Zero Angel Richardson's Blog, page 17
October 14, 2013
NaNoWriMo
NaNoWriMo is coming up!
For those of you that don't know, November is National Novel Writing Month. There's a non-profit organization that is there to encourage you to write a 50K+ word novel and will even offer prizes and discounts to winners and participants. You can find more here: NaNoWriMo.org
I'll be participating this year and will be attempting a double NaNo (two 50K+ books). Let me talk some about what I've been working on and what I will be doing for NaNo.
I've been re-teaching myself piano and guitar, which I've been away from for 14 and 5 years respectively. It's incredibly humbling going back to next to no dexterity and the lack of any sort of calluses or protection on my finger pads (as I type this, be warmed by the thought that every tap of the key is causing an inordinate amount of pain to my left hand -_-).
I've been spending about 2-4 hours or so a day doing that and although it's going slowly, it's like putting myself back together. Music is such an important part of life for everyone, creation of your own music and being able to evoke music yourself is a wonderful gift that I've missed more than I knew.
I'm drawing regularly again as well. This is something I've done no more than dabble in for the last 8 years, but is also something that I believe is part of my fundamental make-up. From my first amazing drawing of Chill Penguin from Mega Man X twenty some years ago, through all the reproductions of the D&D Monster Manuals to working in my own drawings, both of models and original creations, and through my college courses in drawing and art before changing my major, I've probably drawn almost as many hours as I have written. Right now, I'm spending an hour or so a day doing that.
The lack of skill in all these arenas is astounding and frustrating, but everything is slowly coming back.
And I am coming back to myself. My enthusiasm and energy for life has always been one of my favorite things about being me—when they're not being oppressed by soul-crushers—and instead of quickly burning through the mania like normal, this feels more natural and more of a slow-burn of sustained running.
A marathon instead of a sprint. I'll let you know how it is going in 26.2 miles, but I think it's a pace I can maintain.
I was never a master in any of these trades, mind you, but I was more than a jack of these few, and right now I feel more like a 7 than even a jack.
(By the way, tarot cards definitely have it right in having both a page and a knight instead of jacks. I would rather have either of those than a jack. What were they thinking when they adapted tarot into poker cards?)
Part of the newfound drive comes from having made some level of progress with the house. I now almost have a bedroom/office. It's completely unfinished with only half the outlets I need and only a temporary light dangling from the ceiling, but there's a bed, a dresser and a desk, and it's relatively clean. I'd say it's almost fastidious, at least as much as any location can be fastidious (I'm not being stupid, I'm using personification).
(I've also borrowed the dictionary from my childhood home. It's great. It's like, 7 inches thick. ...of course, I already knew what fastidious and personification meant, and I'm at work right now anyway, but it's still reassuring having that tome available for consultation)
So having a workplace is fantastic. And then there's an oven, sink, refrigerator, microwave and toaster on the 1st floor too. I'm getting spoiled in no longer feeling like I am camping out at my house (which I've felt like from September of last year until a few weeks ago).
A Warrior's Way has mutated into a full-on novel of itself. It was always going to be a novel-length book, but I feel that anything under 80K qualifies as a novella in the fantasy genre, and anything longer than a novella has exponentially more issues and difficulties to deal with than a nice, short romp of a book that a novella would be. I suppose I should say, A Warrior's Way instead of A Warrior's Way.
I've been working on this and numerous other short stories, but this will not be the focus of NaNoWriMo for me. (If you continue working on another book during NaNoWriMo, you're a "rebel", which isn't a bad thing, but they have their own groups to talk about being rebellious and so forth I imagine. I'll be doing a straightforward double NaNoWriMo).
The first book I will be working on is called A Cross at the End of Days, which is my foray into urban fantasy. It features Vera Cross as one of the inheritors of the legacy of guarding the Seal of the Seven Archmagi, and what that means in the "real world". It will be the first published work of a War of the Ages book that takes place between 10000 BC and 3000 AD (the time of the Seal on all magick). Guardians of the seal frequently act like police for the supernatural remnants from the Seal and I hope to make this a serial affair. If it goes well, this opening book will be released in two parts. It will introduce Vera's character and follow her investigation into creatures trying to use the Mayan End of Days to destroy the Seal of the Archmagi. (Yes, I am aware that was last year, but in the book it's revealed they got the math wrong).
