The Catholic Book Club discussion

1. Use this for thoughts and comments that don't fit one of the other questions, or that come to you as reading, along the way.

If youtube let me i will start to read this monday with "The count of Chantelaine" and the biography of Ana María Martínez Sagi "Right to dream" by Juan Manuel de Prada.

If the users who participate in the discussion let me tell an anecdote i will say that i urge to the author to write a literary fantasy saga and he had written this. In my case i am going to re read these books. The first time my favorite was the second book and second part of the last book we will see in this rereading.

Fonch wrote: "If the users who participate in the discussion let me tell an anecdote, I will say that I urged the author to write a literary fantasy saga, and he told me he had written this."

In fact, I wrote these five books between 1980 and 1986. So when Fonch made his suggestion in 2015, my books were over 30 years old!

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "If the users who participate in the discussion let me tell an anecdote, I will say that I urged the author to write a literary fantasy saga, and he told me he had written this."

In f..."

Yes but i did not know it ;-). I knew the Professor for his historical novels and for an essay of christian religion and fantasy :-). Generally when i recomend a book is because i have read previously or it is because has an interesting plot or because i am desiring to read this author because they have spoken really good about him.

The Professor has another novel of fantasy called "Ennia in Faerie" but this saga liked me much more and it was that i expected of him.

Fonch wrote: "The Professor has another novel of fantasy called "Ennia in Faerie" but this saga liked me much more and it was that i expected of him."

My novel about the search of the Saint Grail (La Aventura de Sir Karel de Nortumbria) can also be considered fantasy.

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "The Professor has another novel of fantasy called "Ennia in Faerie" but this saga liked me much more and it was that i expected of him."

My novel about the search of the Saint Grail ..."
This novel you should share in the discussion of "The Average Man" when we start to discuss about Perceval and the alternative stories of the Grail. Besides although it is not fantasy is Arthur in "The Mistery of the Egyptian Vulture Country House" this character was born of our discussions about the Arthurian Myths.

Due to my occupations (on Friday a very dear friend came to Valladolid to visit me with her partner and collaborated with her on a Real Madrid Youtube channel called Tío Alberto Realm. Professor Manuel Alfonseca made a video for this channel talking about extra-football topics) and, as I am reading "El derecho a soñar: Vida y obra de Ana María Martínez Sagi" by Juan Manuel de Prada (who is coming to present his new novel in Valladolid on June 18) I have not been able to read as much as I would like of the "The Journey of Tivo the Dauntless: Book One in the Chronicles of the Magic Jigsaw Puzzle", but I have reread the first chapter and, I liked it as much as when I read it. It has a George MacDonald touch and you can guess that the world of Magic Jigsaw is fascinating. I loved how were the other pieces lost?

Finally he had the presentation of the latest novel by DonJuan Manuel de Prada and I also finished "El derecho a soñar: Vida y obra de Ana María Martínez Sagi" so I will finally be able to reread the entire saga of "Magic Jigsaw" and I will leave comments that improve our discussion of the books. I failed in the great achievement I had proposed, but Juan Manuel de Prada gave a magnificent lecture, signed a copy for me, treated me very well, and asked me about Professor Manuel Alfonseca and, in addition, I was able to tell him about some writers who were friends of mine.

I'm not going to utter the Shakespearean William Shakespeare quote from "Richard III" but I would have liked so much to have a map of the world of Magic Jigsaw.

Fonch wrote: "I'm not going to utter the Shakespearean William Shakespeare quote from "Richard III" but I would have liked so much to have a map of the world of Magic Jigsaw."

The map of the main continent is in books 1 and 2. The map of one half of the world is in book 3. The map of the arctic regions is in book 4. The map of the whole world is in book 5. Every book has a map.

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "I'm not going to utter the Shakespearean William Shakespeare quote from "Richard III" but I would have liked so much to have a map of the world of Magic Jigs..."

He just found it on page 15. Thank you so much. This Aquamarine Princess illness reminds me of two things: Irene's father's illness in the sequel to George MacDonald's "The Princess and the Goblin." That is to say "The Princess and Curdie" and it also reminds me of the disease of the Whealing Death from the video game Neverwinter Nights, which sadly became relevant when Covid appeared in our lives. Here is the excuse for Tivo to have his adventure.

From the first chapter what I like the most are Larsin's etymological knowledge of the History of Magic Jigsaw´s world, and that he tells how the different pieces of the magical puzzle were lost. The romantic halo that surrounds King Duva makes him a fascinating figure, and very interesting. The cult of King Lupro's heirs is really fascinating and reminds me of other D&D games I played in my youth.

I don't know why, but just because of the name I wouldn't trust a servant named Lamia 😨.

