1949: A Novel of the Irish Free State (Irish Century)

1949: A Novel of the Irish Free State (Irish Century)
Average customer rating:

1949 - A Liberated Woman, A Liberated State.

Delightfully entertaining with an educational twist

Third in an Intriguing Series

WOW!!!! Morgan Llywelyn Does It Again!!!

Great Ending to the Trilogy

1949: A Novel of the Irish Free State (Irish Century)
Morgan Llywelyn
Manufacturer: Forge Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0812570804
Release Date: 2004-03-02

Book Description

1949 tells the story of Ireland's progress as seen through the eyes of one woman, from the bitter aftermath of civil war to the controversial dawn of a modern state. Ursula Halloran, the daughter of a famous revolutionary, comes of age in the turbulent 1920s. An education in Switzerland broadens her world view, but Ireland has become a repressive Catholic state where women are second-class citizens. Married women cannot hold jobs and divorce is illegal.Fighting against the stifling constraints of church and state, Ursula forges an exciting career in the fledgling Irish radio service. Her life is torn apart when she finds herself caught between two men who love her in very different ways. Refusing to surrender her hard-won independence to marriage, or her illegitimate infant to an orphanage, she flees to Europe to bear her child. There she takes a job with the League of Nations and is caught up in the terrifying outbreak of World War II. Hard decisions and desperate situations stand between her and any hope of returning to the land she loves.

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Irish history brought to thrilling life by a master, the sequel to 1916 and 1921.

Customer Reviews:

1949 - A Liberated Woman, A Liberated State........2005-01-19

Equal parts fiction and history, lines blur as award-winning author Morgan Llywelyn weaves fictional and real-life characters into her masterful novels. The third work in her Twentieth Century Irish State trilogy, 1949, is a fiction-based glimpse into the evolution of the Irish Republic as seen through the eyes of the indomitable, self assured Ursula Halloran. Equally captivating, the first two novels of the Irish State series, 1916 and 1921, don't necessarily exist as prerequisites to 1949, yet it wouldn't hurt to read them first.

Young Ursula is the adopted daughter of IRA foot soldier Ned Halloran, a man deeply involved in Irish Republican skullduggery. Living on the family farm, the Hallorans are a montage of typical Irish dysfunctionality. Requisites drunks exist, but 1949 avoids focusing on caricatured, woe-is-me Irish alcoholics. Living with an unforgiving and unbending father who wants her to inherit and manage the farm, Ursula is surrounded by a number of shiftless male relatives. Female Hallorans don't fare much better, as Ursula's sister marries into the dregs of Clarecastle's Irish society. 1949 boasts the gamut of vanished Irish colloquialism that one would expect to find in a post-famine rural Irish setting, including occasional stock-in-trade Irish wakes, imposing parish priests, stifling poverty and rampant melancholy.

Ursula occupies her time reading books and riding her horse Saoirse. In Saorise she witnesses a mirror image of her own shackles-Ursula runs free, but only to a point, for at night they both remain tethered, Saoirse in a stall, Ursula in an oppressive environment. Ursula rails against limits placed on her by male-dominated Irish society. She promises herself she will never marry, for married women in Ireland were banned from working outside the home during the period.

A distant and uncommunicative Pa, Ned Halloran frequently absents himself from the farm while performing the business of the IRA in the North. Like Ned, Ursula is headstrong and they frequently fall-out. But unlike her step-relatives, Ursula is at once smart as a whip, blossoming into an attractive, passionate young woman. Ursula finds a benefactor in her doting uncle, Henry Mooney, a protagonist of the novel 1921. Mooney sees smoldering in Ursula the portent of success he himself achieved in the literary world. Thus Henry is as determined as Ursula is to free her from rural, backward Ireland. Following a visit to Uncle Henry and Aunt Ella, the stage is set for the ultimate break with Ned. Henry convinces Ursula to accept Ella's offer to send her to finishing school in Switzerland. Ned's reaction is to disown his stepdaughter. With nary a glance backward, Ursula is off to the continent where she is taken under the wing of Constance Markevicz, a real-life heroine of Ireland's independence movement.

In Switzerland Ursula matures into a rough diamond of the young woman she is destined to be. Hobnobbing with the titled, the landed and the idle rich, she yet suffers under the prejudices bestowed on the Irish by the English. Nevertheless, she develops great friendships among Britons of both sexes, including the dashing pilot Lewis Baines, for whom physical desire courses through her loins.

Upon returning to Ireland Ursula takes a position with radio station 2RN writing news copy ticketed for the airwaves. No amount of talent will allow her to crack the male-only news reporting clique and Ursula's informed that she'll never read her own copy on air. Against a backdrop of Nazi fires burning on the continent, she meets an Irishman, Finbar Cassidy, a civil servant and man who represents much of what she rebels against. Lacking ambition, he further urges Ursula to accept status quo at 2RN. He pursues Ursula with uncommon determination, and exhibits kindness to a fault. After the suave Lewis Baines reappears on the scene, Ursula casts the Catholic Church's teachings regarding sexual forays outside marriage to the wind. Not surprisingly, Ursula finds herself pregnant with child.

