Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

The Meri: Book One of the Mer Cycle, by NYT bestselling author Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff, is the story of Meredydd-a-Lagan, the only female student at the Academy. A protégé of the Osraed Bevol, she studies to be a Prentice, over the strenuous objections of many who see her very presence as a violation of tradition that will displease the Meri, the conduit between man and god.
Talented, far more talented that any of the other students, Meredydd is determined to become a Prentice, but even more show more so, she is determined to identify the murderers of her parents. As she struggles with these competing goals and contends with the resistance, she discovers something even more important. She is not only talented, but special; special in a way that no one, not even her benefactor Bevol could have suspected.
Bohnhoff is a master wordsmith, creating a believable society with customs that are at the same time, alien and all too familiar. The reader quickly finds himself or herself immersed in Meredydd’s world, seeing through her eyes, and feeling her every triumph and sadness. This is fantasy writing at its best, and well-deserving of five stars. show less

Set shortly before the original movie, it's about Dash Rendar, a mercenary who I guess was significant in Shadows of the Empire, but as I last read that back when it came out in 1997, I can't say I really remember him. Dash is hired to be a bodyguard to a holostar whose been experiencing a number of threats on her life; along the way, Han Solo manages to insert himself into the narrative as well.

At this point, fun standalones are what I want out of the EU, but this one didn't hit the mark show more for me. Too fast, too many complications that ultimately got ridiculous, too little emphasis on character. I think there was probably an interesting story to be told about Dash's state of mind, his reluctance to join up with a group like the Rebellion and so on, his dealing with the trauma of his past, but the novel doesn't really go into that in a meaningful way. It's kind of just there when it ought to be the crux of the story, I think.

Also I am no longer a continuity nut as I once was, but seemingly everyone in the galaxy knowing Prince Xizor was the leader of Black Sun is a pretty big inconsistency with what is literally the only other book to feature Dash and Xizor. So though I appreciate this book was allowed to exist, it's much more of a miss than a hit. show less

I know next to nothing about baseball. I saw one baseball game in my entire life, and this was many years ago, when friends from work took me to see the Red Sox play at Fenway Park. I remember sitting in the 600 Club (later renamed, so I understand) with an American on either side of me trying to explain what was happening on the ballpark. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why so little was happening and yet the numbers on the board kept changing. At one point, a guy sitting in show more front of me turned around and asked if this was my first baseball game. I said yes, and he said “well, you got the best seats for your first game!”. Needless to say, I was not impressed.

Passyunk My baseball history is relevant to the review of this book, because it took me three tries to get past the first few pages. Baseball lore and lingo are like Chinese to me (actually, I probably know Chinese better than baseball). But I’m glad I eventually got past the first pages, as this turned out to be a lovely book to read. What helped me through was the fact that the other main theme accompanying the story, other than baseball, is, for lack of a better word, Jewishness. That, I can relate to.

Ganny is a teenager who loves baseball. His grandmother is Jewish, but his mother married a Catholic (and converted). So he attends church on Sundays, but takes his grandmother to the synagogue – in what feels like an almost natural reality for a mixed-marriage boy growing up in Philadelphia in the 1950s. He has a special relationship with his grandmother, who seems to understand him better than anyone else, especially when things turn a little magical and irrational in his life.

Yes, this is a book also about magic. Magic that, naturally, involves baseball; Ganny is able to (almost) watch legendary baseball games from the past with the aid of an old man whom everyone (except his grandmother, of course) thinks is a total meshuggeh. But the real magic begins when Ganny starts searching for his princess, together with his brother and his best friend. During his quest, he breaks a butcher’s window with his baseball, and when he retrieves the ball he also finds a cockroach (look at the book’s cover). From here on, the story takes on an almost surreal nature, but one that draws the reader in ever more deeply.

A cockroach is not the most obvious creature one associates with a love story. And yet Bohnhoff is able to take this insect and turn it into something lovable, something the reader can identify with as an object of desire and love. (Which reminds me of Donald Harrington’s “The Cockroaches of Stay More”, a great book). She weaves a story of a boy’s dream and his quest to make that dream true, and does so in a way that is both sad and humourous. The description of the buildup to the triple wedding and the wedding event itself, made me laugh out loud a couple of times.

I don’t want to give too much of the story away. I felt myself yearning for Ganny to finally find his princess, especially after realising who the princess was and how she manifested herself to Ganny. Despite the difficult beginning (for me), this is a well-written story that might bring both tears and smiles to those who read it. show less

Faith is at the heart of Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff's new novel ,*A Princess of Passyunk* - faith in your heart ("Dos hartz hot mir gezogt. My heart told me."); faith in your senses, your instincts, your family, your heritage, your elders; and faith in the magic of the everyday.

"Marija can be patient because she has faith. And because she is faithful. Ask yourself—do you have faith?"

I'm reluctant to go into much detail, as much of what I want to say would spoil the experience of this truly show more magnificent book.

When I started to read *A Princess of Passyunk* I was feeling a little rebellious about *having* to write a review. Despite the fact I eagerly signed up for LT's Early Reviewers program, it suddenly felt a lot like homework.

The first few chapters were slow going for me as I worked to get my bearings.

Initially, I dismissed the book – outwardly, it seemed like it was just about baseball and Jewishness – neither of which I was really in the mood for. Then the magic of Bohnhoff's writing grabbed me (as well as her rich tapestry of story and theme), and wouldn't let me go.

This woman can write.

"A nut-brown cockroach of a size much smaller than Nick had indicated sallied forth into the light. It was tentative at first, then it waxed bolder and came to stand right between Ganny's feet. He blinked. The cockroach did not. He tilted his head. The cockroach waggled its antennae. 'Well,' he said. The cockroach rose up on its rear legs in a way that was becoming eerily familiar. 'Now what?' he asked. The cockroach said nothing."

In the hands of a lesser writer, subject matter such as this would seem corny, overwritten, silly; but not in the deft hands of Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff. I was completely captivated – at once right there in that moment with that cockroach, but also marveling to myself at her writing – magic realism at its absolute best.

One of my favorite short stories is 'A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings' by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Over the years I have tried to replicate the emotional experience of reading this story, and have been unsuccessful. Truly successful magic realism seamlessly blends the pragmatic reality of the everyday with the absurd impossibility of the fantastical and, I find, it is rarely done right.

Bohnhoff gets it completely right in *A Princess of Passyunk*.

I recommend this book for anyone who loves fairy tales, magic realism, or just damn good storytelling. show less