no Katherine Briggs book, but it does transcend its existence as a media tie-in to amuse and enlighten. 
 
Next, we have The Watcher’s Guide, Volume One.  Covering the first two seasons of Buffy, it’s an in-depth look at the cast and crew and the making and creating of the show from the insider’s point of view.  It delves into the show’s mythology, starting with the simple question, “Who and what is a Slayer?” and answers that question in lurid detail, backed up by dozens of quotes taken from the show.  It then goes on to discuss the “rules of the game” as according to Buffy, and take us on a stalking tour of Sunnydale, the mythical Californian city that’s home to Buffy and her friends, and a charming little thing called the Hellmouth, part of the reason for all the weird occurences that take place in the vicinity.  After a character guide to familiarize ourselves with the main characters from the first two seasons, it goes into a deeper analysis and synopsis of each episode.  Then it takes a brief look at the assorted monsters, a topic covered in much more depth in The Monster Book, cheerfully examines the hookups and breakups that mark love in the Buffyverse, and finishes off with extensive cast and crew biographies and interviews.  As a reference guide to the television show, it does its job admirably, and acts both as a companion piece, and entry-level introduction to the show for newcomers.  However, its existence -is- that of a media tie-in, and owes its existence to the show.  The authors are to be commended for putting out such a good volume, and making it able to stand on its own.
 
The Watcher’s Guide, Volume Two picks up where the first left off, and covers Seasons Three and Four in extreme detail.  Each entry has a synopsis, quotes, explanations to pop-culture references, notes on continuity, and a look at the lovelives of the various characters.  Pictures from the show abound, both in black and white, and color.  However, striving to be more than an episode guide, and building from the success of the first volume, this one adds in a whole lot of extras to make it appealling.  There’s a “what has gone before” section, detailing the changes in each major character’s life, and showcasing a number of quotes by and about the characters in question.  We once again have cast profiles, expanding on old ones and adding in ones for new characters,  major and minor.  There’s a huge section devoted to interviews and essays with the various creative talents who work behind the scenes, showing some of the many tricks and techniques used to bring Buffy to life each week.  And finally, since music is a big part of the Buffy atmosphere, there’s a section to highlight the bands whose music has often been in the background, lending the right feel or tone to a scene.  Again, a media tie-in and one that wouldn’t exist without its mother show, but a very nice, handsome book at that.  Taken with the other two books already described, it’s all the Buffy you’d ever need, right?
 
Wrong.  Slayer takes a look at the first -three- seasons from a rather British point of view.  Not only does it provide thorough and entertaining, often whimsical, analysis of every episode, with an eye towards gaffes, goofs, continuity blunders, memorable lines, spectacular scenes, pop-culture references, and a British eye towards how Buffy views the British (at least two of its major characters are British, and a number of others also hail from England), it goes into a brief discussion of the Buffy novels, at least those that had been released as of this book’s printing, and gives them some of the same treatment.  A lengthy essay on “The Outsiders” shows how many of the themes in Buffy can be addressed as metaphors for the high school/teenage life, which has always been part of series creator Joss Whedon’s underlying master plan.  Finally, we’re treated to a look at how Buffy relates as an example of American culture and society, as seen from an outside viewpoint.  While this isn’t an official book by any means, and certainly not as big or pretty as the official companion volumes, Slayer also has opinions and insights that the other books lack.  It’s certainly useful for catching some of the minute trivia or looking at things from a new point of view.
 
Now it’s time to turn our attention towards some of the fiction offerings.  Both Buffy and Angel have spawned a line of books, with books aimed specifically at younger readers, and books aimed at full adult readers.  A number of these books have been simple novelisations, usually groups into themes, such as The Angel Chronicles, The Willow Files, and The Xander Years.  Since there’ve been dozens of these books, I’ve decided to just pick out one from each line as examples of what works.  It would be too easy to spend all day discussing them all, so I won’t.
 