In Dublin an unmarried pregnant woman stands about as much chance finding work as a statue honoring Cromwell appearing on O'Connell Street, so Ursula is again off to Switzerland where the doomed League of Nations seeks to stave off the Nazi horde threatening Europe. Much of Llywelyn's thoroughly researched World War II history comes to play here, as Ursula takes a job with the League. Real-life characters show up, along with their real-life frailties and failures. Chamberlain boasts that `we will have peace in our time.' Eamon De Valera's former employee, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is on scene. Special dishonor is reserved for the lionized Winston Churchill. Profiling the Irish brand of World War II neutrality, Llywelyn offers a glimpse into what it really was, and what it meant to Anglo-Irish relations. It's terrific reading as marauding Germans roll over Europe.

With young son in tow, Ursula's back in Ireland in time to witness the post-war chartering of the Irish Republic, which occurs, understandably, in 1949. There's more of course: more farm, more Ned, more Lewis, more Finbar. Read it. You can't miss on this natural fit for the silver screen. If your cup of tea is history interspersed with titillating, finely woven fiction, 1949 is a must.

Laying claim to the unofficial title of Novelist Laureate of Ireland, Morgan Llywelyn boasts a body of fiction-based history, a dramatis personae, profiling the Irish condition.

Delightfully entertaining with an educational twist.......2004-12-25

1949 is the third book in Morgan Llywelyn's Historical Fiction series around Ireland's struggle for independence. It is not necessary to read 1916 and 1921 to follow 1949, although it might help when reference is made to significant events from previous periods, especially if you have little knowledge of Irish history.

1949 picks up approximately two years after the Irish Civil War. Red haired, blued eyed Ursula Jervis Halloran is 16 years of age and riding her horse Saoirse (Irish for 'Freedom') in Clare, Ireland, where she grew up on a farm with her father Ned (lead character 1916) and his Aunt Norah. She has received a letter from her pseudo-uncle Henry Mooney (lead character 1921) beckoning her to visit him and his wife Ella in Dublin. Against her fathers wishes she disappears to Dublin without a word to anyone.

When Ursula returns to the farm she informs her family she is going away to school in Switzerland, thanks to Ella's kind gift. Ned forbids it but she reminds him she is only his foster child and that she will do as she pleases, a path she follows throughout her life. Despite being adopted she has a strong bond with Ned and is deeply hurt by his anger. She leaves with business left unfinished between them.

On arrival in Switzerland, she learns it is finishing school, much to her chagrin. Being of beauty and great personality she nevertheless quickly befriends the upper crust whom she continues to correspond with after she leaves at age 18. She returns to an impoverished Ireland with its strong views on religion and politics.

Llywelyn is successful in painting the life of Ursula, a working class woman in a country trying to free itself from "foreign domination." With each chapter Llywelyn brings the reader into the fold to watch a girl blossom into a woman. She is strong willed from the beginning. In a society where women are to be seen and not heard Ursula stands on her own two feet in full sun, determined to make it on her own. She does not let anyone push her into the shadows of male servitude. Llywelyn has created a memorable role model for women.

Ursula was not without her own role models. Constance Markievicz' who encouraged her to be independent, choose her own path and only trust in herself for courage and honesty. This is true to Ursula's code to life.

Ursula is reminded that she is just a woman at every opportunity but she doesn't allow it to sway her own views and desires. While other women's interests revolve around hair and beauty products, Ursula cultivates her strong feminine and political views. Her contacts, interest in politics and occurrences abroad land her a job at the 2RN Radio Station. She is not permitted to broadcast as "Only the male voice is really suitable." Her schooling, meticulous letter writing to Henry, and to her acquaintances abroad, contribute to her success at 2RN and later with the League of Nations in Geneva. To work women had to be single or widowed, otherwise they were told to stay home with their children. Ursula vowed never to marry but that didn't stop the love triangle formation between traditional Irishman Finbar Cassidy and extravagant Englishman Lewis Baines.

1949 contains plenty of Irish politics as well as British propaganda, and covers the emergence of Hitler and the Second World War from an Irish perspective that is just as horrifying as all others. Llywelyn doesn't focus on the Catholic Church's impact on Irish society like other authors have in the past but its presence is clear. Politics and freedom from state are crucial. Llywelyn's characters are not idle bodies but great thinkers.

Tension mounts as the war hits closer to Ursula, affecting her and the people she holds dear. 1949 is not all doom and gloom. Morgan's wit is seen throughout in subtle glimpses as are tenderness, sexual fire and intense anger. One of my favourites is her mention of the "traditional Irish savings bank: under the mattress."

