(no subject)
So, most importantly, I have finished this. It is a portfolio of sorts. I know some of you have been with me, so to speak, since the very earliest designs I've got archived there. (Some of you even earlier, come to think on it!) And some of you don't know the vast extent of my Internet Hobby. So you can go there and look. Now I'm gonna see if I can find myself some sort of webdesignish internship. *crosses fingers*
I've decided to do this thing where I write up and summarize books I read in my livejournal. Who knows how long it will last! I read a lot, and from a few different genres, so maybe once in a while people will find this interesting. No spoilers, just sort of thoughts and mini-reviews.
So, a few weeks ago, I wandered into my college bookstore looking for a mindless fantasy series to read. I picked this one up because it had the trademark cheesy TOR cover art, and because it looked the most complete. (I wouldn't want to start a trilogy without knowing that I could easily procure the next two.)
So, this novel is told in first person perspective by Lerris, citizen of Recluse and bored woodworking apprentice. Recluse is a walled up island superpower that is very protective of its sense of order. Lerris disrupts the order somehow by being bored. So, because Lerris is bored, his parents force him to leave their pristine town and go on a Quest. "Wait!" Lerris says, "I wasn't that bored." Nonetheless, Lerris is shipped off to dangergeld training, after which he will undergo a trial-by-exile in the World Beyond. He meets fellow dangergelders at training, and some of them turn out to be important, but they were all introduced at once and I couldn't keep them straight.
This world's magic is actually pretty interesting, and is governed on an Order-Chaos axis. I'm not quite convinced of the novelty of flipping the D&D alignment grid sideways, but the execution is interesting and makes some degree of sense. I gather that the magic system is the most important thing in the series, because though there are several books they seem to jump around through the epochs.
As I mentioned, the novel is told in first-person. Lerris doesn't know what the heck is going on with regards to Order and Chaos, how Recluse is really governed, magic in general, the world outside, his family history, etc, etc. This is not for want of asking...the whole first quarter of the book is Lerris asking, "What the heck's up with this?" and then getting a good ol' fashioned Cryptic Mystery Answer. Lerris is really easy to identify with, and I came to like him a lot. However, the evasive BS that pisses him off for the first hundred plus pages pissed me off too. I was intrigued by the initial lure, but then they dragged it on and didn't tell me anything for so long I skipped ahead to the end to make sure things would actually happen. I'm not stupid, fantasy book, I know the lead character in a book about magic is not not a wizard, so let's cut the crap and move on. Thankfully, about the time Lerris starts up his second woodworking stint, it really picks up. For the last two to three hundred pages or so, I couldn't put the book down.
The author has an exasperating tendency to overuse ellipses. I opened up to a random page and counted seven uses of ellipses. This really annoyed me through the first, more boring half of the book, but when it picked up I stopped noticing.
I don't know if I'll read the rest of the thirteen or so books in the series, but I'd definitely pick up the other book with Lerris in it. It was good for what I wanted it to be: a distraction.
Next up I want to see if I can get my hands on Rebecca. ezmo11 came over a few nights ago and we watched the Alfred Hitchcock version and His Girl Friday.
I'm moving right along in Final Fantasy XII, past the Phon Coast and to some kind of pirate city. Per usual, waiting till I finish the thing to give thoughts. Mostly so far it is the story of me being poor. I'm rich in Final Fantasy Tactics! Inflation at work?
I've decided to do this thing where I write up and summarize books I read in my livejournal. Who knows how long it will last! I read a lot, and from a few different genres, so maybe once in a while people will find this interesting. No spoilers, just sort of thoughts and mini-reviews.
So, a few weeks ago, I wandered into my college bookstore looking for a mindless fantasy series to read. I picked this one up because it had the trademark cheesy TOR cover art, and because it looked the most complete. (I wouldn't want to start a trilogy without knowing that I could easily procure the next two.)
So, this novel is told in first person perspective by Lerris, citizen of Recluse and bored woodworking apprentice. Recluse is a walled up island superpower that is very protective of its sense of order. Lerris disrupts the order somehow by being bored. So, because Lerris is bored, his parents force him to leave their pristine town and go on a Quest. "Wait!" Lerris says, "I wasn't that bored." Nonetheless, Lerris is shipped off to dangergeld training, after which he will undergo a trial-by-exile in the World Beyond. He meets fellow dangergelders at training, and some of them turn out to be important, but they were all introduced at once and I couldn't keep them straight.
This world's magic is actually pretty interesting, and is governed on an Order-Chaos axis. I'm not quite convinced of the novelty of flipping the D&D alignment grid sideways, but the execution is interesting and makes some degree of sense. I gather that the magic system is the most important thing in the series, because though there are several books they seem to jump around through the epochs.
As I mentioned, the novel is told in first-person. Lerris doesn't know what the heck is going on with regards to Order and Chaos, how Recluse is really governed, magic in general, the world outside, his family history, etc, etc. This is not for want of asking...the whole first quarter of the book is Lerris asking, "What the heck's up with this?" and then getting a good ol' fashioned Cryptic Mystery Answer. Lerris is really easy to identify with, and I came to like him a lot. However, the evasive BS that pisses him off for the first hundred plus pages pissed me off too. I was intrigued by the initial lure, but then they dragged it on and didn't tell me anything for so long I skipped ahead to the end to make sure things would actually happen. I'm not stupid, fantasy book, I know the lead character in a book about magic is not not a wizard, so let's cut the crap and move on. Thankfully, about the time Lerris starts up his second woodworking stint, it really picks up. For the last two to three hundred pages or so, I couldn't put the book down.
The author has an exasperating tendency to overuse ellipses. I opened up to a random page and counted seven uses of ellipses. This really annoyed me through the first, more boring half of the book, but when it picked up I stopped noticing.
I don't know if I'll read the rest of the thirteen or so books in the series, but I'd definitely pick up the other book with Lerris in it. It was good for what I wanted it to be: a distraction.
Next up I want to see if I can get my hands on Rebecca. ezmo11 came over a few nights ago and we watched the Alfred Hitchcock version and His Girl Friday.
I'm moving right along in Final Fantasy XII, past the Phon Coast and to some kind of pirate city. Per usual, waiting till I finish the thing to give thoughts. Mostly so far it is the story of me being poor. I'm rich in Final Fantasy Tactics! Inflation at work?