Rambles: October
The fall TV season is moving right along. I think "Almost Human" and "White Collar" are the only shows I'm looking forward to that haven't premiered yet.
So far, I'm pretty in synch with the rest of fandom in loving Sleepy Hollow. It's a pretty magical mix of adorable buddyship and passable monster-of-the-week fare, seasoned with an occasional dash of genuine creepiness.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is still leaving me cold, I'm afraid. In some fantasy-reader circles, there's this term, "Extruded Fantasy Product", that refers to fantasy books that are particularly unimaginative and just plugging along with the same old tropes used in the same old ways for the same old "find the magic doohicky to defeat the evil whatsis" story. S.H.I.E.L.D. is playing, to me, like "Extruded Joss Whedon Product". They have all the pieces parts - snarky banter, awkward-yet-cutesy protagonists, lovable geeks, etc. - but they're just not gelling into anything more than that so far.
The pilot for Ironside was quite boring, but the second ep. was an improvement, so I think I'll be continuing to watch it for a bit. (I suspect it won't get renewed, so I won't fret if I end up getting bored with the case-of-the-week format.)
Still loving Nashville, Elementary, and Walking Dead. Still hanging on to NCIS and Supernatural more out of inertia than real engagement.
All in all, quite the busy tv schedule this season. My DVR's gonna get a nice workout. :)
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Books I've read lately:
Camber of Culdi - Katherine Kurtz
Re-read. Katherine Kurtz was my idol back junior high and high school, but I haven't read the Camber books in probably 20 years. What really strikes me is how no one else quite does fantasy world-building the way she does. The portrayal of the society of this medieval kingdom, and how tightly intertwined the world's Christian Church is with everything - the way the approval or disapproval of the Church can make or break a ruler's support, and the almost documentary way she describes some of the Deryni rituals... it's still one of the most "historical" feeling fantasy series I think I've ever read, but still manages to be engaging reading.
Crown Duel - Sherwood Smith
Fun, light, read. Nothing I'll think about much five years from now, but entertaining enough that I put some other books by this author in the queue for later. :)
The Last Stormlord - Glenda Larke
Pleasantly surprised on this one. I'd heard that it was heavily "romance"-y, and the author is apparently Australian, and tbh, I'm a bit biased against Australian fantasy authors exactly BECAUSE the ones I've read have been *way* too romance-y for me. I decided at some point that that must just be the way the fantasy market trends down under... but this one bucked the trend. The two leads (who clearly *will* be in a romance in future books) are each developed well, without the sense of Mary Sue-ness that is my main issue with "romance-y" fantasies - the sense that our hero/heroine are brilliant and wonderful and can do no wrong, and thus, anyone who disagrees with him/her is not just evil, but mustache-twirlingly eeeeeeevil. Not that there aren't some evil villains, but there's not the sense of "how dare s/he tread on my precious widdle Mary Sue who is divinely blessed by authorial intent". Anyway: Quite enjoyed it.
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Miscellaneous:
Having a bit of Sondheim-fun next week, with tickets to see the Fathom Events filmed version of Merrily We Roll Along that was on the West End recently, and then a local production of Sweeney Todd. I'm fairly excited for the latter. I've never seen Sweeney Todd on stage before. I think this leaves me with "Company" as the only major Sondheim show I haven't seen live.
Feeling a bit bummed at myself for chickening out on signing up for the "Informal Podfic Twitter Exchange", but I *am* back to work on editing a large-ish 2 1/2 hour recording I've been sitting on for nearly a year now, so... yay? ^_^ I even came up with a cover-art idea for it, today, so I *know* it's going to get finished now. :)
So far, I'm pretty in synch with the rest of fandom in loving Sleepy Hollow. It's a pretty magical mix of adorable buddyship and passable monster-of-the-week fare, seasoned with an occasional dash of genuine creepiness.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is still leaving me cold, I'm afraid. In some fantasy-reader circles, there's this term, "Extruded Fantasy Product", that refers to fantasy books that are particularly unimaginative and just plugging along with the same old tropes used in the same old ways for the same old "find the magic doohicky to defeat the evil whatsis" story. S.H.I.E.L.D. is playing, to me, like "Extruded Joss Whedon Product". They have all the pieces parts - snarky banter, awkward-yet-cutesy protagonists, lovable geeks, etc. - but they're just not gelling into anything more than that so far.
The pilot for Ironside was quite boring, but the second ep. was an improvement, so I think I'll be continuing to watch it for a bit. (I suspect it won't get renewed, so I won't fret if I end up getting bored with the case-of-the-week format.)
Still loving Nashville, Elementary, and Walking Dead. Still hanging on to NCIS and Supernatural more out of inertia than real engagement.
All in all, quite the busy tv schedule this season. My DVR's gonna get a nice workout. :)
---------------
Books I've read lately:
Camber of Culdi - Katherine Kurtz
Re-read. Katherine Kurtz was my idol back junior high and high school, but I haven't read the Camber books in probably 20 years. What really strikes me is how no one else quite does fantasy world-building the way she does. The portrayal of the society of this medieval kingdom, and how tightly intertwined the world's Christian Church is with everything - the way the approval or disapproval of the Church can make or break a ruler's support, and the almost documentary way she describes some of the Deryni rituals... it's still one of the most "historical" feeling fantasy series I think I've ever read, but still manages to be engaging reading.
Crown Duel - Sherwood Smith
Fun, light, read. Nothing I'll think about much five years from now, but entertaining enough that I put some other books by this author in the queue for later. :)
The Last Stormlord - Glenda Larke
Pleasantly surprised on this one. I'd heard that it was heavily "romance"-y, and the author is apparently Australian, and tbh, I'm a bit biased against Australian fantasy authors exactly BECAUSE the ones I've read have been *way* too romance-y for me. I decided at some point that that must just be the way the fantasy market trends down under... but this one bucked the trend. The two leads (who clearly *will* be in a romance in future books) are each developed well, without the sense of Mary Sue-ness that is my main issue with "romance-y" fantasies - the sense that our hero/heroine are brilliant and wonderful and can do no wrong, and thus, anyone who disagrees with him/her is not just evil, but mustache-twirlingly eeeeeeevil. Not that there aren't some evil villains, but there's not the sense of "how dare s/he tread on my precious widdle Mary Sue who is divinely blessed by authorial intent". Anyway: Quite enjoyed it.
---------------
Miscellaneous:
Having a bit of Sondheim-fun next week, with tickets to see the Fathom Events filmed version of Merrily We Roll Along that was on the West End recently, and then a local production of Sweeney Todd. I'm fairly excited for the latter. I've never seen Sweeney Todd on stage before. I think this leaves me with "Company" as the only major Sondheim show I haven't seen live.
Feeling a bit bummed at myself for chickening out on signing up for the "Informal Podfic Twitter Exchange", but I *am* back to work on editing a large-ish 2 1/2 hour recording I've been sitting on for nearly a year now, so... yay? ^_^ I even came up with a cover-art idea for it, today, so I *know* it's going to get finished now. :)