You can expect to learn a few Irish words like goster (chat; small talk) and seisiun (traditional music session) or learn of Irish traditions like keening (an "eerie singsong cadence, and unearthly wail" by women for the dead.)

Passages of Ursula's life are entwined with passages of Ireland's history. There are large patches without dialogue and I often felt I was getting a history lesson rather than reading a novel but this was fleeting.

There is a "Dramatis Personae" of fictional and historical characters in the first few pages. Another nice feature is the historical date markers. You are never without a doubt as to the timeline. Research and sources appear in the back. Not having grown up in the confines of Ireland's history I found it hard to keep the different groups and parties straight. It would have been nice to have a break down of each party, what they represented, length of existence etc... to refer to. The chapters are short, making it a great book for people on the move with limited time.

Llywelyn finishes this story with the inauguration of the Republic of Ireland on April 18th 1949. There are no loose ends but possibilities exist to gently tug the reader into the next book. I look forward to reading about the period leading up to 1972.

[...]

Third in an Intriguing Series.......2004-06-03

Just completed the third volume of Morgan Llywelyn's series on "the Irish Century", and it enlightened me greatly on a little-known period of Irish history. The Easter Rising and the Troubles have been extensively chronicled, but the 1923-1949 period has had little written about it. Her dramatic story, while a bit overblown at times, continues the saga of the Hallorans and the Mooneys over a quarter century, while the world outside hurtles into WWII. I would assume that if the series does indeed have a fourth volume yet to come, it would probably be set around 1972 and the beginning of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, and would likely have Michael and Bella Kavanaugh from the US return to Ireland and get involved in the Republican struggle against the Unionist tyranny in the North. At any rate, I have learned numerous things about modern Irish history that I did not know before, and enjoyed most of the author's dramatic characters. I would look forward to a final volume chronicling the 30-year conflict in the North leading up to the Good Friday Agreement, paralleled by the growth of the "Celtic Tiger" giant economy of the Republic to the South. While the author's sympathies are definitely Republican, she can portray the feelings of all sides in the century-long conflict and the common humanity of the characters makes the background struggle all the more poignant. My only criticism is her constant sniping at the Catholic Church as the major force in keeping Ireland "repressed and backward". Her anti-clericalism gets a bit much at times, but overall the story is very enjoyable.

WOW!!!! Morgan Llywelyn Does It Again!!!.......2003-03-23

1949, the third book in Morgan Llywelyn's series about 20th Century Ireland ( I am told there will be two more) is a compelling story of Ireland's continued struggle for complete independence from British rule, and for those who have been anxiously awaiting for this story, I can assure you, you will not be disappointed.

Ursula, aka Precious, was found wandering the streets of Dublin as a toddler by Ned Halloran, who readers of 1916 and 1921 will remember. Her parentage a question, Ned was taken in by Ned and his wife, Sile, and raised as their own.

1949 is Ursula's story. It opens in the early days of the Irish Free State and ends with the forming of the Republic in 1949. We follow Ursula as she leaves Neds family farm in County Clare at the urging of Henry and Ella Mooney (who readers will also remember from 1916 and 1921). Henry wouldn't let Ella use any of her family's money to help support their family but does agree for her to pay for Ursula's education at an exclusive private school in Switzerland.

When Ursula returns to Ireland she secures a job at the new radio station, helping write copy (but never allowed to be on the air herself). Through her eyes we see the continued political struggle in Ireland and her view of world events in the days before the second world war.

Ursula has vowed never to marry, in large part due to new laws in Ireland against married women working outside the home. Nevertheless, she is very attractive to the opposite sex and to two men in particular - Finbar Cassidy, an Irish government official whose political views frequently clash with her own, and Lewis Baines, a dashing young English pilot whose conquests of beautiful women have become legendary.

Morgan Llywelyn, whose knowledge of Irish politics and history is really unequalled in historical fiction written today, liberally adds historical facts and events to add depth and interest but never detracting from the overall story.

I can't remember when I have looked forward to a book more. Readers of 1916 and 1921 will enjoy visits with characters important in those books including Henry and Ella Mooney, Ned Halloran, and Ned's family in County Clare. Llywelyn's stories appeal to a wide variety of readers and my husband and daughter, both of whom have read 1916 and 1921, were fighting over who was going to get to read 1949 when I finished.

Great Ending to the Trilogy.......2003-03-14

Assuming this was the last in the series the author started with 1916, it was truly a great finish. The main character in this book was the best of all her characters, and the way she interweaves the fictional plot with real events is just amazing. Through reading this series, the reader learns a tremendous amount of interesting history, and also will meet unforgettable fictional characters. To anyone interested in Irish history, and/or just a series of good books, I would recommend reading 1916, 1921 and most definitely 1949, preferably one after the other, because there are so many recurring characters that they may become hard to remember if one of the arlier books was read too long ago.

A Season To Be Sinful
Average customer rating:

A Season to be...bored?