The second book I am writing on is called The Santa Hat, and follows the path of a magickal Santa Hat as it crosses hands over and over again during the Christmas season leading up to Christmas. It will be the only book I write under my actual name instead of Zero Angel since books published under my pseudonym are not always family friendly. Both of these books have been in planning for over a year, and The Santa Hat has been in planning for over 3 years now.
Because of time periods relevant to the storyline of the books, both of these would be great to be released in November or early December...so we should have them edited and ready for publication by November 2014.
If they both end up being ~50K words, then that means I will be writing ~3.5K words per day during the month of November in order to get the first drafts down. I'm hoping Vera's story will be at least a little longer. No matter the results, I am going forward into NaNo optimistically and feel confident of my stamina in the long run.
(Speaking of running, for those of you that heard about my ankle. I'm currently walking and back to going up and down steps without fear, but it's still giving me some trouble. I'm hopeful I'll be able to start running and exercising it again in another few weeks).
Wish me luck! I hope you'll be joining me for NaNoWriMo, and I will keep you all posted of my progress through the backlog of works.
For those of you that don't know, November is National Novel Writing Month. There's a non-profit organization that is there to encourage you to write a 50K+ word novel and will even offer prizes and discounts to winners and participants. You can find more here: NaNoWriMo.org
I'll be participating this year and will be attempting a double NaNo (two 50K+ books). Let me talk some about what I've been working on and what I will be doing for NaNo.
I've been re-teaching myself piano and guitar, which I've been away from for 14 and 5 years respectively. It's incredibly humbling going back to next to no dexterity and the lack of any sort of calluses or protection on my finger pads (as I type this, be warmed by the thought that every tap of the key is causing an inordinate amount of pain to my left hand -_-).
I've been spending about 2-4 hours or so a day doing that and although it's going slowly, it's like putting myself back together. Music is such an important part of life for everyone, creation of your own music and being able to evoke music yourself is a wonderful gift that I've missed more than I knew.
I'm drawing regularly again as well. This is something I've done no more than dabble in for the last 8 years, but is also something that I believe is part of my fundamental make-up. From my first amazing drawing of Chill Penguin from Mega Man X twenty some years ago, through all the reproductions of the D&D Monster Manuals to working in my own drawings, both of models and original creations, and through my college courses in drawing and art before changing my major, I've probably drawn almost as many hours as I have written. Right now, I'm spending an hour or so a day doing that.
The lack of skill in all these arenas is astounding and frustrating, but everything is slowly coming back.
And I am coming back to myself. My enthusiasm and energy for life has always been one of my favorite things about being me—when they're not being oppressed by soul-crushers—and instead of quickly burning through the mania like normal, this feels more natural and more of a slow-burn of sustained running.
A marathon instead of a sprint. I'll let you know how it is going in 26.2 miles, but I think it's a pace I can maintain.
I was never a master in any of these trades, mind you, but I was more than a jack of these few, and right now I feel more like a 7 than even a jack.
(By the way, tarot cards definitely have it right in having both a page and a knight instead of jacks. I would rather have either of those than a jack. What were they thinking when they adapted tarot into poker cards?)
Part of the newfound drive comes from having made some level of progress with the house. I now almost have a bedroom/office. It's completely unfinished with only half the outlets I need and only a temporary light dangling from the ceiling, but there's a bed, a dresser and a desk, and it's relatively clean. I'd say it's almost fastidious, at least as much as any location can be fastidious (I'm not being stupid, I'm using personification).
(I've also borrowed the dictionary from my childhood home. It's great. It's like, 7 inches thick. ...of course, I already knew what fastidious and personification meant, and I'm at work right now anyway, but it's still reassuring having that tome available for consultation)
So having a workplace is fantastic. And then there's an oven, sink, refrigerator, microwave and toaster on the 1st floor too. I'm getting spoiled in no longer feeling like I am camping out at my house (which I've felt like from September of last year until a few weeks ago).
