By Laini Taylor in her book, Strange the Dreamer

"Yin and Yang Consciousness States of Universe are NOT positive nor negative. There are only negative and positive applications of Yin and Yang states of consciousness within Yin and Yang charged environment.

 

Each one of us, as a soul incarnated to experience different states of Consciousness Manifestations, tries to understand the positive applications of Yin (Intuitive) combined with Yang (Reason) states of Consciousness.

Applied together within what I call Alchemy of Love or Alchemy of Soul or Alchemy of Humanity these Forces direct us towards the implementation of Clear Ratio Guided by Intuitive Wisdom. This is the highest implementation of Intuitive (by definition Yin) Truth (by definition Yang) within Humanity's learning implemented so far." Nuit, Mindful Being

Full review can be found on my website: https://diaryofdifference.com/2018/06/03/the-camelot-shadow-sean-gibson-book-review/

‘’I can either tell you my tale, or I can respond to your feeble witticisms. I cannot, in my mildly inebriated state, do both.’’

This is not your usual story related to King Arthur, Merlin and Camelot. This will, in fact, be quite different story and not only unusual, but one of a kind.

We go back in time when Queen Victoria was ruling over England. In a time when the author really liked to point out the fact that the characters are using trains. It was pointed out so much, that I had to do a bit of research to see if trains existed in that time. They did – apparently England had the oldest rail transport in the world. And Queen Victoria was one of the first royals to use that form of transport too.

Now, I am not even sure why I kept going on about trains… Back to the story…

The Camelot Shadow covers the story of Lord Alfred Fitzwilliam, a man whose wife is ill from an incurable illness. When an opportunity arises, giving him the chance and hope that he might save the life of his lover, he goes on a mission to find an object from the time when King Arthur was the ruler of England, and Merlin was his companion.

With a help from a group of people, Alfred digs the history and the stories of the past, only to discover that not everything he believed in was true, and not everyone that he trusted is his ally.

A story that reminded me of Dan Brown’s work. Quite similar in the sense of clues, history, what is a myth and what is a fact, though also quite distinctive, as it covers people’s characters so well, describing their personalities in a powerful way.

‘’Wealth. Status. Happiness. A perfect life. All built on an ephemeral foundation, an impossibility masking a lie that, if exposed, if openly acknowledged, would bring it all crashing down around our heads.’’

When a great disappointment comes around, and all hope is gone, people change, and people feel things. A person starts to wonder what they did wrong, what could they have done differently, what if… Alfred is one of the people where we will see his change over the chapters. For better or for worse, I’ll let you decide.

‘’It was Guinevere’s infidelity that brought down Arthur’s Camelot’’ – he said, wiping a trickle of Scotch from his chin with the back of his sleeve. ‘’It was God’s cruelty that brought down mine.’’

A book that explains good and evil in the unusual way. I thought I could explain good and evil, but sometimes my evil can do you good, and your good can do harm to everyone. And power… oh what people are capable to do for power…

‘’Power, Arthur had taught him, was not something to covet, but rather something to treat in the same manner one might handle a wild mastiff – with considerable respect, constant vigilance, and a trace of fear. ‘’

If you are a fan of history fiction, and stories about Arthur and Merlin, you would definitely want to dive in into this book and get lost into the world. And that is not the only thing that this book covers… It covers hope, faith, loss, love, good, evil, power, guilt and everything in between. Get ready for an adventure. One full of bravery and magic. And maybe… maybe some hope.

A huge thank you to the author, Sean Gibson, who was kind enough to give me an e-copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is awesome. It has quotes from some many people, and for every emotion, event, activity or anything you can think of. This really is quite an extensive compilation.
I was harboring some anger when I sat to read it.  Anger quotes were pretty early on, as the quotes are listed alphabetically. I read some of the anger quotes and started to slowly realize that holding onto that anger was doing me no good. The person who angered me didn't care. Only I did. This was the quote that hit me hardest;

I found this quote in one of my books recently - don't ask me which one because I am not the person who makes notes, even when she knows she will need them and curse herself at a future date.  Internet to the rescue!

Few people ask from books what books can give us. Most commonly we come to books with blurred and divided minds, asking of fiction that it shall be true, of poetry that it shall be false, of biography that it shall be flattering, of history that it shall enforce our own prejudices. If we could banish all such preconceptions when we read, that would be an admirable beginning. Do not dictate to your author; try to become him. Be his fellow-worker and accomplice. If you hang back, and reserve and criticize at first, you are preventing yourself from getting the fullest possible value from what you read. But if you open your mind as widely as possible, then signs and hints of almost imperceptible fineness, from the twist and turn of the first sentences, will bring you into the presence of a human being unlike any other. Steep yourself in this, acquaint yourself with this and soon you will find that your author is giving you, or attempting to give you, something far more definite.

2 things came immediately to my mind when I read this:  The first is that this is how I read and possibly why I end up being 'soft' when I rate and review.  I open most books with few or no expectations and an abundance of optimism.  When I start a book irritated or cranky, it's a safe bet my review is going to be pretty critical and nit-picky.  There's also an element of pride, or maybe denial; if I finish a book and it's not all it could be, finding the high notes helps me rationalise the hours spent reading it.  As we all pretty much agree, reading books we don't like is time wasted; if I can find and focus on strengths in my reads, I haven't wasted my time.

The second thing that came to mind is, I need to hunt down this essay and read it in its entirety, and investigate Woolf's other non-fiction work.  I don't buy everything Woolf is selling in this quote, but it's just a small excerpt, and I want to read the whole thing before I make objections.

What do you guys think about Woolf's take on reading?