Angel: Hollywood Noir takes place during the first season of Angel, after the popular vampire with a soul’s moved to Los Angeles and opened up a detective agency with Cordelia Chase, a former regular from Buffy.  Along with Doyle, a half-demon cursed with visions, they try to seek out evil, and help the innocent, and try to make a difference in the world.  However, when a certain PI by the name of Mike Slade, thought long-dead, shows up in town to close his last case, there’s going to be Hell to pay.  Literally.  Is he a ghost, a demon, a man out of time, or something even stranger?  That’s what everyone wants to know.  Combining the Gothic-meets-superhero appeal of Angel with the hard-boiled pulp of Dashiel Hammet, *Hollywood Noir* is certainly one of the best of the Angel line.  Jeff Mariotte captures the spirit of the characters and the show, and manages to steer clear of predictability, even while embracing all the gumshoe cliches of the era he’s drawing from for inspiration. If you want to pick up a book in this line, I suggest you try Hollywood Noir. 
 
Spike and Dru: Pretty Maids All In A Row stands out for a very different reason: Buffy the Vampire Slayer appears nowhere in this story.  Rather, author Christopher Golden takes two of the Buffyverse’s favorite villains, and throws them into an adventure of their very own, set amidst the global chaos and killing fields of World War II, in 1940.  Long-time watchers of the show will understand the appeal of British vampire-punk Spike, and his insane lover, Drusilla.  This book proves what I’ve long suspected, that they can carry the story quite nicely on their own.  Spike’s big claim to fame has always been that he’s killed two Slayers in his centuries-long career as “William the Bloody,” and in this book, we get to see just how he accomplished one of those killings.  It seems that the Watcher’s Council, a secretive group headquartered in London and responsible for watching over and training the Slayer and all the potential Slayers, keeps tabs on dozens of girls who might be called to take up the heavy mantle of the Slayer.  Now, someone has this information, and wants to eradicate the Slayer line and the Watchers once and for all.  Spike just wants to get Drusilla a magical necklace for her birthday.  A demon named Skrymir has the necklace, and wants the Slayer and Council gone.  Sounds like a done deal, right?  All Spike and Dru have to do is kill a few people, and they’re all set.  Well, things don’t always go as planned.  The one certainty in this book is that the main characters survive, as they must to become antagonists in the 1990’s.  All other bets are off, and the two vampires are allowed free rein.  The kid gloves are off, and people do die as a result.  Golden is to be congratulated for taking the Buffy out of the Buffy books, and still producing a damn good story.  Of course, given his own track record with vampire novels (The Shadow Saga, starting with Of Saints and Shadows), it’s no wonder he has so much fun. 
 
Tales of the Slayer, the last book we’ll look at for now, is also noteworthy, because it too expands the universe outside of Buffy and her friends.  When they say there’s a Slayer born to each generation, and when one dies, another is born, that means that there’ve been thousands of girls throughout history to bear the title.  And the only way to retire is to die.  Usually in battle, horribly.  This book looks at seven such heroes throughout the centuries.  There’s one in Greece, 490 B.C.E.  There’s a Slayer in 1586 London, and in 1609 Hungary, in 1789 France and 1886 Kentucky, in 1923 Germany, and finally in 1956 Florida.  Seven young women, all called upon to give their lives for a greater good.  Seven Watchers to train and protect and watch their pupils, and to watch them die.  Seven stories of monsters and things that must be stopped.  And in some cases, tales that end in death.  Featuring Greg Rucka, Yvonne Navarro, Hancy Holder, Christie Golden, Doranna Durgin, and Mel Odom,  Tales of the Slayer (noted as Volume One, by the way) is a wonderful look at the vast potential inherent in the concept of the Slayer tradition.  By allowing the writers to journey outside of the time and space constraints of the television show, the powers that be have given us a much more interesting exploration of the Buffyverse.  I’d have to say that this is one of the better offerings available from the fiction line, which has had its ups and downs in the past. 
 
Mind you, I haven’t even discussed The Sunnydale Yearbook, or The Essential Angel, or the scriptbooks to the first two seasons, or the serial novel, or the Buffy/Angel crossover trilogy… What it boils down to is that for the Buffy fan, there’s no shortage of fiction and non-fiction dealing with and inspired with the show.  And for the non-fan, there’s still plenty to enjoy in well-told stories.
Also recommended for escaping the normal bounds of the show are The Gatekeeper Trilogy, The Book of Fours, and Child of the Hunt (Buffy versus the Fae).
 
So go out there and check out these books for yourselves.  You won’t be disappointed.