Contrived ending ruined a book with some good intrigue

Worth the read

Indulge & Enjoy !!!

mixed emotions about this book
A Season To Be Sinful
Jo Goodman
Manufacturer: Zebra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0821777750

Customer Reviews:

A Season to be...bored?.......2007-08-25

I think Goodman is a super historial romance author but for some reason this book did not capture my interest. I thought Sherry's character was flat, even after learning his "dark secret," and although Lily's sad history was helpful insight to her behavior I still couldn't understand why she held Sherry's interest above all other women of his acquaintance.

Lady Rivendale (Sherry's godmother) was the typical quirky-yet-respected matriarchal character and drawn, in my humble opinion, just a little too similarly to Auntie Mame.

Lily's "wards" (Pinch, Dash and Midge) were the comic relief to the typical Goodman high (sexually abusive) drama, although again, even after revealing his purpose I really wasn't convinced that Sherry would so readily make them his wards.

After reading the other reviews I know I'm in the minority here when I say this wasn't my favorite Regency book, not by half.....

Contrived ending ruined a book with some good intrigue.......2007-08-05

Solid writing, good intrigue, mature characters (for the most part) and a very absurd, nonsensical ending outlines my experience of Jo Goodman's A SEASON TO BE SINFUL. As you can tell, the end ruined the book for me. I thought the good intrigue with some interconnected plot threads stunted and choked into a nonsensical and protracted ending. I could not understand the hero Sherry's actions at the end. He wants to ensure the villain's silence and force him into exile? He feels no anger for the man who physically and emotionally abused the woman he loves? Huh? When the villain Woodridge denigrates Lily right in front of him, Sherry feels no anger? How can Sherry live with himself letting the man who not only terrorized Lily but other young women, just walk away? By letting the villain to live, Sherry only ineptly stretches the ending and allows the villain a chance to return and terrorize some more! For a hero that's believable for the most part, the finale he maneuvers to contrive was pretty dumb. The book contains some entertaining and humorous banter, witty dialogue, and suspenseful plots of intrigue. Unfortunately, I thought the hero and heroine desperately lacked chemistry even though they enjoyed some witty banter.

Interaction between the lead pair was weird, off . . . forget about any equal ground here, appeared as though Lily went out of her way to ensure she was the dominant persona between herself and her hero Sherry. Didn't seem like a romance or an empowering love between the two, seemed more like Lily jostling to come out on top in every way. Poor Sherry, he honors Lily, respects Lily, never goes against any of her wishes or obscenely violent demands, voices the words I-Love-You early, mouths heartfelt words of affection early and often, and yet, Lily grinds him to dust. I understand Lily has been through a lot prior to meeting Sherry, but the relationship between Lily and Sherry seemed too much of a one-way street. Sherry definitely loves Lily much more than the other way around, even at the end when both are supposed to love and trust each other and after both are married, I thought Sherry's love for Lily dwarfed Lily's love for Sherry. It almost seems like Lily enjoyed having Sherry debased before her. I liked that Lily is aggressive sensually and didn't melt at Sherry's every touch so typical of romance novels, but it seemed to go beyond just aggression.

This book belongs to Lily and the three "scoundrels," orphaned entrusted Lily takes responsibility for. The hero Sherry cheers them on from the sidelines for the entire book. What is the hero Sherry's trivial purpose in the novel? Well, Sherry stages the scene towards the end which allows Lily and the 3 children to play their dangerous roles while Sherry timidly steps aside. It's Lily who pummels and scratches the villain Woodridge. It's Lily who cripples Woodridge when he returns later on. The children play key (but dangerous) roles stripping Granville of his weapons and then having the foresight to recognize Woodridge will return when Sherry lets him go alive.

Sherry is clueless and his actions (or lack thereof) indicate a complete void of sense and intelligence. Any normal hero wouldn't be able to look at Woodridge after what he's done to Lily, much less talk to him at length. The entire time Sherry attempts to wring a confession out of Woodridge I'm thinking, how can you even bear to look at Woodridge considering what you know he's done to the woman you love?!? Sherry has nothing to do when Woodridge returns to Granville later at night and terrorizes Lily once again. Sherry thrusts a stiletto in Woodridge after Lily already maimed and incapacitated Woodridge [laughs]! So basically, Sherry talks to Woodridge at length knowing this is the man that abused the woman you love, shrugs off a disparaging remark aimed at Lily, allows him to live despite the potential for him to return and terrorize, secures his oath and exile, but in the end, endangers the children and Lily anyway. Way to go there, Sherry, really bright of you there!

Needless to say, A SEASON TO BE SINFUL highlights a horribly-contrived ending after some intriguing plot threads, and makes Sherry look pretty inept and dumb just so Lily and the children can shine. I think Sherry should start a 19th-century cheer leading squad.

The Story.

