My taste in the ridiculous is a lot more refined these days
Well, its official: my monitor is completely and utterly dead. Which sucks since I am now stuck using my brother's laptop and am forbidden from downloading anything on it. And it doubly sucks since now I am cut off from my doramas. Hopefully, I can figure out how to put my internal drive into external enclosure but until then I have to suffer through computer withdrawal symptoms.
Triple sucks because I can't even start watching "You're Beautiful" and I refuse to go to Viikii until I am bordering on straight desperation.
So things that console me:
1) news of a 21 episode director's cut of Tamra the Island. Yeah, I squealed with joy. Something to keep me warm and happy during those cold (though this being Cali, not that cold) winter months. Its like hot chocolate for the soul with a little tropical umbrella.
2) News of City of Bones being made into a movie. I haven't finished City of Glass yet (had to take a break from Jace's parade of self hatred) but I am excited if only because I need another YA franchise to take down Twilight's reign of teenybopper terror. Jace Wayland vs Edward Cullen, who can out-emo the other? Game on!
3) I am devouring Simon R. Green books like there is no tomorrow. I just started with "Paths not Taken" and LOLed at the line "most of the furniture is nailed to the floor so it can't be used in hand-to-hand combat". I love how the Nightside sounds like one endless bar brawl and occasional Doctor Who shout outs. But I am desperate for some Edwin Drood and his Druidic secret agent. Nightside and Secret Histories desperately needs a crossover. Although if it came to an out and out rumble, I'm gonna have to put my money on John. He seems like the type who will fight dirty.
Speaking of interesting books, on the other side of the spectrum would be Anne Bishop's Black Jewel Trilogy. I tried hard to get into it, I really did, I even finished the first two books. But I'm sorry, I just found the entire thing way too tedious with a plotline that tended to meander a lot and a heroine that, for a blatant Mary Sue, is very, very boring in her own perfection. She starts off mature and powerful and remains like that throughout the series. She is already so perfect, she doesn't need anymore development. Even her angsty background is boring and I can't pinpoint why. I think the problem is the lack of Jaenelle's POV makes it difficult to relate to her. She is only seen through the eyes of the people around her and everyone who can be considered a good guy thinks she's the best thing since sliced bread covered in rainbow and puppies. She's the most powerful witch of her time and was horribly abused in the past which lead her to fall into a coma until she was 15. I know this is the part where I go "Oh poor woobie", but it is so overblown and dramatic and just fails at eliciting any honest emotion.
It reads like- something horrible happens to Jaenelle -> Jaenelle is traumatized -> Jaenelle still manages to be perfect and awesome. An overload of angst is not always the formula for a complex character. How about an inner monologue/ conflict, Bishop? How about Jaenelle realizing just how damaged she is and endeavoring to deal with it? And flowery writing is great and all but I'm going to need something more descriptive than her "ancient, sapphire eyes". I can't even get behind the romance of Jaenelle and Damon since the foundation of their interaction took place when she was twelve and he was hundreds of years old and was nil in the second book.
And this is why I only have about 3 female authors that I truly love (Tanith Lee, Jacqueline Carey, Catherynne M. Valente) . YES, I KNOW HOW SEXIST THAT SOUNDS. NO, I DON'T CARE AND DON'T MAKE ME SAY "BITE ME, FEMINISM." I believe in strong heroines. And I believe that no matter the heroine, whether its a hard bitten, badass cop/sorceress or a klutzy, naive teenage girl can be a fascinating character as long as there is growth and motivation there to back her hero's journey.
Well that turned into a non-coherent essay, didn't it?
Triple sucks because I can't even start watching "You're Beautiful" and I refuse to go to Viikii until I am bordering on straight desperation.
So things that console me:
1) news of a 21 episode director's cut of Tamra the Island. Yeah, I squealed with joy. Something to keep me warm and happy during those cold (though this being Cali, not that cold) winter months. Its like hot chocolate for the soul with a little tropical umbrella.
2) News of City of Bones being made into a movie. I haven't finished City of Glass yet (had to take a break from Jace's parade of self hatred) but I am excited if only because I need another YA franchise to take down Twilight's reign of teenybopper terror. Jace Wayland vs Edward Cullen, who can out-emo the other? Game on!
3) I am devouring Simon R. Green books like there is no tomorrow. I just started with "Paths not Taken" and LOLed at the line "most of the furniture is nailed to the floor so it can't be used in hand-to-hand combat". I love how the Nightside sounds like one endless bar brawl and occasional Doctor Who shout outs. But I am desperate for some Edwin Drood and his Druidic secret agent. Nightside and Secret Histories desperately needs a crossover. Although if it came to an out and out rumble, I'm gonna have to put my money on John. He seems like the type who will fight dirty.
Speaking of interesting books, on the other side of the spectrum would be Anne Bishop's Black Jewel Trilogy. I tried hard to get into it, I really did, I even finished the first two books. But I'm sorry, I just found the entire thing way too tedious with a plotline that tended to meander a lot and a heroine that, for a blatant Mary Sue, is very, very boring in her own perfection. She starts off mature and powerful and remains like that throughout the series. She is already so perfect, she doesn't need anymore development. Even her angsty background is boring and I can't pinpoint why. I think the problem is the lack of Jaenelle's POV makes it difficult to relate to her. She is only seen through the eyes of the people around her and everyone who can be considered a good guy thinks she's the best thing since sliced bread covered in rainbow and puppies. She's the most powerful witch of her time and was horribly abused in the past which lead her to fall into a coma until she was 15. I know this is the part where I go "Oh poor woobie", but it is so overblown and dramatic and just fails at eliciting any honest emotion.
It reads like- something horrible happens to Jaenelle -> Jaenelle is traumatized -> Jaenelle still manages to be perfect and awesome. An overload of angst is not always the formula for a complex character. How about an inner monologue/ conflict, Bishop? How about Jaenelle realizing just how damaged she is and endeavoring to deal with it? And flowery writing is great and all but I'm going to need something more descriptive than her "ancient, sapphire eyes". I can't even get behind the romance of Jaenelle and Damon since the foundation of their interaction took place when she was twelve and he was hundreds of years old and was nil in the second book.
And this is why I only have about 3 female authors that I truly love (Tanith Lee, Jacqueline Carey, Catherynne M. Valente) . YES, I KNOW HOW SEXIST THAT SOUNDS. NO, I DON'T CARE AND DON'T MAKE ME SAY "BITE ME, FEMINISM." I believe in strong heroines. And I believe that no matter the heroine, whether its a hard bitten, badass cop/sorceress or a klutzy, naive teenage girl can be a fascinating character as long as there is growth and motivation there to back her hero's journey.
Well that turned into a non-coherent essay, didn't it?