Brightly Burning, by Mercedes Lackey (Daw, 2000)

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Pol is one of the legendary Heralds of Valdemar, an organization of psychically Gifted men and women who protect their homeland from enemies, both internal and external, with the aid of their Companions, magically-gifted telepathic creatures who take the form of blue-eyed, pure white horses and bond with their Heralds for life.

Unlike the rest of the Heralds, Pol is uniquely talented, possessing a low level of talent in -all- of the various Gifts a Herald can possess. From precognition (ForeSight) to telepathy (MindSpeech) to Empathy, he can sense and utilize every single ability a fledging Herald might manifest. This makes him especially suited as a teacher, a job which keeps him at home at the Heraldic Collegium in Valdemar’s capital city, Haven, much of the time. As he’s not one for traveling, this pleases him. It keeps him near his Healer-trainee daughter, and away from trouble. That is, until he’s faced with a student unlike any he’s ever met before.

Lavan Chitward is the sixteen year old second son of a needleworker and a cloth merchant, both of whom have just achieved prominence in their Guilds, and been moved to Haven as a result. Unwilling to go into his parents’ Guilds, Lavan dreams of becoming a guard, or a soldier, or anything that will keep him outside and active. Ultimately, he’s sent to a private academy to learn something, any trade which will suit his parents and keep him out of trouble.

There’s a dark secret brewing in Academy. The oldest students run the school with iron fists, tyrannically bullying those younger and weaker than themselves. They rule through fear and intimidation, and Lavan is certainly not exempt from this terrorism. Now if only he wasn’t getting blinding headaches and fevers whenever he got angry….

One day, the world explodes in fire and pain, as Lavan’s Gift manifests itself, fueled by his rage and humiliation. Unconsciously striking back against his tormentors, Lavan doesn’t realize that he’s been placed on a path that will burn his place in history as a legend.

Herald Lavan Firestorm.

His story and fate are no stranger to the longtime readers of Mercedes Lackey’s Heralds of Valdemar series. From the very first book, Arrows of the Queen, we’ve been aware of Lavan Firestorm’s role as one of the Heralds’ great heroes, fallen in the line of duty. As cover copy says, though, this is the “legendary story of Herald Lavan Firestorm.”

Brightly Burning, then, is the story of who Lavan was, and how he went from 16-year-old youth to savior of the kingdom. With Pol as his mentor, and Pol’s daughter Elenor as a friend, Lavan learns to embrace his Gift, to control it rather than be controlled by it. He finds true friendship in the form of fellow Herald-trainee Tuck, and all-encompassing acceptance and support in the form of his Companion, Kalira. And when the antagonistic neighboring nation of Karse declares holy war on Valdemar, Lavan will find death and rage and the fulfillment of his destiny.

This book works on a lot of levels. Most of us remember what it was like to be a teenager, full of fire and energy and temper, lashing out at a world we can’t quite understand or keep our patience with. Lavan’s temper is just a lot more explosive than most. And how many of us have been on the wrong end of a bully or tyrant, unable to fight back, wishing someone would listen, or stand up on our behalf? Lavan goes through that same trouble. And how many of us have had to meet impossible expectations, and find out just what we’re really capable of when the chips are down?

Brightly Burning is a return to Valdemar in the same vein as the immensely popular Heralds of Valdemar and Last Herald-Mage trilogies which made Lackey a force to be reckoned with on the bookshelves. After the disappointing Owlflight trilogy, it was a relief, even a cause for rejoicing when this book was released. It was like coming home, even though the formula is evident third time around: teenager who’s different from his family/everyone else starts out as something of an outcast, ends up being Chosen by a Companion, becoming a Herald, and then having great adventures until they’re asked to make the ultimate sacrifice for their land. (Okay, the last is sort of a cheat since Talia of the original trilogy is still alive, as far as I know.) But though by now it’s a familiar pattern, it’s one that still works, and one I can’t get enough of. I’m a sucker for stories of growing up, learning, maturing, experiencing a rite of passage. I love the Heralds of Valdemar. Arrows of the Queen helped save my sanity in high school, and even though in recent years I’ve pulled away from Lackey’s books, I still have a very fond spot for her older work.

I truly enjoyed this book. I read it all in one day, unable to put it aside for very long. What’s more, my wife reports that she was the same way, unable to stop reading. For us, that’s rare. We tend to read books, put them aside, start other books, go back to the first ones….

