Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: sea

  • Sea Shaken

    Sea Shaken

    Those who have followed the Castleby Series from JM Simpson would have been waiting with a degree of urgency for the next book in the series, Sea Shaken, to discover what has happened in Castleby since the final shattering chapter of Sea Change, when Jesse plunged off a cliff at the hands of her murderous, psychopath husband Chris.

    In Sea Shaken JM Simpson has certainly created her best yet, as she carefully brings together the many strands of life in the small seaside town, weaving a tapestry of tangled lives, loves, shattered dreams and hope.

    Stepping straight back into the town the feeling is one of returning home after time spent away, wondering what has happened and what is new. As the pages unfold the pace picks up with the focus more on the people of the town rather than the lifeboat crew, as has been in the previous books.

    Dr Kate Cooper, newly returned to Castleby to help her father in his medical practice, and long-time friend of Sophie, also introduces a larger role for Inspector Steve Miller, as he and Kate add a fresh segment to the township and one that like all small towns, everyone knows about before they do!

    Sam, Sophie’s husband has finally been found and bought home to England, a shattered man, both mentally and physically. He does not want to continue living as he is and cannot see a future ahead, even with the love of Sophie, his son Marcus and the support of the military machine. Through this aspect of the story, attention is drawn to the struggle men and women of the Military and their families face once they return to ‘civilian’ life after serving overseas; broken, damaged and unable to cope.

    Running throughout is the very intriguing thread of unexplained deaths in Nursing homes which as time goes on increases. Between the chapters are the diary notes of the killer, but who is it, the very obvious or not?

    Naturally there are still body parts galore, slightly gruesome but adding a certain something to the plot, lies, counter lies, drug smuggling, the local mafia and the hapless Jimmy Ryan involved up to his ears in trouble.

    While life seems to be settling down at last for Doug and Jesse, JM Simpson has added a cruel twist to keep readers on the edge of their armchairs trying to work out what next for this hapless couple.

    Is Sea Shaken the final story in the Castleby series or not? Maybe there could be another one in the waiting, but that is just a wild guess, as JM Simpson has very, very cleverly left a few strings hanging that certainly could see another book in the making.

    Get settled in a comfy chair and enjoy to the very last page the latest instalment from the families of Castleby in Sea Shaken.

  • Sea Change

    Sea Change

    Sea Change is the second book in the Castleby Series from JM Simpson. As such the storyline begins in a slightly complex manner which indicates the need to have read Sea State, her first book in the series, but overall, and once you have worked out who is who, it is a captivating read filled with characters to whom we can all relate.

    A man stands on a church roof, oblivious of the chilling rain, deeply mired in grief; who is he and what is causing him such anguish of the soul that he is considering taking his life.

     Rob Fox is looking for a change and he has found it in the small town of Castleby in the shape of a run-down Climbing centre; a fresh beginning and all importantly, a place he can use his skills honed in his many years in the British Military.

    Foxy as he is known to his mates, is a new face in town and is very relieved when he finds he is welcomed into the fabric of the town by the indomitable Mags. It is not long before his skills in climbing as are called upon by the Castleby Lifeboat Crew to help out in a complex rescue.

    As the week’s slip by, he is reunited with two of his mates from his Military days; one who lives locally and the other who is still on active service, which he finds is a great help as they have bonds that go deep. His beloved ex-service dog Solo also arrives at Castleby after a long period in quarantine, which helps him during bouts of PTSD.

    But the lives of the small community have not slowed down at all, with Doug facing serious issues with his wife, Claire; Jesse, who escaped from her violent and psychopathic sister-in-law with her life, is finally beginning to learn to trust again and then there are JJ and Huey, lads who simply can’t seem to keep out of trouble.

    A rather mysterious, seriously evil thread runs throughout the storyline, which adds yet another layer to the everyday activities of the small town. This addition of another thread to the already complex cast of characters makes you wonder why there needs to be another layer to the story.

    But so saying, even with a cast of many, the story has a certain level of addictiveness that keeps you turning the pages, wondering what will happen next. There are almost too many daring rescues, but somehow that adds to the charm of the story.

    Sea Change will appeal to anyone who loves a cozy armchair read with a somewhat compelling, even though at times a little bit too confusing, story line, as you really do have to find out what happens next. In the end you are left wanting to know what really does happen next.

    Roll on book three.

  • The Battle of the Bismarck Sea

    The Battle of the Bismarck Sea

    The Battle of the Bismarck Sea is Michael Veitch’s tenth book relating to pilots in World War Two. His writing is very well researched and clearly written. Even though there are many complexities within this book, they are dealt with separately until they are interwoven so the reader can easily follow the events. This is a great skill which involves the reader in the unfolding of an episode.