Sixteen year-old Miss Lilith "Lily" Sterling fosters at the L'Abbaye de Sacre Coeur, a convent in France after her parents died more than 10 years ago. The insidious Wycliff Standish, Baron Woodridge, visits the abbey seeking a governess for his children. Woodridge's intents for the potential governess extend beyond normal duties and into the realm of servicing his and friends' carnal pleasures. Lily's good friend and mentor Sister Mary Joseph arranges Lily's escape to London before Woodridge can snatch Lily.

More than five years later, we find twenty-one year-old Lily in London at Covent Garden as a common thief saving the life of Viscount Sheridan ("Sherry"), Alexander Grantham. Dressed as a boy and having her dark auburn hair dyed black, Lily takes a shiv in her side instead. Before Sherry can react, three boys haul Lily off while Sherry escapes unscathed. When Lily's condition deteriorates, the three boys ("scoundrels" as they're affectionately referred to) come to Sherry's home for succor. Sherry spares no expense enlisting a physician's aid to bring Lily back to health. Sherry himself cares for Lily and takes up vigil by her bedside for many nights.

In the process, Sherry comes to care for the three orphaned children ("scoundrels") as they never leave Lily's side either. A SEASON TO BE SINFUL features the scoundrels quite a bit in humorous subplots. In fact, I'd say the scoundrels Pinch, Dash and Midge overshadowed every plot and character in the book except for Lily.

As Sherry and Lily spend more time together, Sherry discovers more about the incident back at Covent Garden when Lily saves him. Sherry also glimpses into Lily's very dark and tortured past, as she reacts violently to many seemingly innocuous things. Despite Lily's attempts to prompt him into throwing her out and taking on the children into his household, Sherry begins to care for Lily and the children quite a bit. With everyone's permission, Sherry whisks everyone away to his far-away seat at Granville and has Lily teach the children as a proper governess. Sherry doesn't do anything without their permission of course even if it for their own good. Lily agrees on the condition that she's allowed to leave whenever she wishes, no questions asked.

While Sherry and Lily rendezvous more and more intimately, Lily also reveals more of her tortured past and what happened to her the 5 years between leaving the abbey in France and saving Sherry in London. I realize Lily's reservations and trust issues, but I still thought it took too long for Lily to trust Sherry as Sherry regales her with his affections and words of love.

The various threads of intrigue all come together and it seemed like every thing and everyone is interconnected, and the attempt on Sherry's life in London was no coincidence. Sherry's clandestine confederacy under the English Crown, Lily's parentage, Lily's wounded soul, Lily's secret history, her running, Woodridge, France, Nopolean, and Sherry's godmother the Lady Georgia Pendelton, Countess of Rivendale, all come a head. That was all good. What wasn't good was Sherry's contrived end-game delivering them from the villain Woodridge. As I mentioned before, it showed Sherry's complete lack of sense and intelligence. It also highlighted Sherry's apathy for the harm inflicted upon the woman he loves. A veritable ruse of an ending concocted to have Lily and the children play their dangerous parts, parts Sherry's negligence and provincial mind sanctions.

Ah good writing, intriguing plots, and for the most part, mature characterizations completely ruined by a dumb ending and the hero's lack of foresight.

Worth the read.......2006-08-01

This is one of my favorite stories. It is very satisfing and pulled me into it right away.

One of four street urchins, who is not what he seems to be, is seriously wounded. He is championed by the other three who, unafraid, confront the hero what 'as done their mate in. The story goes on from there with mysteries, plot twists, an unseen villain, chuckles and laughs.

Goodman is really wise in developing the supporting characters and making them as important to the story as the hero and the heroine. I have read every thing Goodman has written; she writes complex interesting stories with great charater developement.

Indulge & Enjoy !!!.......2006-01-26

This tale of Lily, and Viscount Sheridan (Sherry to those close at hand)..is well written and an enjoyable read..altho I must say a bit long...but with a good ending.....
The additional antics of the three lads,..Pinch, Dash, and Midge...really made it even more enjoyable. Go ahead and read this one...

mixed emotions about this book.......2005-12-10

This is the first book I read about this author. I have such mixed feelings with this book. I wouldn't say that this book was terrible, but I also wouldn't say that this book was captivating.

I think that the first half of the book was excellent. The author really shows you how Lily and Sherry fall in love. The secondary characters are adorable. All of the actions are so believable.

Somewhere in the middle, all the beauty book possessed fizzled. The author's descriptions of Lily's past was so cruel and horrid. I was just so disgusted by what men did to her in the past that I literally had bad dreams in the night. Also, the first love scene between the two characters were not as romantic and emotional as other ones are in other romance books. It seemed so dry as if it were out of a textbook. Later on, the story focuses more on the mystery than their love for each other.

Then the ending was good, but it wasn't touching as other endings in romance books. So I think that this book wasn't terrible, but I wouldn't say that I loved this book. There were moments in this book where I sighed, but there were also moments where I was just bored or annoyed that I skipped pages.