Unfortunately, as good as Brightly Burning is, it’s not perfect by a long shot. While I’m glad that it is a stand-alone novel, this is one time where it really could have been expanded into a two-book set, or a trilogy. It spends a great amount of the story building up to a certain point, and then it’s like someone flipped a switch, and it’s a roller-coaster ride downhill to the end. It’s over too quickly. The pacing is definitely off on the story.

Nowhere near enough time is spent on Lavan’s time as a Herald-trainee, and the time spent on the Karse border before the climactic events is skimmed over like an afterthought. It feels as though Lackey realized she was running out of pages, and had to hurry towards the predetermined ending. Wham, bam, thank you ma’am, would you like a cigarette? In my opinion, Brightly Burning would have benefited from a sequel to properly pace out the latter half of the book, or the time spent with Karse. Even another fifty pages to properly explore the situation before giving us the big finish would have helped.

That said, this is easily one of Lackey’s best books in years. With exquisite cover art from Jody Lee (a staple for Lackey covers) and stunning interior art by Lackey’s husband and creative partner, Larry Dixon, this is like the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m now looking forward to seeing what she’ll come up with next. Despite the pacing problems, I highly recommend this book for anyone who’s a fan of the Heralds of Valdemar. Cost-conscious readers might want to wait until it’s in paperback, and those unfamiliar with the series in general are strongly encouraged to begin with Arrows of the Queen or Magic’s Pawn as introductions to the world of Valdemar.

And for longtime fans, there’s a surprise lurking in Brightly Burning, regarding the name of a certain Companion. I won’t say anything else, but let the speculations begin when you find it.

Beyond The Blue Moon, by Simon R. Green (Roc, 2000)

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“They set off down the dusty trail that led into the Forest, and so passed out of history and into legend. And wherever they went, and whatever they found, Rupert, Julia, the unicorn, and the dragon faced it all together. Heroes, all.” — Blue Moon Rising

With those words, acclaimed New York Times best-selling author Simon R. Green ended Blue Moon Rising. The Demon Prince had been banished, the threat of the Blue Moon ended, the long night over, and the Forest Land devastated but not defeated. His father dead and his older brother Harald on the throne, Rupert and his ladylove, the Princess Julia, saw no point in staying. With a sackful of jewels liberated from the Treasury, and their friends the dragon and the unicorn at their sides, they vanished from the Forest, leaving behind Arthur-like legends that they’d return someday when the need was greatest.

It’s fifteen years later, and again the Forest Land is thrown into chaos. King Harald is dead, the killer unknown. The Blue Moon is again on the rise, threatening to awake the Wild Magic and consume the world in chaos. Dangerous political factions clash in the court, and only two people have any chance of finding the King’s killer and once again saving the day. Rupert and Julia.

However, they no longer exist. In their place are Hawk and Isobel Fisher, partners, lovers, honest cops in a corrupt and dangerous city-state ironically named Haven. The best of the best, murder mysteries and world-saving are their specialty. But the better part of a decade spent in the worst part of a hellhole, fighting battles in a war they can’t win, has taken its toll. That’s why, when a messenger from the Forest Kingdom finds them and begs their help, they ultimately decide that it’s time to move on. Settling a few old scores in Haven in their usual manner, Hawk and Fisher (once Prince Rupert and Princess Julia) journey home to face the greatest challenge of their lives.

“In Haven there were glories and mysteries, mysteries and abominations, pleasures and depravities in all their forms. Heroes and villains and a whole lot of people just trying to get through the day. And – just sometimes – a few good men and women, honorable and true, doing their best to keep it all together, punish the guilty and protect the innocent; or at least try to keep the lid on. — Beyond the Blue Moon

Before they’re done, they’ll unravel the mystery of the Inverted Cathedral, defy a plot centuries in the making, solve a murder, and upset the status quo. Just another day’s work for them.

Beyond the Blue Moon unites Simon R. Green’s popular Hawk and Fisher series (reprinted recently as Swords of Haven and Guards of Haven) and Blue Moon Rising (long suspected, but never truly confirmed, to be a prequel to the other series). It serves as the cornerstone and linchpin to bring together all of the books in Green’s rough-and-tumble fantasy world, as it also manages to refer to characters and events which can be found in his other works, Down Among The Dead Men and Blood and Honor. More complex, more sophisticated, and with much higher stakes than the rest combined, this is the book that ties the knot and offers closure to a lot of threads.

