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Sandra H. (St. Cloud, MN)
Magic, Mayhem, and Love
Set in Wales, Paula Black's " Lamp Black, Wolf Grey" mixes the 6th century with the 21st century in a romantic and suspenseful tale that includes two love stories intertwined along with real and fictional characters. And it works most of the time.
Laura Mathews, a successful artist has not succeeded in becoming a mother. She talks her husband Dan into buying an old house in the Welsh mountains hoping that the change will help them produce a child. She has not counted on meeting the handsome, charismatic Rys who is determined that they should become lovers.
The area is saturated in myth and legend with Merlin along
…more with others becoming real people to sensitive artist Laura. A second plot tells of Merlin's doomed first love to Megan, a young woman very much like Laura. Now, there has to be a villain and the nasty Sir Geraint wrecks the love between Merlin and Megan.
I thoroughly enjoyed the tangled plot but, I must caution readers to remember this is fantasy and they must employ their suspension of disbelief for the novel to work. (less)There is much to recommend in this poorly titled novel. Two heroines: Nursemaid Megan of ancient Wales with Merlin as her lover, and present day London artist Laura who pushes for the move to Wales have a lot on their plates.
Laura hopes the move will renew her stalled, eight year, childless marriage to Dan (she is the one with the fertility problem), and revamp her artwork. Indeed, her "artist's eye" descriptions of the Welsh countryside and fauna are rich and vivid in detail, making me long for a trip there.
The parallel story lines move swiftly, and the author skillfully has you involved, worried, and downright
…more nervous about the heroines' plights. The Laura line gets a bit lusty, gothic and ridiculous, but it unfolds in such a manner that one must keep reading. All in all, this was a Tuck Everlasting for adults. (less)Lamp Black, Wolf Grey by Paula Brackston is like a lot of movies you watch on Netflix where you think: "This movie is alright but I wouldn't have wanted to pay full price for it." The book is about a young woman, Laura, who is devastated by her inability to have a child. For some reason, she thinks uprooting her husband and moving to Wales is the answer. She becomes intrigued by her neighbor, with disastrous results, and discovers she can see the wizard, Merlin, who briefly lived in the area. The success of the book hinges on the reader finding Laura to be "special" as she was often described in the book but I
…more found her whiny and self-indulgent, which made it hard to fathom why she was able to see into another time and why Merlin would reach out across the ages to her. In a more interesting side story, alternating chapters set in Merlin's lifetime and revolving around his true love, Meghan, were much more engaging because Meghan was a believable heroine. The strength of Meghan really underscored the weakness of Laura. This was a decent read. It started very slowly for me but the interest level definitely picked up. I wouldn't recommend it highly but I wouldn't warn anyone away from reading it either. (less)I've thoroughly enjoyed reading previous works by Paula Brackston, but there was simply something about LAMP BLACK, WOLF GREY that failed to capture and hold my attention. I tried numerous times over the past month to sit and read this book (and I usually finish a book in one day), but I could never plow through more than 3-4 pages at a time with this book. Sadly, I never made it past page 50. I can't figure out why I didn't connect with this book, but for now I'm setting it aside. I hope to pick it up in a few weeks or months to find that I race through it in one sitting, but for now it remains one for the DNF pile.
Samantha H. (Golden, CO)
Light summer read
Lamp Black, Wolf Grey is a fun, light read. The plot is a little formulaic -- maiden moves to the countryside somewhere in Great Britain to escape/work through personal problems and gets embroiled in strange/mysterious happenings. I enjoyed the tale of Merlin and Megan, but the "present day" story line was not quite as engaging.
Veronica E. (Chesterton, IN)
Adult Fairy Tale
The past and the future brought together in the hills of the Welsh country. An adult fairy tale. I didn't find the story exciting or the adventures page turners. I knew the how and where. Very predictable. Easy, fast read. Entertaining but nothing that made you "not want to put it down."
Shirley P. (Colorado Springs, CO)
Lamp Blackish
I really love Paula Brackston's books and was eager to get this one, but it failed to capture my imagination the way the rest of her books have. The plot was adequate, if uninspired. I did like the main characters of Megan and Laura, but mostly Megan. Rhys was a splendid "red herring", and propelled the plot. I would say that this latest book of Brackston's did not transport me to another time and place as definitively as her other books have. On the plus side, this was a very readable book that I did enjoy. I think I would have been disappointed if I had bought it, but would have liked it just fine from the
…more library. The book is not deep enough for a book group discussion, but just fine for a comfy read. (less)Well want do I say. I was compelled to finish the book although I had
correctly guessed the ending. The book plot was VERY predictable. The
protagonist was not sympathetic and read a bit flat. The supernatural
(of which I was very interested in) was predictable and seemed to be
added as a side interest to gather more reader's interest. I'm so
sorry to say I felt I was reading a potential very good story that
tried to add several storylines only to interest more readers which
instead lost all readers.
That said, If you want an easy beach read, this will be entertaining.
However, if you are wanting what is described on the
…more book blurb, I
would turn away to that classics, " the mist of Avalon", the Mary
Stewart trilogy, and the now in demand as they should be the Diana
Galbaldon "Outlander" series. For satisfaction chose these, for cotton
candy chose "black lamp" (less)