    Readers are also exposed to many stories retold from diaries and journals. A General arrived on a landing strip in New Guinea to find a shirtless man driving a bulldozer. The General approached him to enquire what he was doing. The driver replied that he was building up the soil around an unexploded bomb! There are many such stories with an index of the names of people mentioned at the back of the book. This makes it quite a personal experience.

    Michael Veitch plots the build up to the battle in the Bismarck Sea with great clarity and precision. He is able to give points of view and discussions from the Australian, American and Japanese perspectives. This gives us a well rounded picture of planning, mistakes and decisions that were made. The consequences of this planning would have a vital outcome for Australia.

    Never straying from the factual information that he has gathered, Veitch notes the bravery of the men in all aspects of the battle, recounting the horrors that must be the outcomes from such a battle. For Australia, this battle was “One of the most significant times in our history.”

  • Girl of the Southern Sea

    Girl of the Southern Sea

    Beautifully written and capturing the very essence of life in Jakarta, Girl of the Southern Sea from Michelle Kadarusman follows the journey of fourteen year old Nia who longs to be able to continue on at school, but instead has to look after her little brother and help her father at the family food cart down at the train station.

    Bright and intelligent, Nia’s family is poor and once the free schooling provided by the government is finished, families have to pay for their children to go on to high school. Her father has never recovered from the death of her mother when her brother Rudi was born and drinks away all the money earned at the local Arak dealer’s illegal bar.

    Nia has always loved to write and create stories for her little brother; wonderful, magical stories based on the legend of the mythical Dewi Kadita Queen of the Southern Seas. Her mother always told her stories about this mythical being and Nia is continuing on as it comforts both her and her brother.

    After narrowly escaping death in a bus accident Nia becomes considered as somewhat mystical; as having good-luck magic. The family fortunes begin to change, until once again something appalling happens and Nia has to face some hard facts about life. Help comes from a most unlikely source and perhaps Dewi Kadita likes the stories Nia makes up and lends a helping hand. 

    Crafted in the streets of Jakarta, Nia and her family and friends are bought vividly to life in this elegant and charming look at life and culture in a land known to many, but not always understood. Kardarusman has captured the vibrancy, the smell of the markets, the helpless frustration felt by many who live in the poor areas of town, their daily survival depending on the fates and an enduring sense of courage felt by many who look to better their meagre lives.

    Girl of the Southern Sea is a powerful story of courage, good-luck magic, all bound by the  determination and hope of being able to create a bright new future.

  • A Kinder Sea

    A Kinder Sea

    Poetry is of its very nature an intensely person collection of thoughts, images, emotions; the telling of stories with a myriad of words each one used in a very different manner or style. Long poetry, short poetry, prose all delivering a message.

    Felicity Plunkett has released her second anthology of poetry, A Kinder Sea, some seven years in the making, with a title that is as disarming as the poetry contained within the pages. The immediate image that comes to mind it that of works relating to the sea, which is indeed the case, but what is the metaphor or is there a metaphor that is being constructed: is it the sea, the oceans of the world, a majestic world of wonderment, turbulence and danger or the ebb and flow of life as it is lived; of love, or enchantment of desire and heartbreak.

    A mother’s pride in her son, full of rich emotion, has been beautifully crafted in the first piece Sound Bridge, a celebration of her son singing the Lachrymose with one hundred Moravian choristers; a piece transcribed by Mozart but left unfinished. The emotional line ‘Lachrymose dies ill: all day grief’s weft across joy’s warp’ is majestic in perfection.

    Blood days: Monochords is stunning in its simplicity; in the minimalist style of delivery. Black and white, no distraction, just the words on the page. Use them as you wish, place your own interpretation on them, allow them to circulate within the mind, the imagination, enjoy the power of a simple, unadorned word.

    These are just two of the many, many pieces that capture the intellect, the imagination and the emotion. With many of pieces the feelings have been stripped bare. Sumptuous in their interrelationship of emotion, counteracted with an almost clinical apathy which could be considered as a juxtaposition for thought.

    A Kinder Sea is a diverse body of modern poetry which should be considered as selective reading with wide appeal, but definitely considered as an anthology that needs to be savoured piece by piece.

  • Asilomar

    Asilomar

    There is a strong similarity between the beauty of music created in Sedona, a place of great natural beauty and spirituality, and music inspired by the oceans of the world, both containing mystery, magic, a rare and often changing beauty and immense haling.

    Michael Martinez has captured this sense of healing and beauty in his gentle and reflective album Asilomar, from the Spanish Asilo al mar which means refuge by the sea, a place he found refuge, peace and inspiration, of which was later recorded in Sedona. A perfect combination of nature and melody.

    My Guru begins the work, perhaps written in homage to the ever changing, always grounding abilities of the ocean which provided the inspiration required for this delicate album.

