quick post
I really liked Firethorn but I feel I have to caveat it a lot. I really like how Micklem sets up the world, how there's that circle of gods (who have three avatars) and the quasi-magical events. It's hard to tell if it's actually magic or if Firethorn is hallucinating after eating the berries, but either way it's interesting. It's pretty aggressively misogynist, though, and by that I mean that the protagonist Firethorn becomes basically a camp follower (I would say concubine but that's reserved for higher-born women--Firethorn and her social class are called "mudwomen") in a camped army. Very much a man's world. I am also not sure how I would have gotten through some of the nastiness without rooting for Galen and Firethorn to continue being together. It was a really great novel though, and the review is really overdue.
In the end: I'll read the next book in the series for sure. I thought I was picking up a book about a peasant woman's dailyish life though.
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In archery news I think I'm still going to be pummeled in the upcoming tournament, even if I'm in novice category (too bad we can't separate novice into sights and instinctive shooting.) My groupings are getting better, though! Apparently my form is all right, it's just that I need to practice a lot. The thing with archery is that it relies on consistency; it's an accuracy vs precision thing. You can fix accuracy easily, but precision takes more time. So you have to do everything the exact same way each time, because a little plucking one way or the other makes a big difference to the arrow once it's flown the length of the range.
I have a really solid anchor point now (where I draw my hand to), which is nice. And my aim isn't bad after about an hour and a half of shooting, even if my left arm (the one I draw with) trembles. That tremor is so annoying.
In the end: I'll read the next book in the series for sure. I thought I was picking up a book about a peasant woman's dailyish life though.
--
In archery news I think I'm still going to be pummeled in the upcoming tournament, even if I'm in novice category (too bad we can't separate novice into sights and instinctive shooting.) My groupings are getting better, though! Apparently my form is all right, it's just that I need to practice a lot. The thing with archery is that it relies on consistency; it's an accuracy vs precision thing. You can fix accuracy easily, but precision takes more time. So you have to do everything the exact same way each time, because a little plucking one way or the other makes a big difference to the arrow once it's flown the length of the range.
I have a really solid anchor point now (where I draw my hand to), which is nice. And my aim isn't bad after about an hour and a half of shooting, even if my left arm (the one I draw with) trembles. That tremor is so annoying.