S.Q. Eries's Blog, page 70

Ancient Olympic Fun Fact 7

2012 is significant in that it is a presidential election year, a leap year, and a summer Olympic year! The modern Olympics, of course, were inspired by the ancient Greek Olympics, a subject I've been researching for my work in progress. So in these months leading up to the 2012 London Games, I'll be posting weekly tidbits about the original athletic festival that started it all.

Here's this week's fun fact:

The ancient Olympics were a religious event.

Artist's rendition of Olympia's Temple of Zeus

The modern Olympics are a secular affair, but the original Games were held in honor of the Greek god Zeus. Olympia itself was a holy shrine with temples to Zeus, Hera, and other gods, and a highlight of the Olympics was the sacrifice of a hundred oxen on the altar of Zeus. All competitors had to stand before a statue of Zeus and swear to compete fairly, and victory was deemed to come from the gods. Oftentimes, successful Olympic athletes would wind up deified themselves, and later generations of athletes would pray to them for victory.

The close connection between the Greek gods and the athletic festival was the reason behind its cessation around AD 400. By then, the Roman emperors had embraced Christianity, and because Zeus had fallen out of favor with Rome, she no longer glorified him with his own athletic festival.

Tune in next week for more about the ancient Olympics!

Light Novel Review: Spice and Wolf Vol. #05

Spice and Wolf is a wildly popular light novel series that has spawned off an anime, an Internet radio show, and a manga series. While its European medieval setting is typical of high fantasy, this series has  a unique bent to it. Rather than swordfights and magic, the plot focuses on economics, trade, and peddling in a way that skillfully blends adventure and romance.

Yen Press has recently released the fifth volume of this series, and you can read on for the review. (You can also click here for my review of volume 4).

Back Cover Blurb

Lawrence and Holo take a respite from their travels north, but a true businessman never rests! It isn't long before an opportunity for profit in the town of Lenos presents itself to Lawrence; one that could fulfill his dreams of owning his own establishment. But as always the promise of great reward carries with it great risk – and risk is never greater than when one plans to use a werewolf as collateral!

The Review

The adventures of Lawrence and Holo continue with their arrival in the fur trading town of Lenos. As always, Holo is on the prowl for clues of her homeland, and while they do find records about her origins (including a story specifically about Holo), the focus is less "which way" and "how to get there" and more on their growing anxiety at the thought of parting at journey's end. Unfortunately, the emotional tension plays out as cryptic conversations interspersed with Lawrence's thoughts, which are so confused they don't actually provide much clarification. Fans of Lawrence/Holo will find the ultimate resolution sweet, but trying to interpret the meaning behind certain conversations felt like work.

Spice and Wolf would not be complete without some business finagling, and this particular arc centers on a trade war resulting from the canceled military campaign that nearly bankrupted Lawrence. Of course, politics and the Church have a hand in the economic maelstrom, but this time, Lawrence doesn't interact much with the clergy. Instead, Hasekura-sensei introduces Eve, a female merchant, and those who like female characters tough, clever, and mysterious will find her fascinating.

Unfortunately, the actual particulars of Lawrence's latest moneymaking scheme are, like his conversations with Holo, difficult to follow. Figuring out all the players in the trade war took some mental effort as did understanding the multiple steps of Eve's proposal and the rationale behind them. In addition, during Lawrence's investigation of Eve, there were a few places where he'd get a piece of information and draw a conclusion that seemed to skip a few steps of logic. As much as I love Hasekura-sensei's characters, I felt a bit exhausted at the end of this journey.

This light novel includes the title page, three two-page spreads, and the table of contents printed in color as well as eight black-and-white illustrations. It also comes with a dust jacket that doesn't match but mimics the cover illustration. (Ayakura's cover illustration depicts Holo in peasant clothes, and the dust cover features a Holo cosplayer.)

In Summary

This arc is a more difficult read than previous installments of Spice and Wolf, both because of the complex business deal featured and the clumsy portrayal of the emotional awkwardness between Lawrence and Holo. Still, romantics who stick it through will be rewarded by a bit of Holo/Lawrence fluffiness at the end.

First published at the Fandom Post.

Amazing Giveaway: Free Pass to the 2012 San Francisco Writers Conference

For those who have always wanted to attend a writer's conference but have trouble footing (or justifying) the entry fee, there's an amazing opportunity right now over at writersdigest.com!

Writer's Digest has 1 free pass to give away to a random commenter for a full registration pass at the 2012 San Francisco Writers Conference (Feb. 16-19, 2012). To enter, you will need to comment on Chuck Sambuchino's post, and spread the news a bit via social media. So if you've some way of getting over to San Francisco that weekend, go enter! The deadline is Friday, Feb. 10!

Ancient Olympic Fun Fact 6

2012 is significant in that it is a presidential election year, a leap year, and a summer Olympic year! The modern Olympics, of course, were inspired by the ancient Greek Olympics, a subject I've been researching for my work in progress. So in these months leading up to the 2012 London Games, I'll be posting weekly tidbits about the original athletic festival that started it all.