I think that Goodman has the potential to write much more romantic books if she just focused more on the drama between the two characters instead of all the mystery. For historical romances that are truly romanctic, I'd suggest reading Lisa Kleypas, Julia Quinn, Pamela Britton, and Lorraine Heath.

Average customer rating:

A Season to Be Sinful

Manufacturer: Kensington Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0739457101

Product Description

Alexander Grantham, Viscount Sheridan, is stunned to find three young boys at his door demanding he right the wrongs of an incident that occurred earlier in the evening when he thwarted a determined thief. When he discovers his wily pickpocket is a woman, now gravely injured, he takes his flame-haired attacker under his wing. Clearly, Sheridan's new "guest" is a lady of quality. So how did she become a common street thief? He finds himself irresistibly drawn to the clever, cheeky Lily, and determined to unlock her mysteries.

Book Description

The alien Yuuzhan Vong have launched an attack on the worlds of the Outer Rim. They are merciless, without regard for life - and they stand utterly outside the Force. Their ever-changing tactics stump the New Republic military. Even the Jedi, once the greatest guardians of peace in the galaxy, are rendered helpless by this impervious foe - and their solidarity has begun to unravel.

While Luke struggles to keep the Jedi together, Knights Jacen Solo and Corran Horn set off on a reconnaissance mission to the planet Garqi, an occupied world. There, at last, they uncover a secret that might be used to undermine the enemy - if only they can stay alive long enough to use it!

Star Wars The New Jedi Order Dark Tide II: Ruin (Star Wars: the New Jedi Order)

Average customer rating:

The last Corran Horn adventure?
Skippable NJO Novel
A little something
Awesome addition to the NJO series
Jumbled and -ahem- unrealistic

Star Wars The New Jedi Order Dark Tide II: Ruin (Star Wars: the New Jedi Order)
Michael A. Stackpole
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Adventure | Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books

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Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 5)
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Vector Prime (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 1)
Balance Point (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 6)

ASIN: 0345479327
Release Date: 2004-09-07

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

The last Corran Horn adventure?.......2007-08-29

Ruin is the closing chapter in Michael Stackpole's Dark Tide duology, and the third book overall in the New Jedi Order saga. After making some gains against the Yuuzhan Vong's invasion of the galaxy, the Jedi Knights and New Republic military, assisted by the armed forces of the Imperial Remnant, gather for a grand confrontation over the fate of the planet Ithor.

While Dark Tide I: Onslaught (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 2) spread the spotlight on various Jedi and Rogue Squadron characters, Ruin really reads more like a Corran Horn adventure. Stackpole's signature contribution takes the starring role here, and those of us who enjoyed I, Jedi (Star Wars) and the X-Wing Rogue Squadron series know that that's not necessarily a bad thing. The Yuuzhan Vong play a more visible role in this novel than they did in Onslaught, and we finally get a better idea of what drives these technology hating and pain obsessed invaders.

If you don't mind Luke, the Solo kids, and pretty much everyone else taking a backseat to Corran Horn, Ruin should prove to be an exciting and enjoyable chapter in the New Jedi Order saga. Stackpole continues to show a flair for describing military action and starfighter battles, though his dialogue still tends towards the melodramatic. His characters tend to give introspective or inspirational speeches that nobody - in any galaxy - would ever say out loud. He also seems compelled to end each chapter with some bold declaration by one of the characters, which gets old fast.

Those gripes aside, Stackpole does a great job closing out this series within a series. The final confrontation between Corran and the Yuuzhan Vong leader Shedao Shai, and the unforeseen consequences of that action are more than worth the price of admission, and will have you wondering whether this is the final Corran Horn adventure.

Skippable NJO Novel.......2007-08-20

The Star Wars universe is technologically millennia in the future, but they still have squeaky microphones in important Jedi meetings (p32)? This novel was built around the premise of information gathering (150 pages of scouting missions, another 100 pages of politics... book is 292 pages). Vong are looking for info on the New Republic, vice versa. A super-weapons side-plot ends up going nowhere. Nothing is resolved overall, though the climax is another planetary battle along the Vong invasion corridor.

The redeeming quality of the novel is in the characterization of core Star Wars heroes. Stackpole writes the Solo and Skywalker families well, and his grasp of what makes a jedi effective and moralistic is right on. Corran Horn has major character development in this book, so if you like him, read it.

The jedi act intelligently, the military leaders are efficient, the governments act stupid, and little is resolved plot-wise. The entire NJO series is slow, being milked for cash by the publisher. Individually the novels aren't giving enough resolution. This novel especially lacked any sort of movement in the over-plot of the series -- the biggest thing that happened is a tentative alliance between the New Republic and the Imperial Remnant (around page 70, early in the novel). Unless you are rabid Star Wars fan, I can't recommend it.

A little something.......2006-01-13

i think the dark tide series were great you know i've read a couple NJO books and they've left the Jacen and Danni Quee love story in the dust.

