Krampus: The Yule Lord by Brom

Title: Krampus: The Yule Lord
Author: Brom
Publication Date: October 30, 2012
Length: 357 pages

Krampus is a creature from Germanic folklore. He's often compared to Santa Claus, but is actually much older. Unlike Santa, who is known more for rewarding good children, Krampus came at Yule to punish bad children. In Krampus: The Yule Lord, the author takes this basis in folklore and builds on it to create a fascinating character and story.

Krampus is the Yule Lord, and he visits houses during Yule, leaving gold coins for children who leave him tribute, and beating children who don't. He is adored by all. That is until Santa Claus takes over, imprisoning Krampus in a cave, and perverting the traditions of Yule with his Christian influence. Hundreds of years later, with the help of his Belsnickels, it's time for him to escape and take his revenge.

This was a great holiday read. I loved the different take on Santa and Krampus, with Krampus actually being a pretty good guy, and Santa being sort of ambiguous. I also liked Jesse, a guy with problems of his own who gets swept up into the conflict when Santa's sack falls into his trailer. Throughout the story, he's just trying to protect his daughter, but he also comes to care about Krampus (yet also feels weird about setting out to kill Santa Claus).

The art is another thing to love about this book. The author, Brom, is also an artist, and there are some amazing illustrations of the characters. I particularly like his depiction of Santa, looking way more badass than any Santa I've ever seen. You can see that image, and some of the other characters, on Brom's website. Check it out!

I definitely recommend this to anyone looking for a holiday read that's a bit more on the Pagan side.

4 stars.

This book counts for the Christmas Spirit Reading Challenge.

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley

Title: The Mists of Avalon
Author: Marion Zimmer Bradley
Publication Date: 1984
Length: 876 pages

Warning: This book brings out the politics in me, so this review might offend you! Turn back now if you are easily offended by Pagans who are fed up with religious intolerance. :) (No offense is meant towards other religions.)

The Mists of Avalon is a retelling of the King Arthur story, told from the perspectives of the women involved. As a result, it's very different from any other Arthurian legend. There are pretty much no battle scenes, and Morgan is a wise high priestess, rather than an evil sorceress. Morgan's story ties the book together, as it follows many people's lives and stories, starting when Morgan is just 3 years old and covering most of her life. In this story, we see the events of many decades unfold through the eyes of many women, with wildly different motivations, resulting in an interesting mix of perspectives.

Right from the beginning, I found myself thinking, I had no idea this book was so Pagan! And so feminist! How have I not read this book before?! It's a real breath of fresh air for those of us who weren't particularly fond of the other versions of the Arthurian legend, in which the good guys are not the Pagans, and the women (at least those with power) are generally evil. Obviously, everyone has a bias when reading something with two opposing sides of this nature, and I don't know how this book would read for a Christian (certainly there are Christian women, particularly Gwenhwyfar, adding their perspective to the narrative), but when I was reading it, it was very clear that the Christians were in the wrong. The priests came to a land which had previously held people of various religions (who sometimes fought but did not try to destroy each other's religions), and insisted that their religion was the only true one, and everyone else was worshipping devils. The intolerance the Christian characters display throughout the story had me gritting my teeth. I guess it hit a little too close to home for comfort. For me, that made it a very powerful read.

One thing I did not expect in this story was how much I would hate Gwenhwyfar. In the beginning I didn't mind her, but as she grows older, she seems to become more and more foolish. There would be moments when she and Morgaine would be like friends, but Gwenhwyfar's piousness would always result in her condemning Morgaine, Merlin, and all of Avalon. She was positively infuriating. Someone would point out an obvious similarity between her religion and that of Avalon, and she's be like, that's completely different, because my God is actually REAL. *siiiiiiigh*

As you might expect from an Arthurian tale, the book does not wrap up with a nice, happy ending. I sort of understood that it couldn't, while remaining at all true to the story, but it was still painful. However, there was enough good in the final ending (seriously, this book has more "endings" than The Return of the King) that I still felt overwhelming positive about the book when I finished.

Hence, 5 stars.

This book counts towards the Read Your OWN Library! Challenge (hosted by The Beauty of Eclecticism) for July. For August, my book for the challenge will be The Encounter (Animorphs #3) by K.A. Applegate. This book also counts for the Mount TBR Reading Challenge.

