Vögelein: Clockwork Faerie by Jane Irwin, Jeff Berndt

Rating: WORTHY!

This is the precursor to the volume I favorably reviewed back in November, 2014. It's about the titular 'fairy' who is clockwork, and it relates her origin story. It's interesting and I wasn't sure I truly liked all of it, but I liked enough to vote this one the same way I did the other one.

The story is titled "Vögelein" which means little bird and which, in the peculiar German language is pronounced like it's "Few Glean." I think German is an interesting exercise in paradox in that it has a mix of what might be described in genderist terms as masculine and feminine words, and I don't mean in a grammatical sense, but purely in how they sound when spoken. Some are very soft, and might be described poetically as effeminate, whereas others are very harsh sounding, and might be likewise described as macho. It's always struck me most when watching movies about World War Two, where these supposedly tough Aryan types were speaking such a soft language at times, and then could turn around and upbraid someone in much more brutal tones. The contrast fascinates me! It's definitely a beautiful language and a startling mix.

In this volume, we learn how Vögelein came to be, what she represents, and how hard it is for her to live her life when she's so dependent upon people who can easily take advantage of her need to be rewound every day. It was this which finally won me over to favorably rating this - the dilemma and the harsh existence she had been forced into by an act which started out as one of love. I liked the follow-up story better, but I also recommend this one. The author has a website that you might like to visit: http://www.vogelein.com/.

Vögelein: Old Ghosts by Jane Irwin

Title: Vögelein: Old Ghosts
Author: Jane Irwin
Publisher: Fiery Studios
Rating: WORTHY!

Vögelein is a German word meaning small bird. The character in this novel is more like a large insect (based on the wings) so the name is a bit odd. It's a huge trope that fairies have insect wings, angels have swan's wings, evil angels have bat wings, but I liked this story, and was quite intrigued by the world the author has created.

This is evidently an ongoing series, and I, as usual, dropped right down in the middle of it, but when your local library has a book sale and the books are hard cover (which this one actually wasn't) and they're dirt cheap, you don't ask too many questions! You just buy as many as you can before someone wises up to the fact that they're virtually giving these away! Or until your wife wises up to the fact that you're spending too much money on books. Again....

So this tells the story of a fairy who has a bad history (presumably related in volume one), and who isn't dealing with it too well. She now lives in the city, and has one or two friends, but she misses the old days of country living with someone to whom she had became very close. Even as she revels in her new-found freedom, she reminisces rather more than is good for her.

This fairy is really unusual, which makes me want to read the previous volume. She's a clockwork fairy, and has to be rewound with a special key every once in a while. She did not, evidently used to own her own key, but now she does, but she cannot rewind herself, so the problem is finding a reliable person to do this since she's also being hunted by a girl who is desperate to catch herself a fairy - for reasons unknown.

So in short, I really liked this story. Kudos to Jane Irwin for coming up with a fairy tale which interests me - because I'm not a fan of such! This story is original, interesting and well drawn.