Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fantasy. Show all posts

Friday, January 1, 2010

2010, Welcome

Oh. Hey there. Yeah, hey, welcome --

New guy, right? Yeah, 2010, right, right. Good name.

Oh that? Yeah, that's the Universe. Sounds like a big responsibility, yeah, but don't worry about it. You do your thing, they'll do their thing.

What are they like? Ha, good one . . .

Seriously? Well, I can tell you what I can.

Most are good, honest, generous, hardworking, kind people with laughter in their hearts. Some are not. Some will lie and cheat and steal, and hold all virtues and values at ransom for their benefit. This is a universal truth.

But I can promise you this.

Most will try their very best, to be their best, in all they do.

Most will not succeed, not all the time.

But the important thing is they'll try. And they expect the same of you.

Give them happiness after tragedy. Allow them respite after trial. Give them song after suffering and joy after sadness. Give them sunshine after rain and a full moon on a dark night. And we don't expect you to be perfect 2010, no year is. But when there must be clouds, grace them with a silver lining.

The important thing is that as hard as they try, you must do the same.

No worries 2010, I'm sure you'll do just fine.

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Here's hoping everyone had a wonderful new year's eve and has started off their new year right. I know I did.

Sunday, December 6, 2009

Tis the Season

:: Deep Breath ::

Ahh . . .

Hello December. It's good to have you back. Your cold burns the lungs, and numb the cheeks, and when you snow, it feels as though I am walking through a haze of cold, wet stars that fly past me with the vehemence of a hurricane. But I love the moments when the snow stops, and everything is encased in a chilly photograph, freezing the world into the exact moment of tranquility that comes after the storm. Thanks December, it's good to have you back.

Time flies huh? We all knew this to be true, we hear it from such a young age, we expect life to move by us faster then it should be. It is this attention to time, that make us think of life as a slow thing. When you count the ticks of a minute, you realize just how long sixty seconds is.

But then in high school, you get busy. Whether it's sports or clubs, or work, or a job, or whatever, you take your eyes off the clock, and suddenly the world is passing you by faster then before. Grandfather Time, that sneaky bastard, steals away the seconds while you're busy living, and the moment you have to yourself, to look back at the clock, you're halfway through your second year of college. 

What a jerk, am I right?

I guess what I'm saying is, time is moving a lot faster then it used to. I know it isn't ACTUALLY moving faster, I'm not sitting in a room where the clocks have gone haywire, the clock hands going backwards and forwards screaming like some weird Pee-Wee Herman acid trip, but, well, sometimes it feels like that. I remember starting this blogarooni all the way back in August when I first got here at school. And now, it's almost Christmas. Crazy stuff huh?

Christmas, oh boy, that's a whole 'nother blog to get myself started on, but I will make these points . . .

-I'm trying to go out of my way with those I get gifts, especially my parents. As kids, they get us some of the most ridiculous things, and a lot of them, and all we give them are, "I GOT YOU A CUP FULL OF CANDY THAT I KNOW YOU'RE NOT GOING TO EAT!" You can only do that so many times. So I'm trying to do better with that, same with my brother.

- Psst . . . Bema! I know you read this blog, and I know if I ask you what you're hankering for, for Christmas, you'll just tell me not to worry about it, but if you DO have something you're in the mood for, let me know, same with Papa, or else it's going to be a cup full of candy I know you're not going to eat =]

-Early Christmas shopping makes life easier. Late Christmas shopping makes life extreme.

-The older you get, the less you want for Christmas. Or maybe you're just more realistic about what you're actually going to get. I think it's the last one.

Regardless, that's only the shopping aspect of it. I'll do a blog about Christmas-ness soon. But I'll also be blogging about some cool things peeps can pick up for others, stuff I like that I think others might like as gifts. So that'll be soon.

Also, I'm going to be doing some mini-reviews of WOT: The Gathering Storm and Peter and Max, two amazing books I read last month that I never got around to reviewing. So I'll be doing that too. 

