It started with Legend and became he became a legend. 31 books, 100’s of characters, new worlds, new histories, stories woven through our histories.
It all began for me as good things often do, thanks to Belle. She got us booked into a talk at Waterstones in Bristol to hear a talk by a fantasy writer called David Gemmell. He was very interesting, he talked about his life, his influences, is approach and his experiences. He shared events in his life that he drew on to help shape the worlds and characters he created.
At that time I had not only never read anything he had written, I had never heard of him. 31 books read, many numerous time and 11 years later and last night I finished the last of his books.
I had saved the Troy trilogy, it would be the last time I could go on a new journey in the world of David Gemmell. It must admit I was nervous that it would me an anticlimax, but no, it was everything you always get from David. A was soon lost in the world of ancient Greece, in the world of Paris and Helen, Hekor, Achilles, Agamemnon and Odysseus. Each evening, I would retire to familiar characters, and a story that gripped. One of the great things about David, is that the end always follows history, but this last time, I hoped it would not. I didn’t want the journey to finish with the death of those who’s lifes I had shared. And just for a moment it looked like it might happen, with only 4 pages left it looked like the central couple, would live and love, a happy ending. But no, yet again someone had to die, and for a while I rallied against it, why these two were not written in the pages of history, they should have left. But then it dawned on me. This was not just the end of a story, this was the end of a Legend, the final book had been finished by David’s wife, and she wrote the ending has his ending. The separation of two lovers, who had been on a fantastic journey, but for whom time had run out. And so as the ship slowly moved out to sea, and the flaming arrows rained down on the funeral pyre we said good bye, not just to Helikaon and Andromache, but to David and all the untold stories that we will never experience. So it was not just the normal parting from friends that bring a tears to my eyes, but a final farewell to for me was a genius, a true story teller, someone that would always take you away from the noise of work that span through your head. I have 31 books to come back to, to read, and read and read again, and I now have a picture of a hero’s departure. If there is one thing that the stories tell us, it is that legends never die!
http://books.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1835232,00.html
Kopparberg Pear – 4.5% - Swedish
A soft taste, with a gentle fizz. Again the pear provides a cleaner taste than the apple, it clears the pallet but has an over sweet taste, like a pear drop. If you like your drinks a bit on the sweet side then is could be for you, otherwise go for the Poire – St Helier Pear Cider.
Rounders Update
I was amazed when we heard the scores were 34-22, I was convinced it was closer than that, and it was. Fortunately one of our team is part of CSI Sandy, a crack team that investigate things like princes’ shooting eagles. She carried out an audit of the scores and found that we had actually scored 37, and therefore won! How do you miss 15 rounders when counting, far be it from me to say the umpires cheated, but how do you miss 15! Anyway it is good to know that the pain I am still feeling in my legs was worth it.
I have made a car decision, well at least for the short term. Having decide to take the cash allowance, I have been looking around because my current car is on a 20k pa PCP, I did 2k business miles last year, and expect to do the same this month, add football and cricket to that and that is a whole lot of miles. So I was thinking about changing to something similar on a higher mileage. But after thinking about it and looking about, there is nothing I really want at the moment, so I will stick with this one for a while, save of my mileage payments and then look again.
Today has been a good rest, and tomorrow will need to be a mix of work and rest. I want to have a crack at the fairy tale competition Lizsara found. I also need to clear my desk so I can work in the cabin. We have risotto with scallops and pancetta for tea tonight, followed by eton mess, with a chilled rose, finished off with some port and a dvd.
Kopparberg Pear – 4.5% - Swedish
A soft taste, with a gentle fizz. Again the pear provides a cleaner taste than the apple, it clears the pallet but has an over sweet taste, like a pear drop. If you like your drinks a bit on the sweet side then is could be for you, otherwise go for the Poire – St Helier Pear Cider.
Rounders Update
I was amazed when we heard the scores were 34-22, I was convinced it was closer than that, and it was. Fortunately one of our team is part of CSI Sandy, a crack team that investigate things like princes’ shooting eagles. She carried out an audit of the scores and found that we had actually scored 37, and therefore won! How do you miss 15 rounders when counting, far be it from me to say the umpires cheated, but how do you miss 15! Anyway it is good to know that the pain I am still feeling in my legs was worth it.
I have made a car decision, well at least for the short term. Having decide to take the cash allowance, I have been looking around because my current car is on a 20k pa PCP, I did 2k business miles last year, and expect to do the same this month, add football and cricket to that and that is a whole lot of miles. So I was thinking about changing to something similar on a higher mileage. But after thinking about it and looking about, there is nothing I really want at the moment, so I will stick with this one for a while, save of my mileage payments and then look again.
Today has been a good rest, and tomorrow will need to be a mix of work and rest. I want to have a crack at the fairy tale competition Lizsara found. I also need to clear my desk so I can work in the cabin. We have risotto with scallops and pancetta for tea tonight, followed by eton mess, with a chilled rose, finished off with some port and a dvd.
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