Book review - "The Magician's Death" by P. C. Doherty

The Magician’s Death, the fourteenth novel of P. C. Doherty’s Hugh Corbett series set in the fourteenth century, is tied to a mystery that lingers until today.  It involves a cryptic work, The Book of Secrets, written by Roger Bacon, noted scholar, which Doherty relates to the Voynich manuscript, the infamous book discovered in 1912 and written in a language no one has been able to decipher.

In this novel, King Edward I sends Hugh Corbett and Ranulf-atte-Newgate with a small retinue to Corfe Castle, a remote fortress in Dorset.  They are to meet with Philip IV’s envoy to see if the two groups can decipher the mysterious script.  Edward I is desperate to get out of the treaty with France that requires his son Edward to be married to Philip’s daughter.  He wants Hugh to find out if the strange cipher in his possession is the same as the one that is in Philip’s possession.  And find out what the manuscript says.  With any luck, he can find something to dissolve the treaty.

Corbett knows there is much more to this journey than Edward is telling him, especially because his arch-enemy and French counterpart Amaury de Craon will also be there.  De Craon would like nothing more than to put an arrow into Corbett’s chest.  The feeling is mutual.

Upon arrival, Corbett is made aware of a series of murders involving the young girls in and around the castle. The first one disappeared over a month prior and has not been seen since.  All the others have been found murdered by a crossbow.

While investigating these crimes, the elderly scholars accompanying de Craon start dying mysteriously.  Most people think they have died of natural causes or accidentally, but Corbett is not convinced, especially since one of the scholars is a previous mentor of his. 

As usual, Doherty ties two mysteries into one novel, keeping the reader guessing if all the crimes are connected or not.  He gives clues to the reader that something is going on but leaves it until the very last few pages to pull everything together. 

I really liked this one!

Columbia (STS-32) launched 1990

Clockwise from top left: Marsha Ivins, David Low, Bonnie Dunbar, James Wetherbee, Daniel Brandenstein.

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-32), launched January 9, 1990,  was the 33rd mission of the shuttle program.  It was the first use of Launch Pad A at Kennedy Space Center's Complex 39 since 1986 after the platform went through extensive modifications.

Columbia's crew consisted of Commander Daniel Brandenstein, Pilot James Wetherbee, Mission Specialist Bonnie Dunbar, Mission Specialist Marsha Ivins and Mission Specialist David Low.

Columbia landed on January 20 at Edwards Air Force Base.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Vyacheslav Zudov!

Vyacheslav Zudov, born January 8, 1942 in the former Soviet Union, is a cosmonaut, whose only flight into space was aboard Soyuz 23 to Salyut 5, in October 1976. With fellow cosmonaut Valeri Rozhdestvensky, they reached the space station but there was a problem with the docking mechanism and they had to abort the mission.  They landed on Lake Tengiz, a partially frozen lake in  Kazakhstan. Although unintentional, it was the first splashdown of the Soviet Space Program.

Zudov retired the following year.

Star Trek: The Next Generation episode 'The Pegasus' aired 1994

Written by Ronald D. Moore (inspired by Raise the Titanic) and directed by Levar Burton, episode 12 of season 7 of Star Trek: The Next Generation, The Pegasus, aired January 8, 1994.

I liked this one because of the concept that the United Federation of Planets could finally have cloaking technology.  I always thought they got ripped off in the treaty with the Romulans, especially since the Klingons had access to the same technology. 

I remember when Kirk and Spock stole a cloaking device from a Romulan vessel in The Enterprise Incident but it was in the final season of the original series, like The Pegasus was. 

This episode also had a creepy feeling to it as Riker and Admiral Pressman discuss what happened to the crew who were inside the rock when the Pegasus materialized.  Ick.

At the end, when Picard says they will be contacting the Romulans concerning this incident, I was kinda pissed at him.  The Enterprise should have kept the cloaking device since it was clearly giving the Romulans a huge advantage.

Oh, well.

Book review of "Still So Excited!" by Ruth Pointer and Marshall Terrill

One must not criticize an autobiography, especially when the author has laid out their life and experiences with the ugly truth.  To criticize would be to judge that person and we are not to judge one another.  It takes an amazing amount of strength to put those hardships, bad/catastrophic decisions and acts that lack common sense out there for everyone to read. 

But that’s what Ruth Pointer did, in her autobiography Still So Excited!: My Life as a Pointer Sister written with Marshall Terrill, who has written biographies of many celebrities. 

I became a huge fan of theirs when they released their Break Out album which was the apex of their career.  But to read the struggles Ruth and her sisters Anita, June and Bonnie went through to even get their first album The Pointer Sisters.  Their success began to build after its release but went through some highs and lows.  With an emphasis on the highs. It seemed that once fame and success hit, so did the drugs and alcohol.

Ruth divulges everything and does not hold back when discussing her additions to cocaine and crack.  How her addictions led to four failed marriages, major rifts between sisters and letting people take advantage of her and her sisters.  Who knows what we would do if we found ourselves in those situations? 

She still holds some bitterness and anger against the people who kicked her father out of the church he built from the ground up and established a congregation.  We can usually forgive someone who has wronged us, but when someone wrongs a person we love, like a parent, spouse or sibling, those hurt feelings might never go away. 

Ruth talks about the night she decided she had had enough of the drugs and alcohol and decided to go sober.  That was in 1985 and she has been clean and sober ever since.  Unfortunately, the same could not be said about June or Bonnie.  Ruth doesn’t mention if Anita had any problems with drugs, alcohol or husbands.  It almost sounds as if Anita was the only sister who did not have the same troubles as the other three.

Although June was on a downward spiral, they managed to release albums until the 1990’s with Only Sisters Can Do That being their final album of original material.  None of them came close to the success as Break Out.

It’s heartbreaking to think of what could have happened if June had managed to clean up.  Would they still be making beautiful music?  Again one cannot judge her since she experienced a horrific, terrifying ordeal as a teenager.  Ruth mentions more than once this incident might have unhinged her for the rest of her life.  Who knows what demons tormented her all her life?

Ruth is still out there performing with her daughter Issa and granddaughter Sadako and still so excited.  And she just can’t hide it!

This is an amazing book, albeit heartbreaking and sad in someplaces, yet uplifting and positive!

Soyuz TM-18 launched 1994

Soyuz TM-18 crew

 Mission patch

Soyuz TM-18, launched January 8, 1994, was the 18th mission to the Mir spacecraft.  Her crew consisted of Commander Viktor Afanasyev, Flight Engineer Yury Usachov and Research Cosmonaut Valeri Polyakov. 

Afanasyev and Usachev spent 179 days on Mir and returned to Earth July 9, 1994.  Dr. Polyakov stayed for more than 420 days and returned in March 1995 on Soyuz TM-20.

Happy birthday, Morn!

Mark Allen Shepherd, born January 7, 1961, is the man behind Morn, the omnipresent bar patron in Quark's Bar on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  The name 'Morn' is an anagram of 'Norm' the ever-present patron on Cheers. 

He is one of seven actors to have appeared as the same character on three different Star Trek series:  Deep Space 9, The Next Generation and Voyager.