Talking to Ghosts – Hammer of Light

Finally, the journey continues with the next story arc of Thorgar Ironfist, as he is up to free the town of Bremen. This seond track is part of the stories on Ten Towns, where his companions and he are traveling to fight the forces of shadow in ten towns.

Ten heroes, ten towns, and each of them having their troubles and losses and wins. I#M honored to be a part of this journey with Thorgar and the Bremen-track Hammer of Light.

Find this (and some more) over on soundcloud.

Talking to Ghosts – Ironfist

Talking to Ghosts - Ironfist (Single cover art)

Hey, it’s been a while. Sorry to be so silent, as there was no lack of news. Well, today I am happy to announce a single of mine to be released right on this day, October 6th. It got published with Legacy of Thought, the fine online-label of my choice for ambient and electronic music. The track itself is part of a series of releases featuring imagined characters from the Forgotten Realms. This one is named Thorgar Ironfist, a cleric dwarf that later in life joined a party to fight against the darkness. This track is his origin story.

Thorgar Ironfist was born and raised in the dwarven city of Ironmaster, located in the eastern region of Faerun. He was the son of a well-respected blacksmith, and as such, Thorgar grew up around the forge, learning the ins and outs of crafting and working with metal. Despite his father’s wishes for him to take over the family business, Thorgar was always drawn to the ways of Moradin, the dwarven god of creation and patron of artisans and craftsmen. Thorgar spent many hours in the city’s temple, learning about the ways of the gods and developing his skills as a cleric. One day, Thorgar set out on a journey to spread the teachings of Moradin and to seek out new opportunities to craft and create.

From the scrolls of Forgotten Realms

Listen to this track on Soundcloud

Talking to Ghosts – Over the Ob @ Trans-Siberian Express

Trans-Siberian Express CoverWhile I am a bit lazy with reading books, joining the Legacy of Thought community helped me composing music on a quite regular basis. From what I learned, it’s important to do things often to get better. So here comes my third contribution to a compilation. Trans-Siberian Express obviously is about that famous railway route from Moscow to Vladivostok. Each track features a place on that route. Mine is the entry to Novosibirsk, where one has to cross the bridge Over the Ob.

The music is more on the chill-out side. And it also features some vocals provided by a close friend of mine, Natalie. And the video is special as well, as it features photos and videos of another friend, Gerald, who took a ride on the express recently from Moscow up to Novosibirsk. Very fitting. You will find the video at Youtube. As well as links to where to get hold of it or add it to your Spotify stream.

Talking to Ghosts – Orogeny @ Future of the Earth

And here comes my second publication as Talking to Ghosts. It’s the latest compilation named Future of the Earth, again via Legacy of Thought. As before, you can find a video on the track at my Youtube channel. The track and the complete album is available via iTunes and Spotify.

Talking to Ghosts – Nankyokusei @ Seven Lucky Gods

So I finally made it to an official publication. Under the moniker Talking to Ghosts, a first track made it onto the compilation Seven Lucky Gods published via Legacy of Thought. And it really seams to give good luck, as the track already made it to a live bi-weekly streaming show, Some Good Music Vibes. And I am so happy that it was well received by the hosts and listeners. Well, I can only hope that this is the start of a new journey.

You can find out more about the album at LoT’s Youtube channel. For my contribution, I also created a video available on my artist channel at Youtube.

Michael Connelly – The Black Ice (Harry Bosch #2)

I am really slow in catching up on Harry Bosch. While the tv shows I enjoyed as soon as they were out, following up on books gets harder (not only with Harry). So this is the second book on him by Michael Connelly, actually published in the past millenium. And while I was already a grown up in those days, it still feels strange, missing all the modern technology like, e.g., mobile phones. So they relied on pagers in the books instead. People where harder to reach and callers even easer to ignore. Well, I am drifting off.

“The Black Ice” refers to some highly addictive and dangerous (fictional) drug invented by Mexicans to outsmart the Hawaiian drug kartell. Bosch finds about it while investigating some murders and especially the death of a detective he earlier contacted for some information. While the upper ranks, like Irving, try to put the events under cover as quick as possible, Bosch, as we know him, “can’t let go” and picks up one stone after the other to reveal the truth behind all the bodies left on the street. In contrast to the tv series, Bosch is mainly on his own in this story (although Jerry Edgar does appear and is of help). He even does a stint to Mexico to solve the crimes in cooperation with the FBI.