Awesome addition to the NJO series.......2005-07-15

I absolutely loved this book and all the rest of the NJO. I would definitely recommend this to any Sci-Fi reader.

Jumbled and -ahem- unrealistic.......2005-06-21

The series started out good but really turned out to be a stinker. Its full of whiney young Jedi constantly trying to either one-up each other or prove themselves to, what, who knows because the author never hits the point. The bickering between the military and the politicians got overwhelmingly annoying and childish with idle threats this way and that. And the military strategy was simply terrible. The final "battle" made absolutely no sense what so ever. What were supposed to be strong military commanders of the Vong, the Remnant, and the Republic just came up with the most ridiculous plan of all. And the final "duel" was anticlimactic to put it lightly. I'll never read another Stackpole novel again.

Marea Oscura II. Desastre / Dark Tide II. Ruin (Star Wars La Nueva Orden Jedi / Star Wars. the New Jedi Order)

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Marea Oscura II. Desastre / Dark Tide II. Ruin (Star Wars La Nueva Orden Jedi / Star Wars. the New Jedi Order)
Michael A. Stackpole
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STAR WARS/THE NEW JEDI ORDER/DARK TIDE II RUIN

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STAR WARS/THE NEW JEDI ORDER/DARK TIDE II RUIN

Manufacturer: DEL REY BOOKS
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ASIN: B000GYC1MA

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Star Wars: The New Jedi Order: Dark Tide II: Ruin
Michael A. Stackpole
Manufacturer: audible.com
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Dark Tide II: Ruin (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 3)

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Dark Tide II: Ruin (Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, Book 3)
Michael A. Stackpole , and Anthony Heald
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
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Star Wars: NJO-Dark Tide II: Ruin (AU Star Wars)

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Star Wars: NJO-Dark Tide II: Ruin (AU Star Wars)
Michael A. Stackpole
Manufacturer: RH Audio Price-less
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ASIN: 0739316664
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality Presented in Four Paths, Twenty-Six Themes, and Two Questions
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Put on your thinking cap...

A must read for all Christians

True inspiration

Interesting and necessary theological exploration of the God-world relationship

Fox's Creation Spirituality between the Contemporary Mystics

Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality Presented in Four Paths, Twenty-Six Themes, and Two Questions
Matthew Fox
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Fox, Matthew | ( F ) | Authors, A-Z | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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A New Reformation: Creation Spirituality and the Transformation of Christianity

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Coming of the Cosmic Christ, The

Creation Spirituality: Liberating Gifts for the Peoples of the Earth

Meditations with Meister Eckhart (Meditation)

ASIN: 1585420670
Release Date: 2000-09-07

Book Description

Here is a reissue of the critically acclaimed bestseller, named one of the "20 books that changed the world" in New Age Journal's Annual Source Book for 1995. Maverick theologian Matthew Fox provides a daring view of historical Christianity and a theologically sound basis for personal discovery of spiritual liberation.

In this revolutionary work, Fox shows how Christianity once celebrated beauty, compassion, justice, and provided a path of positive knowledge and ecstatic connection with all creation.

Customer Reviews:

Put on your thinking cap..........2007-07-21

The Matthew Fow premier of alternative Christian spirituality can be a little tough to get through, unless you are pretty motivated. But for those who are looking for a way to keep the Christian faith and also trying to live in the real world, this dated theology crosses all generations. He offers an intellectual yet heartfelt alternative to the standard Christian theology we were spewed in the media. It is not just a feel good theology, either. It is beyond brilliant. Dig in!

A must read for all Christians .......2007-05-30

First up, a little about me, the reader! If I do a BeleifoMatic quiz I come up as "100% Mainline Conservative Protestant", so that's the position from which I read this book. The main message that I took from this book is that the churches have and are focusing (particularly the Evangelical ones) solely on justification to the detriment of sanctification. Where sanctification is focused on it is seen as a negative exercise (i.e., pursuit of a mortified body rather than a resurrected one). So many churches are very keen to "get" people saved, but are weak on what it means to thereafter "be" saved on a day to day life basis.
Fox corrects this, showing that the biblical vision of salvation is that we are saved for sanctification and that sanctification involves becoming an integral part of God's solution for a creation that, altough fallen, is still one sustained through His presence within it. Seeing God as being present in creation as well as transcending was something great that reading this book enabled me to do. So why only 4 stars?
Well, the book is a product of its times and regardless of the wonderful content, the form is one of 70s new age narrative. Sometimes reading between the lines is needed to see that what is being said has relevance beyond this context. Also, whilst Fox has some profound and thought provoking insights from a biblical perspective on issues such as original sin, in other areas he lacks the same incisiveness (e.g., sexuality), so that what he has to say might be appealing, but not wholly convincing. Still, this book is in my top 10 of Christian books, and I have read a lot!

True inspiration.......2007-04-10

Other reviews gave good summaries, so I'll just add my voice to those who gave this book a five-star rating. Just what we need in today's turbulent world. He helps us discover how we got that way, and offers a way back to our primeval Oneness with all of life.

