From The Cold Edge: Spitsbergen – Svalbard. A complete guide around the arctic archipelago [by] Rolf Stange.

Part of Adventure Week
This summer, I’ve had the wonderful experience of visiting Svalbard. I did it the easy way, by cruise ship, and spent three days on the gulf-stream warmed West side of Spitsbergen, the largest island, getting the merest taste of this starkly beautiful place. I visited two towns, Longyearbyen, the seething [...]

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Just a Little Run Around the World ~ by Rosie Swale Pope

Before  I start this review, I should mention that Rosie is a friend, and for five years I watched her progress around the world via her website – with my head in my hands and my heart in my mouth half the time.  This is not, therefore, going to be an entirely unbiased opinion.  Heck [...]

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Romans: Lost and found (Harry Turtledove’s ‘The Misplaced Legion’)

Perhaps, as you read the title, you may be thinking: ‘He’s writing about the Romans again? He must be fascinated by them.’ You’d be correct, and this is what led me to Harry Turtledove’s writing in the first place. I found the book, with a cover including a Roman officer and a Gallic noble clashing [...]

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Flash, aaaaaaah, …

magine, if you will, a muscular, multilingual Lesley Phillips, routing fuzzy wuzzy, Hun and Russian for Queen and Empire, a broad-shouldered chap with a full-sized chest to carry the honours of a grateful nation. Small boys are him in their childish games; grown men are grateful for a grunt of approval; at his glance, ladies [...]

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Robin Hood by Stephen Knight

Part of Adventure Week
One of the first movies I ever saw at the cinema was Walt Disney’s cartoon Robin Hood, where the Merry Men were mostly anthropomorphic foxes(!) dressed in medieval garb. It was one of many modern interpretations of the story that has been around for over 6 centuries.
[...]

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Coming Up on Vulpes Libris

Avast!  (Avast what? *snerk*)
The Foxes are sailing off in search of adventure!  This week’s offerings take us from Sherwood Forest to outer space, with a little run around the world in between.
On Monday, Jackie aims at Stephen Knight’s Robin Hood, which chronicles how the story has changed over the centuries.
On Tuesday, Michael Carley introduces us [...]

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Adaptation week: ‘North and South’ and a torrent of talking.

WARNING: contains MAJOR SPOILERS for both the novel and the 2004 BBC TV dramatisation.
Confession time: I did not have this piece all ready prepared for this week. I’ve been content to watch Adaptation Week unfold with fascination, to see what might be left to say about an adaptation of a loved and [...]

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Jeeves and the Sudden Derailment

Warning:  Strong language, dammit.
I came to Jeeves and Wooster late.  I first discovered Wodehouse in 1993, at the tender age of 13, with Right Ho, Jeeves.  I was smitten.  My school library had a great deal of the books, and I read every one; and when I ran out, I went to the local library [...]

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Adaptation Week: Interview with Helen FitzGerald and Sergio Casci

As a special, and very different offering, as part of Adaptation Week we talk to writer, Helen FitzGerald (novelist), and her husband, Sergio Casci (screenwriter) asking such penetrating questions such as the difference between writing novels and films, what they look for in a good adaptation and why their children have to beg them to [...]

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Adaptation Week: Brokeback Mountain – the choices we make and those we don’t

[*Warning: includes significant spoilers*]
I must admit I was delighted when Vulpes announced they were having a book/film adaptation week and that Brokeback Mountain was one of the subjects on offer. It’s a story I’ve loved for years, along with the whole of Annie Proulx’s original collection (Close Range: Wyoming stories), and I’d been singing its [...]

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