I love the pace of Connelly’s novels. Even with the charme of the 1990s it still makes a great crime book, story-wise as well as character-wise. Everyone on the book feels so real that you get the idea of sitting right on Harry’s should riding along. The storyline was great, with a driven Bosch hunting the truth. I got the ending wrong around and quite late by that, so it was a double surprise to me. And I hope to get on with book 3 sooner than in about a year. But the stack of unread is high.

Axel Hollmann – Schlaglicht. Ein Fall für Julia Wagner

Es ist das dritte Buch aus der Julia Wagner Reihe: Schlaglicht. Und wieder jagt die (Möchtegern-)Journalistin ihren Schlagzeilen hinterher. Diesmal der Geschichte eines abgehalfterten Schlagersängers, der nun im Krankenhaus seinem Tod entgegenschlief. Doch dies gerät in den Hintergrund, als sich ein Mörder auf der Bildfläche erscheint, der sich in Serie setzen will. Auf Frauen hat er es abgesehen und er nutzt Julia mittelbar, um ihn in die Zeitung zu bringen. Dabei gerät sich Julia natürlich mit der Polizei in die Wolle, wo ausgerechnet ihr Ex-Freund in die Ermittlungen involviert ist. Um die Ermittlungen durch Julia dreht es sich im Großen und Ganzen auch, um ihr auf und nieder. Denn die Höhepunkte des Romans stehen bereits im Klappentext und werden so nur noch zu einer Erwartung.

Julia Wagner kann einigermaßen gut Fotos schießen und hat dabei ab und an Glück, an den richtigen Orten und Zeiten zu sein. Redaktionelle Texte zu verfassen, die man auch in der Zeitung abdrucken kann, dazu ist sie eher ungeeignet. Sie deshalb als Journalistin zu bezeichnen ist dann doch ein wenig hochtrabend. Ihr Chancen auf einen Journalistenpreis anzudichten, eher unglaubwürdig. Diesen Preis als eine starke Motivation für ihre Handlungen zu postulieren, macht es aus meiner Sicht nicht glaubhafter. Zudem ist sie “tough”, was sich eigentlich eher in einem rüpelhaften und egoistischen Verhalten zeigt. Auf der anderen Seite kriecht sie dann immer vor ihre Chefin, die sie eine Freundin nennt, dahin. Auf ihre Art erinnert mich Julia ein wenig an Jessica Jones, nur mit fehlendem Sympathiefaktor. Was sich auch im dritten Roman für mich nicht ändert. Zudem hat sie anscheinend seit Band 2 nichts dazugelernt. Immerhin ist sie wohl unverwüstlich, springt mit kaputtem Fuß über hohe Zäune und rennt noch dazu wie eine Sprinterin.

Ja, auch dieser Fall ist recht unterhaltsam geschrieben. Wobei mir die Charaktere dieses Mal nicht so begeistert haben, wie in den Vorgängern. Immer wieder kommt Julia mit ihren Scharaden durch. Eine persönliche Entwicklung der Reporterin konnte ich im Laufe der Handlung auch nicht erkennen. Eventuell eine Eigenheit bei Serienhelden.  Gestört haben mich auch diverse Fehler im Roman, ein gutes Korrektorat wäre da eventuell auch angebracht.

Jim Butcher – Fool Moon (Dresden Files 2)

So I am back to some “oldie” returning to Harry Dresden, consulting wizard working in Chicago. This is actually his second file from 2001, nearly two decades ago. And it’s been a while, since I read the first book. In Fool Moon by Jim Butcher Dresden goes up against Werewolves.

It all starts with a protege who wants Dresden to teach her about dangerous rituals, which he refuses. Then, Lieutenant Murphy brings Dresden into a quite cruelsome murder case, where wolfish prints were found. Before any research, the FBI takes over. And, besides the case, not only is Murphy under watch (magic murders, huh?) but also Dresden is under suspicion of cooperating with a mob. On his way to solve the crime, Harry makes himself some new enemies with a street gang and gets arrested for murder. His protege was found dead and the scene stinks of magic rituals. Being freed by some mysterious woman, he finds apotential victim in her boy-friend McFinn. And when the police arrested McFinn, all hell breaks loose.