A Warrior's Way has mutated into a full-on novel of itself. It was always going to be a novel-length book, but I feel that anything under 80K qualifies as a novella in the fantasy genre, and anything longer than a novella has exponentially more issues and difficulties to deal with than a nice, short romp of a book that a novella would be. I suppose I should say, A Warrior's Way instead of A Warrior's Way.
I've been working on this and numerous other short stories, but this will not be the focus of NaNoWriMo for me. (If you continue working on another book during NaNoWriMo, you're a "rebel", which isn't a bad thing, but they have their own groups to talk about being rebellious and so forth I imagine. I'll be doing a straightforward double NaNoWriMo).
The first book I will be working on is called A Cross at the End of Days, which is my foray into urban fantasy. It features Vera Cross as one of the inheritors of the legacy of guarding the Seal of the Seven Archmagi, and what that means in the "real world". It will be the first published work of a War of the Ages book that takes place between 10000 BC and 3000 AD (the time of the Seal on all magick). Guardians of the seal frequently act like police for the supernatural remnants from the Seal and I hope to make this a serial affair. If it goes well, this opening book will be released in two parts. It will introduce Vera's character and follow her investigation into creatures trying to use the Mayan End of Days to destroy the Seal of the Archmagi. (Yes, I am aware that was last year, but in the book it's revealed they got the math wrong).
The second book I am writing on is called The Santa Hat, and follows the path of a magickal Santa Hat as it crosses hands over and over again during the Christmas season leading up to Christmas. It will be the only book I write under my actual name instead of Zero Angel since books published under my pseudonym are not always family friendly. Both of these books have been in planning for over a year, and The Santa Hat has been in planning for over 3 years now.
Because of time periods relevant to the storyline of the books, both of these would be great to be released in November or early December...so we should have them edited and ready for publication by November 2014.
If they both end up being ~50K words, then that means I will be writing ~3.5K words per day during the month of November in order to get the first drafts down. I'm hoping Vera's story will be at least a little longer. No matter the results, I am going forward into NaNo optimistically and feel confident of my stamina in the long run.
(Speaking of running, for those of you that heard about my ankle. I'm currently walking and back to going up and down steps without fear, but it's still giving me some trouble. I'm hopeful I'll be able to start running and exercising it again in another few weeks).
Wish me luck! I hope you'll be joining me for NaNoWriMo, and I will keep you all posted of my progress through the backlog of works.
October 7, 2013
Lightning Reviews
Got a backlog of media I've consumed lately, so let's knock them out quick.
Today we'll cover the movies Oz the Great and Powerful, Oblivion, & Jack Reacher as well as the books Turn Coat and Changes by Jim Butcher (part of the Dresden Files series). Here are the Amazon links:
I thought this movie looked cool when it came out and I was enthused about the actors and actresses in it (James Franco, Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz are always welcome in any movie-going experience of mine, and now that I've seen it, it's worth mentioning that Michelle Williams did a swell job also), so I was excited to watch it.
This movie is done in 3D style. That's not a bad thing if you're watching it in 3D. In two-dimensions, the swerves, zooms and pans are a bit trite, and a worse offender is the fact that the film is drawn out to about twice the length it should be in order to fit in more 3D special effects.
After Oz makes it to Oz and up until the first real "twist" of the movie (which really shouldn't be a twist to anyone that has seen the Wizard of Oz or I suppose Wicked—note: I guess I'm assuming no one's read any of the dozens of Oz books), the movie seemed to be moving at a good enough pace, but beyond this it just took entirely too long to do anything. Without having Oz popping out at me, I was not as interested in all of the aforementioned sweeping shots.
Some of the background shots were exceedingly sloppy (some brightly colored horses come to mind) and overall I was left feeling unsatisfied. Apparently, they're making a sequel. I'm not sure it needs one, and since it's not going to Dorothy territory, most things would be left unconcluded, soooo yeah.
Zero Review: 7.0/10, C-
Oblivion
Oblivion had a very hardcore sci-fi feel to it. Throughout the film I felt like I was watching a classic sci-fi tale but done with all the technological wonders of the modern age of filming. This was not necessarily a good thing. Those classic sci-fi tales have a tendency of saying "F U" to their readers with some nihilistic BS point about dystopian once-utopias that the characters have to annoyingly suffer through. Luckily, Oblivion remains good in spite of this feel permeating the movie.