Everyone’s back for this sequel, which can be read well enough on its own. (But why would you want to?) We learn the fates of some of the major characters from Blue Moon Rising, including the dragon, the unicorn, and the High Warlock. Exactly where Rupert and Julia went after leaving the Forest Kingdom and before coming to Haven is explained. Who’s related to whom, and in what manner, is also detailed, sometimes in surprising and unpredictable ways. And of course there’s the surprise return of a few characters, no matter how dead they used to be.

How can I put this bluntly? This is one of the best fantasy books I’ve read all year. Simon R. Green delivers a truly enjoyable and fulfilling sequel to a book which didn’t -need- one, and manages to make it clear that he’s just continuing the story he was telling all along. Fans of his won’t be disappointed in the least, as he covers old ground and breaks new ground. This is a Rupert and Julia novel, but even better, it’s a Hawk and Fisher novel as well. It’s the definitive cap to their career as Captains of the Guard in Haven (and if anyone’s surprised at how they burn their bridges, you don’t know them very well, do you?), and it’s also the grand farewell tour in many ways. I suspect that Green’s told all the stories he wants to in this particular universe at this particular juncture, and this is his way of wrapping it up and moving on.

Who can blame him? It’s hard to top the concepts and images of Beyond the Blue Moon. A castle, far bigger on the inside than the outside. Worlds within worlds. Treachery, manipulation, conspiracy, a locked room murder mystery, political intrigue. The Inverted Cathedral, which stretches as far down to Hell as it once did to Heaven, the source of all that’s evil and dark and nasty in the Forest Kingdom.

“That’s the legend talking,” said Hawk. His hand rose slowly to his face, as though the old scars were bothering him. “The reality was something different. You look at this clearing, and see only awe and wonder and the triumph of the light. We look at it and remember horror and pain and how close we came to losing everything. I saw my father betrayed by his oldest friend. I saw my Julia crippled, by a living horror older than humanity. I saw Death stare me in the face and grin. I called down the Rainbow, and it was bright and glorious and wonderful beyond belief, but in the end that’s not what I remember.”
“We remember the dark,” said Fisher. “We always will.”
— Beyond the Blue Moon

The characters are larger-than-life, and yet all too real. The Shaman, a hermit with a fire-and-brimstone political philosophy. Queen Felicity, Julia’s older sister. Allen Chance, the King’s Questor and his companion Chappie, a giant talking dog. Jericho Lament, the Walking Man … also known as the Wrath of God. The Magus, he of the predatory cloak and vast magical abilities. Lightfoot Moonfleet, last of the Faeries. Sir Robert Hawke, a hero-turned-politician. The Lady of the Lake, spirit of the Forest Land with an unusual tie to the royal family. Duke Alric, Julia’s manipulative, treacherous father. The Burning Man, custodian and prisoner of the Inverted Cathedral. All these and more inhabit the tapestry of the story, As well, all sorts of old and familiar faces appear for one last curtain call before closing the door on the Haven chapter of Hawk and Fisher’s lives.

It’s like the first time someone expounds the theory that Danger Man/Secret Agent and the Prisoner are about the same man. Theorize all you want, but when the truth is revealed, you sit back and go “ahhhh” with satisfaction. Green’s taken all the best elements of the nine(!) books that make up his fantasy setting, and thrown them all together to create the perfect blend.

Beyond the Blue Moon is epic in scope, with space opera-style characters possessed of evocative names and impeccable fighting abilities, the mad, over-the-top concepts that only the British (including certain mad Irishmen and scary Scotsmen) seem to be able to pull off correctly (if you don’t believe me, I dare you to put him in a room with noted comic book writers Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Alan Moore, Garth Ennis, and Warren Ellis, and see who or what comes out of the mix…), and enough bloody battle scenes to make Robert E. Howard rethink this whole Conan thing. In short, it’s epic fantasy with a grunge twist and a pulp flavor. My kind of meal.

I can’t recommend this book highly enough. I’m a fan of Simon Green, and I’ve read Blue Moon Rising to pieces. This, then, is the book I was most eagerly anticipating, and it doesn’t disappoint in the least. And since Roc’s been good enough to reprint the books leading up to this in some very handsome paperback editions, you have no excuse to not check it out.