But right now, I'm off to an open mic. So I'll go do that and see you all when I get back.

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Thanksgiving Break

Wow, I couldn't come up with a witty title . . . what the hell is wrong with me?

But hello Internet, good evening to you my electronic friend and salutations. It has been a bit of time, let's see what my life has been like . . .

Just got back from Thanksgiving break, which was super fun. I got home Wednesday night after helping close the Quad (I was on window duty . . . let it mean whatever you want it to mean), and I spent Wednesday night saying hey to the family again, grandparents were down so it was really nice to see Bema and Popa, and then after storming through comics with a speed olympic athlete's find impressive, I went over to Olsen's to see my good buddy and his family. I didn't have too much time with him, but it was good seeing him and knowing that he is happy and healthy.

Thanksgiving itself was nice and quiet, a chance to sit down with family and enjoy a meal with the formality and joviality that we sometimes don't have time for anymore. Dad didn't make a goof of himself during grace this year, which is sad because it's always hilarious to watch, but what are you going to do?

Friday I reunited with the Gang for a bit of time, realized the odd girl at Panera still knows who I am, not to jump in front of Barnes and Nobles, girls in elf hats dig me, went to Giuseppe's, saw a bunch of friends there which was awesome, then felt uncomfortable, then left to go to Ben Karlin's and learned Brendan is usually right about when I will have a good time or not. I won't say it to him personally, but he can read it here.

Saturday was more time with Giuseppe (My Boy! Bombs? They are yours my friend!), went to the insanity of the mall, made sure I still had a job at Brookstone and said hey to them, then grabbed Jesse, hit the comic shop, got my self-esteem ripped to shreds and my balls busted, then went home and wrote up a storm. So yeah, Fallen Draft Two is all finished =]

I then raced through the rest of the comics I had to read. Yeah, I know, Dad's fault I live this way. He got me addicted to something affordable . . . at least crack is expensive haha.

But it was a great time being home, and soon I'll be back. I'm back at Albany for some fun and excitement! Oh! Shakespeare Abridged got approved! Fun times huzzah!

Alright I'm off to go help Dave and do my Macbizzle project! Later!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Review: Servant Of A Dark God by John Brown

So I was thinking to myself the other day, I say, "Self! This blog is awesome and we do awesome things on it, but we can do even MORE awesome things if we put our minds to it!" 

So Self and I sat down and we seem to have to come to a pretty awesome conclusion.

I love to read; it's been a thriving, burning, some would say ridiculous passion for many, many years. And boy-howdy am I proud of it. I love it. I started young with that young about the snowman, and other such books, but it wasn't enough. Luckily, Pop got me hooked early; not on drugs, but something as equally addicting: Fantasy novels, and comic books. My gateway drugs were the Chronicles of Narnia, and old Red Circle characters such as The Comet, The Web, The Inferno, all of those guys. Both works are filled to the brim with classic tropes; Narnia for it's epic story, solid, unshakeable heroes and heroines, and fantastical items, people and creatures. The superheroes were powerful, defiant and laid down the law with their chiseled jaws. These led me to Archie Comics and Lord of the Rings, to Spider-man and Redwall and so on.

Until I hit Neil Gaiman and his novel, American Gods. Ho-lee Shit . . .

That's the book that turned me and my notion of fantasy on our heads. These could be dark places, filled with malevolent forces and tricksters, overflowing with mythos and legends, some past, some modern. From there, the door was opened and I devoured everything I could under this heading, this new type of fantasy. Some select among the bunch are The Sandman series, Wheel of Time series, A Song of Ice and Fire, Dark Tower series, Mistborn series, Name Of The Wind and so many, many more. 

And a new one to the fold, John Brown's, "Servant Of A Dark God."