    One of the two very personal pieces Asilomar, forms as slightly hesitant, almost tentative, before becoming more confident, stronger, more definite in the knowledge that shapes and forms are being created; that there is joy in the moment, joy in the creation and joy in the completion of the beautiful sequence of notes that make up a very special moment in time.

    Soft and gentle Sedona Whisper quietly evolves, filling the ether with the very essence of the mystique and majesty that is Sedona; a quiet reflection, a moment to relax, to consider and to enjoy.

    Tender Love creates a perfect moment of quietude, of stillness and calm in a maddening world, a calm that heals and refreshes as well as draws to a close, a beautiful period of time where the imagination can drift freely, to walking along a desolate beach in perfect harmony with the elements, the deep endless secrets of the ancient desert, the perfection there to be capture for a single minute in time.

    Magical, relaxing and full of serenity, Asilomar is the perfect album to play when there is a need to step back, to take a minute and simply just be.

     

  • The Sea Exploring our blue planet

    The Sea Exploring our blue planet

    Do you know what is the largest living animal on this planet? No! Well, take a look inside the pages of The Sea and discover this and so much more about so many things you never, ever thought lived under the water, down at the beach or in The Sea.

    Children will be impressed with this hard cover introduction to The Sea, as well as the delivery of the subject matter and well-chosen illustrations to complement the text.

    Aimed a wide age group, the work has been carefully compiled to appeal to and educate children about the very many aspects of the sea, the hidden treasures to be discovered and the effect of modern day living on this precious, very important, element of our existence.

    The Sea as a massive body of water, is a very diverse place, ranging from the shallow, beautifully warm waters of the tropical regions, laced with the amazingly beautiful coral reefs, to the scientifically fascinating depths of the Mariana Trench, as well as the dark chill of the Arctic and Antarctic waters.

    Beginning with Coastlines, a place often easy to access and where, on looking carefully, many wonderful little creatures of the sea can easily be discovered and then ranging over topics such as Sandy Coasts, Coral Reefs and Seagrass Beds; even Shipwrecks are under discussion as a very important, manmade habitat for sea creatures.

    Whales and Dolphins and their place in the evolutionary chain provide is a section providing a good insight into thee inquisitive and gentle creatures, along with Sharks and their importance to the environment. Deep Ocean Currents, and Deep Ocean Monsters are discussed as well as the absolutely astonishing chemical reaction created by creatures that live so deep there is no natural light.

    A serious area of concern in our Seas and Oceans is plastic and the impact it is having on the creatures above and below the water that consider the ocean their home, a topic that offers much for discussion.

    Miranda Krestovnikoff, along with Jill Calder, have created a book which will keep on giving for some time to come, jammed full of facts and information. Between them they have captured the incredible diversity to be found in The Seas of the world, the amazing distances covered by some of the creatures as they set out on their annual migration for breeding, and so much more. The detail is excellent and well researched.

  • Secrets of the Sea

    Secrets of the Sea

    Drawing inspiration from the sea, Greg Maroney has delivered in his trademark style his first recording of 2019, a solo piano album Secrets of the Sea, in which he has to some degree experimented with his beautiful Steinway D concert grand piano, to see what other effects he could create to make the finished produced sound like he was performing on a stage in a large concert hall.

    As a talented and multi album musician, his exploration of ambient music has seen a completely different aspect of this his work unfold, with a softer, far more gentle approach being woven throughout his compositions. Having worked with flautist Sherry Finzer on several diverse works throughout 2018, the title track and introduction Secrets of the Sea contains much of this gentle diversion within a classical framework.

    As a metaphor the sea presents so many different emotions; from a rough and stormy majesty to the calm tranquillity to be found on very special days, the brooding greys of a rainy day, to the dancing, teasing nature of the choppy waves sparkling in the sunlight, as will this work resonate with the listener.

    Reverence is a reflective, almost hesitant piece, softly played with deep emotion which reaches out to gently sooth and refresh. Distant Shores beckons offering tempting scenery just over the sea, there but still undiscovered, a wishful desire to explore makes this composition very evocative.

    But When the Clock Strikes Nine it is time to move on, refreshed and relaxed to enjoy A Thousand Miles; a peaceful, soft and subtle song that simply floats, drifting gently along. Rippling Waters is the perfect musical incarnation of the lovely ripple effect created when the breeze blows gently over the water, a stone or object dropped into the water, the gentle ripples spreading out further and further before returning to a previous stillness.

    Standing in awe of the perfect colours of nature has been captured in Emerald Lake, a piece full of mystery and admiration, which if allowed will take the mind to a place seen before, the vibrant and pure colours of the waters admired and adored for that special moment in time.

    Guiding you on your way, or bringing you safely home, is the lovely piece The Lighthouse which is the quintessential piece to draw to a close, an album that has achieved Maroney’s goal when creating music, that of ‘speaking to the heart and soul of his listener’s.