I've already had the second one on my mind, since a recent re-read of Lois McMaster Bujold's Curse of Chalion. And then what is probably now one of my favorite Doctor Who episodes, ever, gave me something just as rich, though a little less lofty.

(bits of spoilers back here)

( Vincent and the Doctor )

In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God. --Aeschylus

I just finished Mary Doria Russell's novel The Sparrow. It's every bit as brilliant as I'd been told, but is a much different book than I'd heard. It's not a first-contact ( Read more... )

Btw, that's totally meant to be Amoracchius in my icon, there ( Read more... )

Okay, so, the thing about finishing a Patrick O'Brian novel after watching a bunch of Life on Mars is that Jack Aubrey starts to sound like Phillip Glenister.

"You say that like it's a bad thing." --Gene Hunt

Okay. I don't table-top RPG much anymore (did some Rebellion-era Star Wars with my brothers and first sister-in-law a few years back), but I've been keeping tabs on the Supernatural RPG book that was supposed to be released a long time ago.

It's finally out--not in paper form, though, but as a .pdf file available for downloadI'm very tempted to ( Read more... )

So I've actually done some reading of brand-new books this past week, and wanted to share a few thoughts on two of them.

( Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger )

My copy of Faery Rebels: Spell Hunter (aka Knife), the first published novel from our own rj_anderson, just arrived from Amazon! *dances around*

I can't wait to read it! I have to resist for a bit, as other things are calling me to do them, but it shall sit on the bookshelf over my desk until I do have time.

(Okay, I'm finally reading a Terry Pratchett Discworld novel. And laughing. And, as of the quote below, rather thrilled with his ability to re-state things we should know but may not think about.)

The path to wisdom does, in fact, begin with a single step ( Read more... )

This has been a wild week for Harry Potter fans, especially Christian ones.

Last week, J.K. Rowling spoke with MTV about the Christian imagery in the books, calling it "obvious," and Christian intellectuals and fans rejoiced at this confirmation of what we had long suspected and discussed ( Read more... )

I haven't read Harry Potter essays in quite some time, at least none that were truly fascinating and well-written.

But I just ran across this link, and would like to recommend Orson Scott Card's essay Who Is Snape?Any reader interested in the series as a whole, in JKR's development as a writer, and in thoughtful literary analysis, should enjoy ( Read more... )