The wildlifeof the forest reminds me of the one in the novels of Edgar Rice Burroughs that the Professor likes so much. By the way, the Professor is a great connoisseur of Edgar Rice Burroughs, especially of the Tarzan saga and of the space saga in Baarsom, Amtor and the saga of Pellucidar in the center of the Earth.

Fonch wrote: "Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "If the users who participate in the discussion let me tell an anecdote, I will say that I urged the author to write a literary fantasy saga, and he told me he had writt..."
Added to wish list.

This tension and struggle of the sexes between Tivo and Elavel (without falling into the current crude hembrism) reminds me of the taunts that Eustace and Jill threw at each other inC.S. Lewis' novel "The Magician’s Nephew". By the way, there is a writer of whom I have heard well, and whom I would like to read Paul McCusker Taking advantage of the fact that his name has appeared in the hyperlinks of Goodreads

Fonch wrote: "This tension and struggle of the sexes between Tivo and Elavel (without falling into the current crude hembrism) reminds me of the taunts that Eustace and Jill threw at each other in C.S. Lewis..."

I suppose you mean The Silver Chair. Eustace and Jill don't appear in The Magician’s Nephew

Sorry i want to say Lady Polly and Diggory. Sorry for the mistake.

I have already finished the first book and I am about to read the second "The Mystery of the Black Lake". I will write a review of the first book soon.

When I read the book "Tivo the dauntless" for the first time and, then the sequel. I didn't understand why the old man who appears in the cave helps them. The Professor told me that it was so that they could find the piece of the Magic Jigsaw and, that at that time it was a resource. Perhaps now I realize that even in the most wicked people they have some luminous trait produced by divine grace, and that total wickedness is rare, there is always some, however small, some noble gesture.

Fonch wrote: "When I read the book "Tivo the dauntless" for the first time and, then the sequel. I didn't understand why the old man who appears in the cave helps them."

There is another interpretation: The old man was afraid when he knew that they were trying to find a piece of the jigsaw puzzle, because he had one, and therefore sent then away in search of another one, which he knew about, as far as possible.

The biblical passage would have said "mercy I want not sacrifices" The fate that the people of the steppes had in store for the protagonists reminded me of one of the most disturbing passages in the Bible when King Manasseh who according to tradition made the Prophet Isaiah saw, but it is also said that he passed his son through the fire. Which reminds me of the cruel human sacrifices practiced by the Carthaginians in the novel "Salammbo" by Gustave Flaubert and, connects with Gene Wolfe 's novels his Latro trilogy of what the world was like before Christ manifested himself to the world and, Severian's saga shows us what the world would have been like if Jesus Christ had not manifested himself. As my friends Pablo Ginés Rodríguez and Professor Alejandro Rodríguez de la Peña Manuel Alejandro Rodríguez de la Peña maintain in their book "Imperios de crueldad: La Antigüedad clásica y la inhumanidad (Nuevo Ensayo nº 99)".

Kial's physical appearance reminds me a bit of the characters that my friend Ana M. Luján the writer created a few years ago in her wonderful novel " Bajo tus alas"

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "When I read the book "Tivo the dauntless" for the first time and, then the sequel. I didn't understand why the old man who appears in the cave helps them."

There is another interpret..."

Good reply. I will write the question of the old man in the ask to the author.

I apologize to the author, but I would have changed the ending, but I think it would have been unfair to Aquamarine. As the author knows, as does Mark Strudock in "That Hideous Strength" "I am an incurable romantic" 😊

Fonch wrote: "I apologize to the author, but I would have changed the ending, but I think it would have been unfair to Aquamarine. As the author knows, as does Mark Strudock in "[book:That Hideous Strength|10093..."

Yes, I know, many of my readers (starting by the reader of the Publisher) expected a romance between Tivo and Elavel in the first book. But doing it the other way was the author's privilege :-), and by doing so, I wanted to say something else to the reader.

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "I apologize to the author, but I would have changed the ending, but I think it would have been unfair to Aquamarine. As the author knows, as does Mark Strudock in "[book:That Hideous ..."

When Valaz tries to kidnap Elavel, he more or less goes so far as to insinuate that there may have been a loving feeling between the characters, when he says that he doesn't care about you or, something like that. But, of course, he is the bad guy and his testimony does not deserve much confidence in me, if any. Although I understand it it saddens me, but I suppose it would have been a chore for Aquamarine to be replaced by her sister while she was in a coma.

I don't know if I told the author in our epistolary conversations, but I've always liked dwarfs very much. My friend Kunniotani (it's a pseudonym so as not to reveal his real name because there are many people with bad intentions on the net) a classmate from La Salle School always took them and, I think I learned to love them thanks to him. He told me that they had the most human defect which was that of greed, or greed. Although dwarves already appeared in Norse mythology and, although Tolkien said that they were not related to Moria or Abraham. Author Diego Blanco Albarova thinks they may have links with Jews. In some games, such as those in the Dragon Age saga, they are able to build goals, which reinforces Diego Blanco Albarova's idea.