The Grimoire Chronicles: Veil Between Worlds by Sally Dubats

Title: The Grimoire Chronicles: Veil Between Worlds
Author: Sally Dubats
Publication Date: July 9, 2011
Length: 259 pages

Note: I'm hosting a giveaway of this book here, running from Jan. 8 to Jan. 15, 2012! Enter to win one of 5 copies of the e-book!

The Grimoire Chronicles: Veil Between Worlds is the first book in what will be a series of 8, each of which will focus on a different sabbat (the holidays that Wiccans and other Pagans celebrate). This one takes place at Samhain, ie. Hallowe'en. The main character, Cassie, is a Wiccan, who uses her witchcraft to find out why she's missing part of her memory, and how that's connected to the mysterious and attractive Trenton.

I was really excited when I heard about this book, because books with Pagan characters are unfortunately few and far between. I was not disappointed. Sally Dubats weaves a wonderful fantasy story, while incorporating aspects of real-world Wicca in a way that makes sense even to those of us who don't know a whole lot about Wicca.

Sometimes Cassie frustrated me with the things she did, but over the course of the story you really see her grow as a person. I liked how characters that were initially introduced as people that Cassie didn't really like turned out to have more to them than meets the eye, and became important parts of the story, with Cassie gradually realising that she had misjudged them.

As for the plot, it really kept me guessing! I don't think there was a single time while reading this book when I thought "Oh, I saw that coming!". Trenton and his family are so mysterious, and I was constantly wondering what would happen next. It is definitely a page turner! I'm looking forward to the next book in the series.

This book counts for the 2012 A-Z Book Challenge and the Mount TBR Reading Challenge (just barely; I bought it on Dec. 28!).

The Winter Solstice by John Matthews

Title: The Winter Solstice: The Sacred Traditions of Christmas
Author: John Matthews
Publication Date: 1998
Length: 241 pages

The Winter Solstice is a non-fiction book that examines the major traditions and symbols associated with the Winter Solstice and Christmas, and goes into great detail about their history and meaning. Major topics include Santa Claus, the evergreen tree, and the Child of Wonder (ie. Jesus, Mithras, the Sun).

I'm very picky about non-fiction, as it easily gets too long and dry for my liking, but this book passed the test. It's broken up into short, easily digestable sections, with lots of pictures, and I felt like it didn't have a lot of filler, even though it's pretty long.

I think this book is especially good for people who celebrate both the Solstice and Christmas due to upbringing, family compromises, etc. It really shows you how similar the two holidays are, since Christmas essentially developed from the Winter Solstice celebrations. I also think it's great for people who are celebrating on their own or just with their own families, who don't have a large community to practice their traditions with. The book really left me with the feeling that I am perfectly capable of celebrating the passing of the seasons with just what I have in my own home.

Overall, I recommend this to anyone who celebrates the Winter Solstice, as well as to anyone who celebrates Christmas and wants to know more about its history (though that depends on your taste, as there are probably more Christian-aimed books that do this).

The Return of the Light by Carolyn McVickar Edwards

Title: The Return of the Light: Twelve Tales from Around the World for the Winter Solstice
Author: Carolyn McVickar Edwards
Publication Date: 2000
Length: 172 pages (paperback)

The Return of the Light is a collection of stories, most of them involving someone stealing the Sun, and then other characters getting it back. The idea behind these stories is that at the Winter Solstice, the Sun has moved away as far as it's going to, and appears to stay far away, sitting still, causing people to worry that it might not come back.

I normally don't like book introductions very much, for whatever reason. But the introduction to this book really made the book, in my opinion. It describes how ancient people saw the Winter Solstice. Reading it, I could easily imagine living in a time when such an event could be a cause for worry. The Sun has been moving away, and now is sitting still, and the people have to convince it to come back. That's where traditions like the Yule log come from: the log burns, showing the Sun how it's done and convincing it to come back and be bright and hot again. This was a really interesting topic to read about.

As for the stories themselves, I enjoyed them, but I tend to find stories like that kind of repetitive. Which sort of makes sense, since it's basically the same event being explained by different groups of people from around the world. So the interesting thing about them is how similar they are. So I guess I just shouldn't have read them all in a row (the same problem I had when I read The Complete Grimm's Fairy Tales).

So overall, I still recommend this book. The introduction is great, and the stories are nice to dip into when you just want to read one short story. They'd be good for reading to kids around the Solstice time, teaching them about the origins of the holiday.