Fool Moon is a wonderful crime story with magical touch, as is to expected by Butcher. I can say that I still love Harry Dresden as character, and I love how the story is rolling over you like a steam train. There are quite some turns before Dresden figures out what is really going on. But it’s not going well for all the figures. Even though Harry puts all in. I love the writing of Jim Butcher, which is both suspensful and entertaining. The characters feel real, even though it’s fantasy fiction, and they perfectly carry the story. I definitely have to get on with Dresden’s files.

Die Brücke – Transit in den Tod (TV Serie)

Diese dänisch-schwedisch-deutsche Koproduktion war für mich eine wirkliche Überraschung. Eigentlich schon älter, vier Staffeln von 2011 bis 2018, bin ich erst in diesem Jahr auf sie gestoßen (muss an diesem merkwürdigen Jahr liegen). Offiziell steht die Zusammenarbeit zwischen dänischer und schwedischer Polizei im Zentrum, aber sie handelt doch hauptsächlich von der schwedischen Kriminalkomissarin Saga Norén. Es wird in der Serie nicht direkt erwähnt, aber sie ist offensichtlich anders und zeigt Anzeichen vom Asperger-Syndrom (so Beschreibungen zur Serie). Und genau diese Figur ist es, die für mich auch die Serie ausmacht.

Bei den Fällen der vier Staffeln handelt es sich jeweils um Verbrechen, die Dänen und Schweden zu kriminalistischer Zusammenarbeit “zwingen”. Im ersten Fall, weil eine Leiche genau zur Hälfte auf beiden Ländern liegend aufgefunden wird (auf eben jener namensgebenden Öresundbrücke). Im zweiten Fall läuft ein Frachter vor der Brücke auf Grund und liefert den Ausgangspunkt zu einem mutmaßlichen Ökoterrorismusplan. Fall Drei behandelt die Aktivitäten eines Serienkillers und geht ein wenig näher auf familiäre Probleme der Ermittler ein (wobei der dänische Kollege Sagas ersetzt wurde). Und in der letzten Staffel geht es um eine Mordserie eher persönlicher Art sowie um die abschließende Entwicklung der Ermittler und deren Beziehung.

Neben interessanten Stories sind es immer wieder die Charaktere, die die Faszination einer Serie ausmachen. Hier ist es vor allem die Komissarin Norén, die der Serie ihren einzigartigen Stempel aufdrückt. Und zwar auf faszinierende und auch sympathische Art und Weise und auch nicht mit starrem Muster sondern abwechslungsreich und sich weiterentwickelnd. Hinzu kommt eine für mich ausgezeichnete schauspielerische Leistung über das gesamte Team der Serien, wodurch die Figuren authentisch und lebendig wirken. Die Brücke, eine echte Empfehlung.

Steven Dunne – The Resurrection (Reaper 3)

Damen is back! Three years ago I read the second book of the Reaper series (or trilogy how it is written on the book), eager to read on about DI Brook’s adventures. Only this summer, the third book was published (noted, that I missed out all the books on DI Brook without the Reaper inbetween). Right before my end-of-summer vacation. So I wondered what Steven Dunne had up his sleeve. And it actually contained a magic trick, which one might call a sleight of body.

This time, it takes quite a while until a murder. The initial part of the book features looking back at the events after the Reaper’s murders in 2010, but also around Prof Sorenson’s death in 2008. Brook is questioned about the events leading to the death of Ex-FBI McQuarry, shot by her ex-partner Drexler. That’s where Brook gets to know DS Kelly Tyson in who he finds a source on an interesting investigation happening before the Professor’s death. Together with DCI Fulbright, she followed up on a lead of the dying Charlie Rowland which linked Sorenson to the Reaper investigation. Ok, maybe too many names for this review. In short, some new information turned up from talks to Tyson leading to a big twist to the whole Reaper network situation.

Meanwhile, young criminal Jason Wallis is set free, holding a grudge against Damen, against his aunt, against a teacher who, as he learned, humiliated him. This is the strand running quite expectedly and leading to a dead cat and more. And when Jason’s aunt is seemingly killed by the Reaper, Damen instantly knows the truth on her death. It’s a cat and mouse like game (no pun intended) between the characters, which leads to some surprising revelations.

As before, I enjoyed the writing of Dunne a lot. The story never failed to surprise and is full of suspense, even with late deathly crimes. Brook is not the conventional detective, but his conclusions always feel right in retrospect. This novel is a really cool wind-up of the Reaper story and even the ending had a twist that made me grin and hope for more. And, yes, I definitely have to catch up on Damen’s other stories.

Older posts