Fonch wrote: "When Valaz tries to kidnap Elavel, he more or less goes so far as to insinuate that there may have been a loving feeling between the characters, when he says that he doesn't care about you or, something like that."

In fact, what he's saying is this: "If you care about him, take into account that he doesn't care about you." So he is correctly anticipating the end. Which does not mean that Elavel cared about Tivo in a romantic sense.

Manuel wrote: "Fonch wrote: "When Valaz tries to kidnap Elavel, he more or less goes so far as to insinuate that there may have been a loving feeling between the characters, when he says that he doesn't care abou..."

Interesting.

Hello, I'm already in the fourth book. I loved the end of the second book with a touch that reminded me a bit of "Orlando Furioso" by Ludovico Ariosto. I'm thinking about whether to raise the grade to "The Silver Swan".

The pirates of Ji Lar have reminded me a lot of Asian pirates such as Sandokan, Limahon, or Tayfusa to name a few cases of famous Asian pirates of fiction, and non-fiction.

As for the fourth book, I asked a question about orogenesis and a possible mini-glaciation. There is recent research that considers that the battle of Empel and the rise in sea level during the attempt to expel Queen Elizabeth I from England could have been due to a drop in temperatures. He dropped it in case the comment has any kind of fortune.

I remember that the fourth book, which I liked very much, what I liked the most was the cosmopolitanism, and the setting of it. Reminding me of authors like Jack London, and one of my grandfather's favorite writers. Canadian James Oliver Curwood. He liked the novels of the latter author so much that always fearful of the outbreak of a third world war he was thinking of emigrating to Canada or Bolivia (like Butch Cassidy, and Sundance Kid). My family has always told me that I have gone out to my grandfather and that I behave as if it were a second edition of it. From the fourth book it seems to me one of the most interesting and original of this pentalogy. Although I liked the second and second part of the last book better.

I would have loved to know how the two pieces of the Magic Jigsaw got to Tiva, but unfortunately I'll be left wanting. But I am sure that they were feats worthy of being sung by the best of bards. In any case, if they worked, it means that those who found them did not become pieces of Magic Jigsaw. I haven't commented on it, but it's all very Pascalian Blaise Pascal in the sense that to win you have to lose everything for the greater good. It is the parable of the pearl, or the Kingdom of Heaven, which is the true treasure and reward to which we all aspire.

I'm already in the last book of the "The Lost Continent", the part that interested me the most in this book was the second one, which is almost the best of the pentalogy. On the other hand, when I read it for the first time I did not empathize with the protagonists of the first part. At the moment she has a touch ofAntoine de Saint-Exupéry and is the closest to Edgar Rice Burroughs. The first part is pure adventure and the second is about a subject that my admired Juan Manuel de Prada has initiated with me. It is tremendously transcendent.

There were a lot of jokes when I first read this series about whether Sitaladi would be one of the Magic Jigsaw pieces, and I personally was glad it wasn't. I would have been very upset if by such a selfish and capricious desire she had become one of the pieces of Magic Jigsaw.

I really liked how the author reunites all the characters of the saga at the end. He showed great skill.

The ending reminded me a lot of the novel "The Clowns of God" by Morris L. West . The threat is the same. What happens is that what West does is ask Jesus to delay nuclear war, which in that novel would be the antichrist. This saga is a child of its time when it was the Cold War in the 80s (when we were closest to the nuclear holocaust was with the Cuban missile crisis in the 60s) and, Andropov, a few years before this saga was written, was about to declare it. Now with wars in Ukraine, in Israel and with China threatening Taiwan, we are not much better off than in the 80s of the last century. What Francis Fukuyama told at the The End of History and the Last Man was far from being fulfilled.

Once I have read this saga I confess that I liked it even more than when I read it for the first time. Maybe the first book left me a little colder, but the second one I loved the final part. The third one improved and, the fourth one I liked much more than when I read it, and the fifth part the first part I liked more and, Kial's Return I felt like I was moved to see all the characters again. Which shows that the author has achieved his main objective, which is that we empathize with the characters of the book and that we will end up liking them. On this question you can see in the section of favorite characters. In short, it is an extraordinary saga that deserves greater recognition than the one it has and, apologize to the author if he has been excessively heavy when asking him some questions, but they were made so that people would feel attracted to the saga and be encouraged to read it. PD. When possible, an attempt will be made to publish the review of the five books as promised to the author.

I have finally fulfilled my promise and I have written all the reviews of the five books that make up this pentalogy. I share it with you in case some of you dare to give this saga a chance. Now I'm about to post the reviews of the novels I read to my friend Jaime Blanch Queral (so as not to confuse him with the actor).
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

The last one by the way has been one of the reviews that I liked to write the most.