Intarra

LitStack Review: The Last Mortal Bond by Brian Staveley

The Last Mortal Bond Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, Book 3 Brian Staveley Tor Books Release Date: March 15, 2016 ISBN 978-0-7653-3642-2 With The Last Mortal Bond, author Brian Staveley closes the story of Adare, Kaden and Valyn, the three offspring of Sanlitun Malkeenian, former Emperor of the Annurian Empire. […]

LitStack Review: The Providence of Fire by Brian Staveley

The Providence of Fire Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, Book II Brian Staveley Tor Books Release Date: December 8, 2015 ISBN 978-0-7653-3641-5 Brian Staveley seems like such a nice young man. Former teacher, editor at a small press specializing in poetry, he lives in Vermont and “divides his time between […]

Birthdays

On this day, June 11, in 1572, Ben Jonson was born in Westminster, London, England. A towering figure in English (and therefore Western) literature, especially during the Renaissance and Restoration, he is considered second only to William Shakespeare (whom he knew) in his importance to British drama. Indeed, known for his intellect and cultured satire found in both his plays and his poetry, he was more widely known and better received than Shakespeare, and enjoyed the patronage of King James VI and I. The man who has been called the first poet laureate continued to write up until his death in 1637; he was 65.

Birthdays

On this day, December 3, in 1857, Joseph Conrad was born in Berdichev, Imperial Russia (modern
Ukraine, then a part of Poland). While he settled in England and wrote in English, he always considered himself a Pole. Heart of Darkness, one of the most famous of his 20 novels (which explores colonialism and the attitudes regarding what constitutes a barbarian versus civilized society) is considered one of the best English novels of the 20th century, as is his novel Lord Jim, which chronicles a crew’s abandonment of its disabled ship. Conrad died in England in 1924 at age 66.