The Vampire Diaries, tv show catch-up, RL is dumb, LJ, all kinds of things.

[havocthecat]

First of all, LJ's going to be down for a while. Today. From 7 - 9 PM EST. Which means that, while you're unable to access LJ, you can find me at Dreamwidth! And Twitter. And InsaneJournal. But mostly at Dreamwidth. (I have invite codes. You want one?) You don't even need a Dreamwidth account to comment; all you have to do is use your LJ

Comments

[nutmeg3]

Why on earth can't lj do their fix-it stuff in the ultra-early AM? So dumb.

And man, that really is one nasty nightmare. I'm reading The Passage, and it's made vampires scary again, which is excellent, at least so long as they stay out of my dreams.

Fringe rocks!

[havocthecat]

Ooh, who's the author? Is it urban fantasy or horror? Because I'm kind of bored by urban fantasy vampires these days, with their piles of angst and their search for their one true soulmate.

Er. I get snarky about UF, possibly because I loved the genre back before UF became synonymous with paranormal romance and I'm overwhelmed by the latter these days.

[nutmeg3]

It's by Justin Cronin, the first of a trilogy, and it's big-bucks literary horror. The vamps are straight-on monsters, scary as shit. It's more like I Am Legend, the movie. It's very interesting, because it covers a huge amount of time and a big cast of characters, so it's not "OhmyGodI'montheedgeofmyseat!" reading, but it's fascinating and compelling, and in a nice change of pace, I really don't know where he's going even with this book, much less for two more.

[havocthecat]

I swear, I thought that was Kahlan from LotS with Edward, which was going to be the most entertaining crossover ever, if Edward had been confessed.

Hm. I may have to at least check this book out. Let's all hear it for the local library!

[fleurlb]

Oh yeah, I can second the awesomeness that is The Passage. It's really about three books in one and none of them are urban fantasy. :) Literary horror is an apt description. There are also some kick ass female characters that I think you'd enjoy. Plus, Chronin apparently starterd writing the book because his 14 year old daughter challenged him to write a book in which a young girl saves the day.

[havocthecat]

Ooh, does she have agency, or is she a plot device? (I just looked up the first book on Amazon, and it's so hard to tell if the little girl is supposed to have actual agency or if she's going to be used by a bunch of Men What Know Better Than Her, which happens way too often.)

[fleurlb]

Good point. If you read the book, the first third may irk you a bit since there's not a lot of agency there. But when she reappears later, it's clear that she's developing into much more than just a plot device. And if you disagree, you'll still enjoy the hell out of Alicia Donadio.

[nutmeg3]

And I love how we're primed to watch Amy from the very first line. Plus the lack of agency early on doesn't bother me a lot because she's so young. One thing I do really like about his handling of women is that some of them are as pivotal/important (the nun, Auntie, of course Lish) as the important men, and some of the men are completely useless or weak or easily led astray, for lack of a better (and more spoilery) term. It's like life, neither sex is The One In Charge in the end, it's just a bunch of people trying to figure it out.

[fleurlb]

Yeah, I totally agree about the early lack of agency. Even without it, she was still an amazingly compelling character in the first third of the book.

And you're right, the book has a fantastic mix of different characters and really does a good job avoiding the traps of gender stereotypes. The men don't have All The Answers....and it really does just boil down to a bunch of people trying to figure out an impossible situation.

I'm really looking forward to the next installment! :)

[melyanna]

My best guess is that 4 PM in California is 3 AM in Moscow.

[nutmeg3]

Good point. I keep forgetting our evil overlords. *g*

[tafkarfanfic]

Why on earth can't lj do their fix-it stuff in the ultra-early AM? So dumb.

It is the ultra-early AM for the UK. (The last time they did a fix, they did it in the ultra-early AM for the US; this time I think they're giving the Europeans a break.)

[nutmeg3]

Good point. I should be more generous and less addicted. *g*