Fact and Fiction Books (#SFWApro)

THE IRREGULARS: Roald Dahl the And the British Spy Ring in Wartime Washington by Jennet Conant uses the young Dahl (yes, the author of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, James and the Giant Peach and so on) as the hook for a history of the British WW II spy network that kept tabs on what the movers, shakers and influence peddlers in DC thought of Great Britain, how likely they were to support joining the Allied side in Europe (as opposed to staying neutral) and publishing propaganda to change their minds. As an injured RAF pilot, Dahl hung out at society parties, picked up gossip and charmed his way into multiple bedrooms (including Congresswoman Clare Booth Luce). This doesn’t work as well as Conant’s 109 East Palace (about the Manhattan Project and Los Alamos) because nobody here is quite as colorful as Robert Oppenheimer or Richard Feynman (though Ian Fleming was one of the British spies) and the nature of Dahl’s mission makes this feel at times like an old-time gossip column. That said, it does convince me wartime Washington would be a great place to set a historical fantasy (I have something in mind). After all, sex sells. 🙂
I mentioned WIDOW’S WEB: An Elemental Assassin Novel by Jennifer Estep last month in another post. The book has the retired-assassin/mage protagonist (now running a barbecue restaurant in a corrupt Southern town) discover her boyfriend’s equally magical ex-lover has returned, with plans to take over the city’s underworld and get the boyfriend back to boot. I found this one amiably okay (if you’re a hard-core urban fantasy fan, you might like it better), not as good as several other urban fantasy series but not really bad. Part of the problem is that there’s a lot of backstory getting info dumped, which deadens the pace. And I have an automatic dislike of female villains who are so evil they Cry Rape and get good guys in trouble.
As part of my research for rewriting Southern Discomforts I reread AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FAIRIES: Hobgoblins, Brownies, Bogies and Other Supernatural Creatures by the late folklorist Katharine Briggs. Unlike some of her more scholarly books, this is much more for the non-folklore specialist, giving descriptions of Britain’s fairy population such as knockers, hobs, cluricanes, skrikers, kelpies, merrows, redcaps and brownies. Other entries give capsule bios of some of Britain’s prominent folkloriests and a look at various folklore themes such as fairy theft, virtues valued by fairies and defenses against fairies. Needless to say, very useful research, but it’s a terrific read in its own right.
THE VANISHING PEOPLE: Fairy Lore and Legends was another Briggs work, focusing more on themes (fairy ethics, fairy sports and entertainment, powers of fairies) and taking a more European approach, with a number of stories from the continent. Good to reread but not in the same league as her Encyclopedia.