Coronavirus Update From New York City: May 27, 2020

Here is some more positive news from Brendan out of NYC!

Blind Injustice

I hope that everybody had a good Memorial Day weekend!

Everyone in my immediate family remains healthy. That being said, I’m glad that I’m not spending tons of time in public, because at times I get allergies that can cause me to have coughing fits (and coughing fits that can result in people being concerned about me). Employment continues to not be an issue for me, though I am knowing more and more people who are having issues with being furloughed or unemployed.

The situation is continuing to move in the right direction in New York City and New York State.

At the state level, nine of the state’s ten regions are beginning the process of reopening their economies, though I must emphasize that it is a process. There are four phases involved in reopening a region in New York, and these regions are only beginning to enter the first…

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#GeorgeFloyd …. “😕 ‘When a Knee Kills …. More Thoughts, #3 😕 …. “!!

I know many are already familiar with the murder of George Floyd, but Dr. Rex has put together a thoughtful and informative post that I think should be shared. My question is what is it going to take for people of color to be treated equally and with the dignity and respect that white people (speaking for myself here), take for granted?

It Is What It Is

~~May 27, 2020~~

MURDER BY COP

Remember ‘taking a knee”?

Mr. Floyd wasn’t resisting. Police were called for a non-violent crime. He was subdued, he was compliant. He followed orders. Once on the ground, he expressed he couldn’t breathe, he reported chest and neck pain, he asked for help. The public there were also stating that the man was on the ground.

HortyRex©

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The family of George Floyd – who died after pleading that he couldn’t breathe while a police officer held him down with a knee on his neck – say they want the four Minneapolis officers involved charged with murder.

“They were supposed to be there to serve and to protect and I didn’t see a single one of them lift a finger to do anything to help while he was begging for his life. Not one of them tried to do anything to help him,” Tera…

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Angel of the Crows, by Katherine Addison ~ 3.5 Stars

Tags

Adult Fiction, Fantasy, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ, Mystery, Steampunk, Supernatural

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Books for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Release Date: June 23rd, 2020

432 Pages

Synopsis: Katherine Addison, author of The Goblin Emperor, returns with The Angel of the Crows, a fantasy novel of alternate 1880s London, where killers stalk the night and the ultimate power is naming.

This is not the story you think it is. These are not the characters you think they are. This is not the book you are expecting.

In an alternate 1880s London, angels inhabit every public building, and vampires and werewolves walk the streets with human beings in a well-regulated truce. A fantastic utopia, except for a few things: Angels can Fall and that Fall is like a nuclear bomb in both the physical and metaphysical world. And human beings remain human with all their kindness and greed and passions and murderous intent.

Jack the Ripper stalks the streets of this London too. But this London has an Angel. The Angel of the Crows.

Being a Sherlock Holmes fan, I was immediately intrigued by Angel of the Crows which began as fanfic. It’s not bad, but it could have used some more originality.

For the most part, what Katherine Addison has done, is taken some of Arthur Conan Doyle’s stories (A Study in Scarlet, The Adventure of the Copper Beeches, The Hound of the Baskervilles, and The Speckled Band), thrown in the Whitechapel murders by Jack the Ripper in the background, and added fantasy, dystopian, and steampunk elements. The problem is, despite these different themes the characters and stories don’t really divert much from the original source material. Some of the dialogue is even remarkably similar to BBCs Sherlock Holmes series.

For the first half of the book I was also a bit confused much of the time in regards to this alternate London. It took me a while to understand the difference between angels and their roles. I felt as though I had just been dropped and left to make my own way through this murky world.

Despite these issues, I did find much to enjoy in this rather curious tale. I did like Crow (Sherlock), and Doyle (Watson), and as much as I love ACD’s original stories, it must be admitted that some had racist and sexist connotations. Addison deftly removed these without taking anything away from the story. I also liked the addition of Dr. Doyle’s secrets that he’s hiding. They’re creatively done yet perfectly fit in with his personality. The story is also quite fast-paced and I never found myself bored.

Overall, while not perfect, Angel of the Crows is an entertaining journey back to Victorian London with English literature’s most endearing odd couple. I can easily see this being turned into a tv series like Showtime’s Penny Dreadful. For fans of the original Sherlock series, think of this as a nice reread with some interesting fantastical additions. If you’re not familiar with the four stories I mentioned, you may actually enjoy this even more.