Interesting and necessary theological exploration of the God-world relationship.......2006-11-15

In the 21st century, we face a depressing series of enviromental crises. These range from global warming to pollution to mass extinction of species to collapse of global ecosystems. It seems something is very seriously wrong with the way we live and the way we view the world.

The ecological crisis the world faces has several different root causes, but certainly one is related to a desacralisation of nature which leads to us not seeing nature as something to be protected and cherished, but rather just another resource to be exploited for our own use. In one of his works Fox uses the dramatic image of Earth as being crucified daily to represent the terrible strain our species is placing on the planet.

What Fox argues for in this book and also others is that Christianity desperately needs to consider the God/world relationship not just in terms of God being the sovereign and omnipotent maker of all (the Father in Christian creeds) but also in terms of God's immanent relationship with the world (as the Holy Spirit and also in terms of the incarnation of the Son). Fox argues for a panentheistic picture of God, that is, of nature existing in God, but not nature being God. This position is in fact well supported by both the Bible and also theological tradition in most of the major branches of Christianity. Fox sets out four paths to rethinking the creation and God/world relationship, using the 'via positiva', 'via negativa', via creativa and via transformita as symbols for the new ways we can think of the relationship in panenthetic terms. Fox has also used this template to look at Thomas Aquinas and Meister Eckhart, great Dominican thinkers who also had a positive view of the world.

I agree with a lot of what Fox argues, and certainly there is a need to re-appropriate a positive incarnational spirituality rather than a dualistic one which sets matter against spirit. This is certainly important in terms of learning to live in a more sustainable way, and also having a better relationship between religion and science, which recently have been in bitter conflict but were originally seen as part as the overall task of understanding God and the good world he has made. While sometimes he can overdo the syncretism, in most parts he is quite accurate in his judgement and I have few reservations about his work.

Fox's Creation Spirituality between the Contemporary Mystics.......2006-03-26

"Blessed be the One who took off His glory to reveal His love
It is the day that has no end
It has its beginning in your divine and eternal plan;
When you formed Adam, You saw your future love" Dr. G. Bebawi

Maverick Theologian:
Michael Toms calls Matthew Fox a 'Maverick theologian,' who dares to provide a novel view of historical Christianity, and a new discovery of spiritual liberation. He describes 'Original Blessing,' as a revolutionary work, in which Fox shows how Christianity once celebrated aesthetic values, providing a positive path to the Creator's knowledge and an ecstatic connection with all His cosmic creation. The effect of the advancement of Fall/Redemption theology on contemporary society, is described by reviewers as being recovered by Fox's treatise on Creation-centered theology.

Original Sin & Initial Grace:
Matthew Fox follows the sayings of Oriental Church fathers, on initial creation Grace, in contrast to Original sin, a concept initiated by Tertullian(225), who spoke of a propensity to sin sown in human souls, while Cyprian of Carthage's advocated the arguement (250) to baptize infants to wash the 'contagion of sin.' Augustine of Hippo (354-430) was the pioneer to coin this term of Western doctrine, a difficiency which he claimed to have passed from Adam and he has identified with concupiscence, that became a central dogma of Western Christianity, established by North African Latin church fathers. Later on, in the controversy with Pelagius, the Eastern Church did not agree with Augustine, defending that the Lord after the fall, never took away human freedom, and thus Orthodox were called 'Semi-Pelagian'!

Merton and Fox:
It is of great help to clarify most of the concepts in Fr. Fox's themes by his great Trappist brother Fr. Thomas Merton, whom Fox quoted repeatedly, in his patristic debut, 'The New Man.' Merton anticipated Fox's two questions, ".. And in the midst of that paradise stands Christ himself, the tree of life. From the base of the tree the four rivers of Eden flow out to irrigate not only all the faculties of our soul and body, filling them with grace and mystical light, but the whole world around us." (Paragraph 101)

Oriental Patristic View:
The Alexandrine position on the initial Creation and redeeming grace is poetically illustrated by Dr. George Bebawi, the Cantab Patristic scholar of Nottingham and Cambridge,
"O love divine incomparable to any ...
Communicative allowing creation to be included
Redeeming where imperfection is healed
Uplifting all those created out of nothing,
to the highest divinity
Sustaining all and leading us to the bliss of eternity
Condescending to the level of the finites
Revealing your inner communion"

Epilogue; Creation Spirituality:
In his comparison at a glance, with Fall-Redemption theology, I am copying his Appendix B Church Fathers compatible statements: Faith is trust (St. Paul), God as mother (Isaiah), Holiness is cosmic hospitality (Jesus to Zaccheus), Teaching us about nature, teaches us about the Creator (St. Anthony the Great), Cosmic Christ, Son of God who calls others to their divinity (Maximus the confessor), Eternal life is now (Desert Fathers; John 17:3)

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