Here's this week's fun fact:

Olympic trainers also had to be nude.

According to Pausanias, the requirement for athletic trainers to be sans clothes was a later development, due to an incident involving Callipateira or (Pherenice), a woman from a famous athletic family. In Book 5 of the Description of Greece, he explains:

She, being a widow, disguised herself exactly like a gymnastic trainer, and brought her son to compete at Olympia. Peisirodus, for so her son was called, was victorious, and Callipateira, as she was jumping over the enclosure in which they keep the trainers shut up, bared her person. So her sex was discovered…

I'm not sure how exactly she was climbing that she'd expose her private parts, but at any rate, she got caught. As mentioned in Fun Fact 3, she should've been cast down Mount Typaeum. However,

… they let her go unpunished out of respect for her father, her brothers and her son, all of whom had been victorious at Olympia. But a law was passed that for the future trainers should strip before entering the arena.

So things ended well for Callipateira, but she pretty much ensured that no other woman would repeat her stunt.

Tune in next week for more about the ancient Olympics!

The Empress and the Comic available now!

Issue 3 of the YA e-zine Scape is out, and my second short story is in it! Set in an alternate Imperial China, The Empress and the Comic reimagines Hans Christian Andersen's Nightingale as a romance with steampunk elements. Scape is FREE so check it out by clicking here!

The story is only 6,900 words, but Empress' journey from draft to revision to publication took almost a year and a half. As most writers know, publication is a long process with lots of waiting and editing between start and finish. Fortunately, I had the aid of my AQC critique group, who played a huge part in getting Empress up to snuff. Thank you, guys!

And an unexpected bonus at the journey's end was Stephanie Martin's illustration. I knew Scape would have an illustration to go with the story, but I had no idea who the artist would be or what it would look like. When it finally came out, I was floored to find her chibi-esque artwork accompanying Empress. Isn't it ADORABLE!!?? We've yet to make contact, but guessing from her deviantART page, we share a common interest in manga/anime.

So please check out Empress, and I hope you enjoy it enough to pass on to your friends.

Ancient Olympic Fun Fact 5

2012 is significant in that it is a presidential election year, a leap year, and a summer Olympic year! The modern Olympics, of course, were inspired by the ancient Greek Olympics, a subject I've been researching for my work in progress. So in these months leading up to the 2012 London Games, I'll be posting weekly tidbits about the original athletic festival that started it all.

Here's this week's fun fact:

Olympic athletes competed in the nude.

The modern Olympics would look a lot different if this custom was still in effect. According to one story, athletes originally competed wearing a garment that resembled shorts, but the shorts occasionally fell mid-race, causing runners to trip. (Wardrobe malfunction!) So to solve the problem, they did away with the clothes. Others state that exercising naked was simply how the Greeks did it so for them to compete in Olympia sans clothes was normal.

Various athletes. Note the charioteer in robes in the top left

A minority of athletes did wear clothes though. For the chariot races, drivers wore traditional long white robes. And some wrestlers wore tight fitting leather caps to keep their hair out of the way so – as my husband insists – they weren't completely naked. (But I doubt that argument would fly with the local police if you decided to go out wearing a hat and nothing else).

Tune in next week for more about the ancient Olympics!

Ancient Olympic Fun Fact 4

2012 is significant in that it is a presidential election year, a leap year, and a summer Olympic year! The modern Olympics, of course, were inspired by the ancient Greek Olympics, a subject I've been researching for my work in progress. So in these months leading up to the 2012 London Games, I'll be posting weekly tidbits about the original athletic festival that started it all.

Here's this week's fun fact:

Only male athletes competed at Olympia, BUT a woman could be declared victor for an Olympic event.

Considering the ban against females mentioned in Fun Fact 3, it's not all that surprising that there were no events for women. Contests were limited to boys, men, and animals (equestrian events were included in the program). However, even if a woman couldn't physically attend the Games, she could still win an Olympic crown.

Here's how: for the equestrian events, the victors were not the animals or the jockeys/charioteers (who were usually slaves or hired men) but the OWNERS of the animals. As such, a horse owner didn't even have to be at Olympia and could still win the event and all the glory that went with it. Horseracing was, as it is now, a rich man's sport, and this rule allowed the well-heeled elite a chance at Olympic glory without having to risk their necks on the racetrack. But the consequence was that if a female owned horses, she could also enter and win. This is exactly what Cynisca of Sparta, the main character of my WIP, did.

Granted, it was still difficult for women to participate. Racehorses are expensive, and certain Greek city states didn't allow women to own property. But Cynisca won the chariot event twice, and a handful of women followed in her footsteps.

Tune in next week for more about the ancient Olympics!

