Another overcast day, but I am not headed to the beach as I told myself I had to work on syllabi this afternoon. Did get a bit of color yesterday and enjoyed swimming and reading for a bit. I was surprised at how crowded it was when I first got there and then it cleared out in about 5 minutes flat with 3 or 4 of us left. Guess it had to do with the group of taxis that came in to take people downtown shopping. They must have had fun with the crowds on jewelry row as we had three ships in too.

It is interesting how fantasy is such a cross age genre. Fantasy characters are often a mix of ages, age quickly, or do not age at all. I just finished reading Isabel Glass' The Divided Crown, a sequel to Daughter of Exile. Fourteen years have passed from when Lady Angarred Hashan and Mathewar, now the Master of the College of Magicians, met and fell in love in the first book. A request from 14-year-old King Jerrett brings them back to court to discover the manipulative and power crazy Haru family has influenced Jerrett, with horrible consequences. One of the Haru sons is busy using half of the magical crown the father found to bind people so they can be used as laborers and soldiers until their bodies give out and die. The older brother, still in exile, is using the other half of the crown to loosen. In other words, he blunders people's minds and drives them insane. Sadly, Mathewar and the young Prince Brangwin have been affected by the madness. Add the illegitimate daughter of the prior king - wanted as wife by both brothers who want to be king. Only one will achieve that rank, but will not stay there long. Although intended for the adult reader, both novels are readily accessible to the teen fantasy reader.

All for now.