No comments about Churches and Abbeys of Scotland: 200 Churches, Abbeys, and Sacred Sites to Visit (Thistle Guide).

5 comments about The Rising Sun: A Novel.

1. I am almost finished with this book, and have enjoyed it a great deal. Well written, with a great eye for detail. The main character is likable but hardly perfect--very believable. Similar to Patrick O'Brian in setting, but without the nautical focus. And this was an incident in history I knew nothing about.



2. I am almost finished with this book, and have enjoyed it a great deal. Well written, with a great eye for detail. The main character is likable but hardly perfect--very believable. Similar to Patrick O'Brian in setting, but without the nautical focus. And this was an incident in history I knew nothing about.



3. This historical fiction covers an incident in history about which I was completely ignorant: the attempt by folks from Scotland to establish a colony in Central America, specifically in Panama. It's a well-written tale, with sharp characterizations and quite descriptive passages. It's a tale that the reader knows ends in sorrow and tragedy, but he keeps on with it, because of the clarity of the writing that conveys the sense of initial optimism, and then the growing knowledge, even if unspoken, that the enterprise is doiomed to failure. The narrator is a likeable young man, and we follow his progress of ups and downs closely. The key to good writing is to make the reader interested in your main antagonist, and in this aspcet the author has succeeded admirably. Read the book if for nothing else than finding out about a little known aspect of world, and Scottish, history.



4. I saw this book and picked it up on a whim. I cannot put my finger on exactly what attracted me to the book, however, I am extremely glad that I bought it and stayed with the story through the first 50 or so difficult pages.
   
   The book chronicles the disastrous Darien Scheme (which I confess I had never heard of prior to purchasing the book), and its political and social repercussions for the nation of Scotland. The book is narrated by an ambitious young man named Roderick Mackenzie who comes to Edinburgh the callow second son of country gentry forced to seek his fortune in commerce. Our narrator quickly learns the shady aspects of business through his amoral and manipulative employer, Colquhoun, and the ways of drunken debauchery and women (for a price) with his fellow young fellow lodgers (who are careful to be seen attending church after a long night enjoying the favors of the ladies of ill repute at the Widow Gilbert's house).
   
   As superintendent cargos Mackenzie relates his perspective of the expedition though his diary. The journey over the Atlantic and late seventeenth century Edinburgh are described in breathtaking detail. The struggles (physical, moral and spiritual) of the colony are set out with heart wrenching precision, as the idealistic colonists wage a forlorn multi-front war with the Spanish military, English greed, tropical disease, the jungle, the torrential rains and, ultimately, themselves.
   
   It would be easy to describe this book as a male-oriented "adventure" novel (which many reviewers have) or as a detailed and lively "historical fiction." Both characterizations (as well as others that would be equally appropriate) are correct, but fail to give this astonishing work its full due. Ultimately The Rising Sun is a novel about idealism, opportunism and aspiration. Mackenzie, like all of the Darien colonists to one extent or another, wants to be part of something bigger than himself. As the self proclaimed witness to these great events, he sees first-hand the hopes of a nation sore, the petty intrigues of the colony as amid the death and squalor of the colony the delusional Patterson and vainglorious Drummon squabble over utilization of the colony's scare resources for the construction of their ultimately worthless prized projects (the "road" to the pacific and a useless fort, respectively), and the manipulations of the "great men" who, knowing that the colony was doomed to utter failure by the machinations of England, sold their shares in the Company of Scotland.
   
   For some reason, I had a difficult time initially dealing with the author's writing style for the first 50 or so pages, but from that point on the prose flowed very well. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, and I eagerly await the next title to be released by this author in the United States.



5. The first fifty pages of this novel were so boring and obsucure, it made me wonder if it was some sort of a test of reader commitment imposed by the author. Fortunately, the story does pick up after that; unfortunately, not by my much. The author coveys the period accurately, the main character is pretty well drawn, and the story of the Scottish bubble is interesting. But, the plot unfolds at a glaciel pace and only intermittently comes to life. The mood is often dour. I kept waiting for a big payoff that never came.

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5 comments about Scotland Is Not for the Squeamish.

1. Watkins has only got better. This second of a trilogy has it all.To quote " a smile that would free anyone's soul from gravity. " Read on.



2. This continues Bill Watkins's autobiography through his time at sea, and in the Scotland of the late 60's and ealy seventies.

   As well as the humour, you'll love the evocative prose, which with a surprisingly few words summons up as vivid a picture as any I've ever read.

   Especially clever is his rendition of the Scots tongue.

   His stories of the start of the Celtic music revival, of living "on the broo" in Edinburgh and the start of the "Silly Wizard" folk group will make anyone smile.




3. Bill,
   Delighted to purchase Scotland is not for the squeamish. I'm buying a celtic childhood again to give as a gift, what a riot reading this book on the plane,with the headphones on and "Laughing out loud."well, its that sort of funny book



4. Bill Watkins' second book is at least as good as the first('A Celtic Childhood'), and continues the 'History of Bill' through his young adulthood with great adventure in Scotland('Course, he has to get there first). I rated this book five out of fibe stars only because that is the limit. It's easily a 10!



5. This is a great book. I couldnt put it down! - riotously funny in places but very poignant in others. Dont let the title put you off - this is a very memorable book and you will be glad you took the time to read it!