Me? I’m looking forward to his next book. Now that he’s tackled epic fantasy, police procedurals, epic space opera, and Robin Hood (the novelisation to Prince of Thieves), he plans to try his hand at urban fantasy again.

You can find my previous write-up of Green’s works, as well as a brief description of Blue Moon Rising in my review column. Yes, I’m shameless. Enjoy.

“Try and get it right this time,” Hawk said finally. “I’d hate to have to come back and sort you out again.”
“Right,” said Fisher. “Being a legend’s bloody hard work.”
— Beyond the Blue Moon

Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Beethoven's Last Night (Atlantic, 2000)

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It’s the spring of 1827, and in Vienna, Ludvig von Beethoven has just completed his Tenth Symphony, which is to stand forever as his masterpiece, his last and greatest work. As he revels in the triumph of such an accomplishment, he’s visited by two spirits, named Fate and Twist. This, they say, is his last night of life.

As midnight strikes, Mephistopheles appears, ready to claim Beethoven’s soul as his own. The composer objects, desperate to avoid eternal damnation. And thus begins the final, frantic battle between Beethoven and Mephistopheles to determine the fate of a soul….

That’s the plotline of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s latest release, their first album to depart from the Christmas theme the previous two (Christmas Eve and Other Stories and Christmas Attic) both shared. Now, for those not in the know, the New York based Trans-Siberian Orchestra is an unusual group. They manage to blend hard rock, Broadway, and classical into a symphonic whole, creating spectacular music tapestries. As I explained to one friend, “they Do Things to Beethoven’s music.” To be more specific, they take the old and familiar, be it Christmas carols, or classical music, they then apply a modern rock sensibility and energy, and tie it all together with Broadway style to generate something between rock opera and musical journey.

The primary members of the TSO come from the rock group Savatage. However, for this work, they were joined by members of the New York classical scene, as well as a children’s choir, making this a truly multi-genre experience. The inspiration behind the TSO is Paul O’Neill, a longtime producer and Broadway musician.

Trying to describe the TSO is like trying to explain dancing in an earthquake. They blend genres that should be blended, and as a result, turn out a truly unique sound. Beethoven’s Last Night is a prime example of that. They take such familiar works as Fur Elise and Beethoven’s Fifth, and throw them into a blender with electric instruments, and two decades worth of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s influence, and turn out…. Well, I don’t honestly think there’s any way to adequately describe the result. This is the part where you go to their Web site and listen to some of the excerpts from the album for yourself.

The music is powerful, evocative, and vibrant, reinventing the old and stagnant for a new era. Backed up with a strong story and fascinating lyrics, as well as a talented cast, it becomes more than the sum of its parts. Jody Ashworth turns in a strong performance as the tormented and driven Beethoven, while Patti Russo stars as Theresa, his lost love. Jon Oliva is a properly manipulative and devilish Mephistopheles, and Sylvia Tosun does a great job as Fate.

Beethoven’s Last Night is part Dr. Faustus and part A Christmas Carol, with Beethoven taking the place both of Faust and Scrooge in his own way. It’s not giving away the story to state that Fate indeed takes Beethoven on a tour of his life, and he has to do some heavy thinking about what he’s willing to sacrifice in order to avoid Mephistopheles, and, for that matter, what he’s willing to sacrifice for other people. And since, to my recollection, Beethoven’s Tenth doesn’t exist in this day and age (does it? Correct me if wrong….), something obviously happens to it in this story.

This is a very strong album, especially for a conceptual rock opera. Normally, I wouldn’t review something so rock-influenced for Green Man Review, but frankly, its take on classical music is special enough, and its value as something you just don’t see enough of is great enough, that I convinced my editor to accept it. Yes, Beethoven’s Last Night is that strong. It resonates in just the right manner. So hey, if any of the above happens to catch your fancy, give this one a shot. If we encourage them, they’ll keep experimenting.

The liner booklet for this album is worth the price of admission alone, containing a thorough story summary, as well as lyrics to many of the songs. There’s no doubt that you’ll know what’s going on with this as your guide. And that’s definitely a nice touch.

So yes, I highly recommend the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and Beethoven’s Last Night. It’s something new and energetic, and is bound to catch on.