This is why we write books

Review by: Australwind on June 24, 2012 :     
I received The Traveler's Companion as a LibraryThing Member's Giveaway and it finally gave me some hope for the future of writing and self publishing! This was definitely the sort of complexity and depth I was looking for - a book that would have stood tall amongst its fellows on the shelf in a library or bookshop.

Each of the main characters was well developed, including the clone/robot Angela, to a level where you are invited to like or hate, trust or fear, engage with their internal struggles as they are played out on the page.

The science of this science fiction seemed well researched and presented in a manner that was not too complex nor distancing of the reader. I found the underlying theme of the power of love, grief and loss as untapped sources of human creativity within this "world" to be quite resonant especially given I am an artist. The concept that this power could be harnessed to replicate our world including those we love in another Zone is not too great a reach from the bounds of possibility and this therefore made the story a whole lot more accessible.

Nice work, Mr Chater.

Glossary of Regency Period Terms and Idioms

Since I've been proofing and publishing my grandma's historical novels, I've come across a lot of idioms and words I don't know. Here's a short list to help out those who may be running into the same problem. I'll post more as I go.

The Regency period was between 1811 and 1820, though many of these words were used throughout the 1800s. 

   

Glossary of Regency Terms and Idioms:

“Children born on the wrong side of the blanket”: An illegitimate child.

“Queer as Dick's hatband": Perverse, absurd, peculiar.

“Shoot the cat”: To vomit.

“Shot in the neck”: Drunk.

Banns: The banns of marriage. The public announcement in a Christian parish church of an impending marriage between two specified persons.

Bluestocking: An educated, intellectual woman.

Billet-doux (French): A love letter.

Brangle: A noisy contest or dispute, squabble.

By-blow: an illegitimate child.

Cant: Jargon or argot of a group.

Chit: A child.

Cicisbeo: Lover, Gallant, or cavalier servant of a married woman.

Cony: a fool or dupe.

Cur: An ill-natured mixed-breed dog, mutt. Mean cowardly or unpleasant.

Fribble: To waste time.

Gapeseed: a person who stares idly or in idle wonderment instead of tending to business.

Le Beau Monde: Fashionable society.

Looby: Awkward clumsy man.

Orgeat: A sugary syrup drink made from barley.

Popinjay: Someone given to pretentious displays.

Rakehell: A heartless womanizer.

Terradiddle: Pretentious nonsense.

My sources were the Encarta Dictionary and Wikipedia.