Whee
I've just finished reading a really, really good trilogy. The "Sevenwaters" trilogy by Juliet Marillier: Daughter of the Forest, Son of the Shadows, and Child of the Prophecy. Excellent books, all. I highly recommend them to anyone who likes Patricia Kennealy-Morrison, or faerie tales retold in interesting ways, or Irish history/myth, or just good fantasy reads. :)
Things I like about this series:
1) When I started the first book, I read for more or less six straight hours, and fiercely resented having to go to sleep, because it interfered with my reading.
2) There's an excellent balance between tragedy and happy endings.
3) Just when you know you've got it figured out, everything changes.
4) It's a fantasy tale set in Ireland in the ninth or tenth century, with elements of both history and myth. Relatively accurate insofar as I can tell.
5) It gives me all kinds of random inspiration for rituals.
6) It's just damned good writing.
7) In a paraphrase of the LotR: RotK trailer, it illustrates the fact that you can't triumph without sacrificing something, and in the words of Troilus and Criseyde, you cannot have something you want without giving up something else.
It's just damned good reading, ok? Go and read it!
In other news, my Modern Ireland professor is unquestionably a god. Why? Here are some great things he said today.
Firstly, on the infosheet for our final paper, he mentions the process you have to go through to apply for an X or Y grade (I think those are forms of "Incomplete") for the course. The paragraph concludes with "And the assistant deans there were raised by werewolves, so it's easier to plan ahead and get the thing in on time."
Secondly: "If that ain't Catholic, then I'm the Pope."
Thirdly: "You're probably asking yourself--if you're awake--why didn't de Valera just declare a republic?"
Yeah. He's real awesome.
Anyway.....about that inspiration for rituals....*wanders away*
Things I like about this series:
1) When I started the first book, I read for more or less six straight hours, and fiercely resented having to go to sleep, because it interfered with my reading.
2) There's an excellent balance between tragedy and happy endings.
3) Just when you know you've got it figured out, everything changes.
4) It's a fantasy tale set in Ireland in the ninth or tenth century, with elements of both history and myth. Relatively accurate insofar as I can tell.
5) It gives me all kinds of random inspiration for rituals.
6) It's just damned good writing.
7) In a paraphrase of the LotR: RotK trailer, it illustrates the fact that you can't triumph without sacrificing something, and in the words of Troilus and Criseyde, you cannot have something you want without giving up something else.
It's just damned good reading, ok? Go and read it!
In other news, my Modern Ireland professor is unquestionably a god. Why? Here are some great things he said today.
Firstly, on the infosheet for our final paper, he mentions the process you have to go through to apply for an X or Y grade (I think those are forms of "Incomplete") for the course. The paragraph concludes with "And the assistant deans there were raised by werewolves, so it's easier to plan ahead and get the thing in on time."
Secondly: "If that ain't Catholic, then I'm the Pope."
Thirdly: "You're probably asking yourself--if you're awake--why didn't de Valera just declare a republic?"
Yeah. He's real awesome.
Anyway.....about that inspiration for rituals....*wanders away*