Brown's book falls, in my opinion, under the heading of the aforementioned titles, as a dark fantasy, brimming with hidden lore, ancient power, old threats and new heroes. It is the first in a trilogy and I would say Brown does exceedingly well in crafting a tale of family, magic, duty and power.

Servant Of A Dark God follows Talen, a young Koramite farmer who lives with his family; Da, his brother Ke, sister River and cousin Nettle, who is a Mokaddian. They live peacefully and work hard to make a living, in a world where Koramites are looked down upon by Mokaddians, and must do what they can to please them. The plot begins when a local Koramite family is accused of Slethery which is the illegal use of lore (magic), usually to tamper with a thing's Fire, the accumulation of a person's living days, Soul or Body. A great hunt is mustered to catch the Sleth and their children; Talen and his family are drawn into the conflict and must come together, despite hidden secrets, and survive.

Meanwhile, an ancient evil has risen, one whose Mothers had once herded and cultivated humans for their Fire, and she intends to continue the tradition.

-SPOILERS ON STUN-

This is a good book. One of the better I've read this year. It's astonishing the amount of backstory and thought that went into crafting this book. John Brown is able to take a simplistic setting, a quiet opening of pants gone missing, and slowly introduce a world filled with magical rulers, evil gods, Fire and lore, and a beast made of stone and earth, more on him later.

One of the things I truly loved about the book, was the aspect of family. Introducing characters separate and then bringing them together is a tried and true approach to character development. Brown opting to follow the story through a tight-knit family, brought me into them instantly. Characterization is huge for me, in both my reading and what I write. As a family, the book already opened with the characters familiar with one another and I felt that connection right off the bat. 

Another thing that really impressed me was the magic system. I always respect an author for taking the time and consideration to craft and hone a really intricate but exciting magic system, something I am attempting right now. Two of those examples would be the three entirely different magic systems from Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn system (highly recommended), Allomany the first among them, and the incredibly scientific yet magical system of Sympathy from Patrick Rothfuss' Name Of The Wind. 

Brown's use of magic through the use of weaves, lore and especially Fire is complex and interesting, the surface barely being scratched in this first novel. We know men can multiply their natural abilities using Fire or special weaves, such as the dreadmen, but as shown through one of the Divines, or The Mother, there are things our heroes barely know of. Add that to the fact that men may be born with different abilities and we've yet to see what Talen may fully do, I am patiently impatient to see what there is to come.

Victor's Crown for the win, just saying.

One thing that I think Brown is missing at some points, is a lack of cohesion in some aspects of the government and hierarchy of the world, and some points in the story. I understand leaking out small details about the world over the course of the story, of course, you want to slowly engage the reader in your world, no worries. I felt at some points however, the action of the story, and the detail of the world somewhat muddled together and I became a tad lost as to why things were happening. I saw a bit of the same in the plot, where I became lost as some characters suddenly were elsewhere and I felt maybe some time could have been given to transitions, or maybe I did not notice it at first. Either way, both are fixable by either a quick look in the glossary in the back, or backtracking a few pages to catch yourself up; neither of which deter from the book in any significant way.

Lastly, I must say, Hunger has to be one of my favorite characters in the novel. A beast made of stone and earth, inhabited by a dead Divine, and possessing the soul of an anguished father, Hunger is one of the most dynamic characters of the novel. I applaud Brown's use of humanizing him; it was horrible to witness his realization about what happened to his, "family." Kudos sir!

-SPOILERS OFF-

Servant Of A Dark God is a successful novel for John Brown, and I wish him all the best in its sequel, Curse Of A Dark God due out sometime next year; I await it eagerly. Filled with ancient threats, family struggles, powerful magic and a giant beast of earth and stone, what's not to love? Do yourselves a favor and go pick up this book, you won't be disappointed.

4.5 Stars out of 5!

PS: I will be shortly posting this on Mr. Brown's Twitter, which is how I found out about the book. We've chatted back and forth a couple times, and he seems like a pretty swell guy. Hope he likes the review and that we can keep in touch!