Sunday, January 26, 2020

Book Review: Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline (thriller, fantasy)

Empire of Wild by Cherie Dimaline is a cautionary folk tale about corporate greed for Aboriginal land.

Story question:  What challenges do Aboriginal men (and boys) face?



Buy this Book

Published by Random House Canada
a division of Penguin Random House Canada
Published in 2019

Struggling financially, Victor tells his wife Joan that he's going to sell some of their land. But the land is sacred to Joan and she refuses to let him. Victor storms out of the house and remains gone for a year. Where did he go? Did the rogarou get him?

What is a rogarou?
'They were men turned into beasts' (p. 190)
"He was the threat from a hundred stories by those old enough to remember the tales.' (p. 3)
How do you become a rogarou?
' "Being attached by a rogarou, mistreating women, betraying your people." ' (p. 69)
What does a rogarou do?
'the rogarou is doomed to eat the people, to wander the roads leading us into temptation.' (p. 221)
How do you defend yourself against a rogarou?
' "You put salt [bone] around your house and... no ragarou, can come in." (p. 147) 
The ace of spades ' "makes the rogarou weak, gives you a chance to get away to try to switch him back." ' (p. 76)
If you make a rogarou bleed he'll remember that he was a man and you may be able to switch him back.

Empire of Wild is an engaging story, cleverly written. One of the subplots doesn't end with the plot. This makes the story haunting as readers are left to resolve the subplot on their own. This also gives the author a way back into the story if she wishes to write a sequel. Which, you know, I'm hoping...


Cherie Dimaline talks about Empire of Wild and... (podcast)

Cherie Dimaline talks about Canada Reads (podcast)


Stories to share in February...

February 2:  short story
Ownership

I try my hand at writing horror--inspired by owning an old home

February 9:  book review
Be My Love
Kit Pearson
(middle grade)

set on a small island, during the 1950's, Be My Love is about secrets hidden and secrets shared, and it's about personal truths discovered.

February 16:  book review
The Painted Girls
Cathy Marie Buchanan
(historical fiction)

provides glimpses into the relationship between two sisters growing up in the slums of Paris, France during the late 1800's

February 23:  short story collection
Stories of My Life

a collection of short stories inspired by my life



Sharing my Author Journey...

January in BC has been full of rain.

Thoughts on a rainy day...

Sunday, January 19, 2020

From 2012 to 2019: a collection of book reviews by Leanne Dyck

photo by ldyck

Your favourite book based on how many page views the book review received.

If you click the title the link will take you to my book review. If you click the publisher it will take you to their web site.

2012

The Sentimentalist
Johanna Shibrub
psychological fiction
Douglas & McIntyre
won the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize

a daughter gets to know her father

2013

Half-Blood Blues
Esi Edugyan
historical fiction
Dundurn Press
won the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize

set in Paris during 1940, a jazz musician is arrested by the Nazis

2014

Indian Horse
Richard Wagamese
historical fiction
Douglas & McIntyre
won the Blurt Award for First Nations, Metis and Inuit Literature in 2013

an aboriginal hockey player journeys back through his life 

2015

The Robber Bride
Margaret Atwood
literary fiction
McClelland & Stewart
an imprint of Penguin Random House

three women's three-decade troubled relationship with a woman named Zenia

2016

Burn
Paula Weston
young adult fantasy
Tundra Books
an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada

the fourth and final book in the Rephaim series

2017

Short
Holly Goldberg Sloan
middle grade
Dial Books for Young Readers
Penguin Young Readers Group

about a short girl in the big adult world of theater

2018

The Birth House
Ami McKay
historical fiction
Vintage Canada
a division of Random House Canada

chronicles Dora Rare's life as she learns the ancient healing science of midwifery


note:  what's the difference between a division and an imprint?
Bookjobs defines division as a branch of a publishing company and imprint as the identifying name of a specific line of books


2019

A Wake for the Dreamland
Laurel Deedrick-Mayne
historical fiction
Friesen Press

about the faithfulness and devotion of enduring friendship

What will you read this year?

I have enticing suggestions. For example...

Next Sunday evening...



Empire of Wild
Cherie Dimaline

Will Joan find her husband? Where did he go? Did the rogarou get him? What is a rogarou?


"snow" by ldyck

Sharing my author journey...

I've been working on expanding a manuscript that I've been working on for a while. It's a collection of knitting-themed