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5 comments about The Pictish Child: Tartan Magic, Book Two.

1. This wonderful story is one of three (so far) chronicling the adventures of three American children on vacation in Scotland, visiting their grandmother. They have come to realize that Scotland is filled with the magic of centuries, and the magic lives in 13-year-old Jennifer. However, there are others working magic in Scotland, and the children soon find themselves caught up in a magics both new and old!

   This is a great story, harkening back so clearly to ancient folk stories. I especially liked the traditional idea of women as possessors of ancient wisdom and power, beyond men and their science. This is a great book that I recommend to everyone with children, especially girls.




2. The Pictish Child
   By Jane Yolen
   Book reviewer: Hilde

   The Pictish Child is a very good book. It takes place in Scotland, and according to Gran "There's electric-and there's power. Americas got the electricity and Scotland has the power."
   Sixteen-year-old Jennifer, sixteen-year-old Peter and four-year-old Molly came from America to visit their Grandmother (who they call Gran) in Scotland. Where rain that in America would have canceled Baseball games, was (for Scotland) nothing more than a slight drizzle.
   While Da (Their Grandfather) is at work, Gran decides to visit Eventide Home and her friends there. "A young woman in a plaid skirt, white blouse, and blue cardigan sweater greeted them at the door. She had a foxlike face, long and sly looking. A metallic name badge identified her as Fiona, and she wore a pair of tiny silver scissors around her neck on a ribbon."
   Jennifer, Molly and Peter discover the past when a giant, gray mist comes to swallow up all of the past that had escaped when a mean sorcerer came through a small rip that he had created in time. They also found out how delicate the balance between good magic and evil magic is in this thrilling and scary-at-times book.
   I was really quite glad that there were no pictures in this book. For I think that pictures would have absolutely ruined it for me. Because I loved imagining what was happening and what the characters and things looked like.
   I think that the way Jane Yolen used words was really quite descriptive and powerful. Like she wielded a sword made of words with discipline and imagination that is a treasure in any book.
   I think that this book is an appropriate read-aloud book for children from five to seven. But to fully understand it I think that you have to be eight or over.




3. This is the second book in Jane Yolen's Tartan Magic trilogy, and picks up soon after the events in The Wizard's Map. In this book, Jennifer, Peter and Molly, three American children on vacation in Scotland are taken by their Scottish grandmother to visit three sisters living in a home for the elderly. But, there's strange magic at work here, and when an ancient amulet brings to life a Pictish child that died some 1000 years ago, the children are in for the ride of their lives. An ancient wrong needs to be set right, and a modern wrong needs to be averted.

   My thirteen-year-old daughter first introduced me to these books, and I must say that I enjoy them as much as she does. Jane Yolen does an excellent job of bring Scotland to life for the American reader (please remember that there is a Scottish glossary at the back!). In general, the author does not spend too much time on character development (outside of the children and their grandmother, the characters are very two-dimensional), but for many young readers, this will not prove a problem.

   So, let me just say that my daughter and I both enjoyed this book, and we highly recommend it to you!




4. (...)

   I think the theme of the Pictish Child is magic. Like people disappearing, Dog and Nina are magical creatures. Dog is a dog and Nina is the Pictish Child. Any cold metal or iron will burn them. Jennifer and Peter, the twins, and their little sister Molly are three Americans in Scotland for the summer to visit their grandma and grandpa.
   Their challenge was trying to keep the sinister fog out of the house by putting pots and tools around the house. Peter was tricked into opening the door, thinking it was their mom, dad and grandpa. Read the book to find out who was really at the door!
   I did not think that the Pictish Child was the best book I have ever read. I think that it was confusing because people are disappearing and the book does not tell where they go. Also the Scottish dialect was confusing too.
   I would recommend this book to kids 10-15 but if you are someone who is eight like me and can understand magic unlike me then you could read it.
   There are no illustrations but I can say they would be helpful.
   It is the second book in the series and you can read it in any order.




5. Here we are at the second of three books in the Tartan Magic Series and we rejoin Peter, Jennifer and Molly still on vacation in Scotland with parents (visiting their grandparents). With just Gran and the kids home for the day...and what with it being a typically rainy Scottish weather, Gran and the kids set off to visit some of her friends at the Eventide Home for the Elderly. Returning in this volume is the dog and horse from the first book, both serve largely to provide humor in the story line and I've come to love that cranky, sarcastic old mutt!
   
   While the group is visiting Gran's coven, Molly (the youngest) is given a talisman which sets them off on yet another magical adventure to save the world from a power hungry villain! The group joins up with Ninia a Pictish girl from the ancient past who is being chased by an ominous dark mist and it's up to the kids and their Gran to solve the mystery, get the girl back to her time and foil the villain!
   
   This is a wonderful little story for young readers (I'd say 8-14 is the ideal range here), while there's not much to the character development, it's got great pace and a fair amount of suspense and with the proper attention, readers can figure out "who done it" just before it's revealed. I'm a bit disappointed to see that Peter is still portrayed as a brooding, moody and somewhat prone to temper tantrums (he stalks off from the home) and the focus of this story, as in the first, is on Molly and her emerging magical skills. Since they are twins, it would be nice to see a more even development of the characters. Overall, I give it a B, it's fast paced, suspenseful, magical, and just plain fun!

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