Manga Review: My Girlfriend's A Geek Vol. #05

Within anime/manga fandom, there is a subset devoted to yaoi or boys' love type stories. Fans of this sort tend to be very passionate about their favorite genre, and My Girlfriend's a Geek (based off a popular Japanese blog) relates the adventures of a non-otaku dating one such fan.

Yen Press has recently released the final volume of this series, and you can read on for the review. (You can also click here if you're interested in my reviews of earlier volumes).

Back Cover Blurb

Dating a "rotten" girl geek is no easy feat, as Taiga knows well. But after overcoming some of the strangest hurdles and learning to accept Yuiko's fangirl tendencies, he's over the moon now that their comical but loving relationship is stronger than ever! But when the fanfic he's been diligently writing for Yuiko brings Taiga some sudden and unwelcome Internet notoriety, will he be able to withstand the onslaught of a zillion Yuikos, or will he run away screaming from his happy ending?!

The Review

Shinba-sensei strikes me as having lost steam with the Taiga/Yuiko relationship. Of four chapters, only one really focuses on the couple so it doesn't surprise me that this is the final volume. Still, this installment was much more entertaining than previous volumes I've read, mainly because of new characters Koharu and Youhei.

Shinba-sensei puts a new twist on the normal-person-sucked-into-yaoi-fandom theme with a college-age doujinshi writer and his roommate. Unlike the Taiga/Yuiko relationship where Yuiko capitalizes on her boyfriend's affection to drag him into her "rotten" world, Youhei has no such leverage with Koharu, meaning that Youhei has to resort to other kinds of trickery to force him in. Koharu, though, is hardly the pushover type so the roommates' interactions are much more interesting than Yuiko and Taiga's weird romance.

As for the series conclusion, My Girlfriend's a Geek generally felt like a collection of one-shots, and its lack of a strong driving story arc meant its final chapter seemed like simply another chapter. In fact, I wouldn't have guessed the series had concluded if not for the "FINAL" on the cover.

By the way, this final volume's extras include an afterword essay (where Pentabu gets the best of Y-ko for once), a mini comic about Akari, and bonus illustrations.

In Summary

The series concludes! The Taiga/Yuiko relationship has grown somewhat stale, but Shinba-sensei makes up for it with the comic interactions of a male closet doujinshi author and his straight-laced roommate.

First published at the Fandom Post.

Ancient Olympic Fun Fact 3

2012 is significant in that it is a presidential election year, a leap year, and a summer Olympic year! The modern Olympics, of course, were inspired by the ancient Greek Olympics, a subject I've been researching for my work in progress. So in these months leading to the 2012 London Games, I'll be posting weekly tidbits about the original athletic festival that started it all.

Here's this week's fun fact:

Married women were barred from attending the Games.

At other times of the year, women could enter Olympia, where the Games took place, but during the competition, they had to stay out. The one exception to the rule was the priestess of Demeter Chamyne, whose presence was actually required at the Games. As for the rest, Pausanias writes:

As you go from Scillus along the road to Olympia, before you cross the Alpheius,there is a mountain with high, precipitous cliffs. It is called Mount Typaeum. It is a law of Elis to cast down it any women who are caught present at the Olympic Games, or even on the other side of the Alpheius, on the days prohibited to women. (Book 5, Chapter 6, Section 7 of the Description of Greece)

However, the confusing thing is that in chapter 20 of the same book, Pausanias writes, "Maidens are not debarred from looking on at the Games."

So it appears there were some females at the Games – at least in Pausanias' time. But that doesn't necessarily mean it was always the case. The Games were centuries old at the time of Pausanias, and the dominating Romans may have tweaked the rules when they overran Greece. It's also not clear whether the term "maidens" meant entry was based off age or marital status.

At any rate, if you were a woman and married, you'd stay well clear of Olympia during the Games.

Tune in next week for more about the ancient Olympics!

Ancient Olympic Fun Fact 2

2012 is significant in that it is a presidential election year, a leap year, and a summer Olympic year! The modern Olympics, of course, were inspired by the ancient Greek Olympics, a subject I've been researching for my work in progress. So in these months leading up to the 2012 London Games, I'll be posting weekly tidbits about the original athletic festival that started it all.

Here's this week's fun fact:

Only free-born Greeks could compete in the Games

While athletes from all over the world compete in the modern Olympics, only those of Greek descent could enter the original competition in Olympia. It should be noted though that Greece at the time was a far from a unified entity so in a sense it was an interstate competition. Not to mention, the concept of an athletic festival was utterly foreign to other cultures.

However, things did change when Rome took over Greece. The Romans liked a lot about Greek culture, including their sports, and they compelled the Games to open up to Roman officials. The Emperor Nero very famously entered one Olympiad where he took the crown for the chariot competition despite falling off of his ten-horse chariot (all the other competitors had four-horse chariots). Eventually, all Roman citizens, whether Egyptian or Spaniard, Syrian or Armenian, could take part, turning the Games from a panhellenic festival to a more universal one.

Tune in next week for more about the ancient Olympics!