I was expecting some of the "twists", but others caught me pleasantly by surprise, and the entire thing left me with good feelings, although nothing approaching the level of emotion attained by truly great tales. It was just a pleasant little movie with an absurdly high special effects budget.
Zero Review: 8.5/10, B
Zero Approved
Jack Reacher
Like Oblivion, Jack Reacher is good without wowing you, and the character of Jack Reacher is bad-ass enough without being implausible. Surprisingly, they portray him as a penultimate good guy, so when he shows that he doesn't necessarily care about the law, it comes off being satisfyingly visceral. Nothing to wow you, but nothing terrible either.
Zero Review: 7.5/10, C
Finally, we have the two Dresden Files tales from Jim Butcher:
Turn Coat and Changes
I fondly remember the 2007 Sci-Fi channel original series (back when it was Sci-Fi instead of SyFy) and I had been meaning to check out the series since then. It's a very cool character that is geeky, powerful and cool.
Exploring the mystery/detective genre from a fantastical bent, they do so quite enjoyably. I definitely approve and recommend the Dresden Files from the two books I've read (books 11 and 12 respectively), and I am looking forward to checking out the rest too (although my library only has 11-14, having skipped 1-10 for whatever reasons). Changes had much more action in it, and although at the end they did a little bit of a reset to the events of the book, I find it plausible that each additional book will show a Dresden that is more and more powerful (with the possible exception of Book 13).
Zero Review: 8.5/10, B
Zero Recommended
Today we'll cover the movies Oz the Great and Powerful, Oblivion, & Jack Reacher as well as the books Turn Coat and Changes by Jim Butcher (part of the Dresden Files series). Here are the Amazon links:
I thought this movie looked cool when it came out and I was enthused about the actors and actresses in it (James Franco, Mila Kunis and Rachel Weisz are always welcome in any movie-going experience of mine, and now that I've seen it, it's worth mentioning that Michelle Williams did a swell job also), so I was excited to watch it.
This movie is done in 3D style. That's not a bad thing if you're watching it in 3D. In two-dimensions, the swerves, zooms and pans are a bit trite, and a worse offender is the fact that the film is drawn out to about twice the length it should be in order to fit in more 3D special effects.
After Oz makes it to Oz and up until the first real "twist" of the movie (which really shouldn't be a twist to anyone that has seen the Wizard of Oz or I suppose Wicked—note: I guess I'm assuming no one's read any of the dozens of Oz books), the movie seemed to be moving at a good enough pace, but beyond this it just took entirely too long to do anything. Without having Oz popping out at me, I was not as interested in all of the aforementioned sweeping shots.
Some of the background shots were exceedingly sloppy (some brightly colored horses come to mind) and overall I was left feeling unsatisfied. Apparently, they're making a sequel. I'm not sure it needs one, and since it's not going to Dorothy territory, most things would be left unconcluded, soooo yeah.
Zero Review: 7.0/10, C-
Oblivion
Oblivion had a very hardcore sci-fi feel to it. Throughout the film I felt like I was watching a classic sci-fi tale but done with all the technological wonders of the modern age of filming. This was not necessarily a good thing. Those classic sci-fi tales have a tendency of saying "F U" to their readers with some nihilistic BS point about dystopian once-utopias that the characters have to annoyingly suffer through. Luckily, Oblivion remains good in spite of this feel permeating the movie.
I was expecting some of the "twists", but others caught me pleasantly by surprise, and the entire thing left me with good feelings, although nothing approaching the level of emotion attained by truly great tales. It was just a pleasant little movie with an absurdly high special effects budget.
Zero Review: 8.5/10, B
Zero Approved
Jack Reacher
Like Oblivion, Jack Reacher is good without wowing you, and the character of Jack Reacher is bad-ass enough without being implausible. Surprisingly, they portray him as a penultimate good guy, so when he shows that he doesn't necessarily care about the law, it comes off being satisfyingly visceral. Nothing to wow you, but nothing terrible either.
Zero Review: 7.5/10, C
Finally, we have the two Dresden Files tales from Jim Butcher:
Turn Coat and Changes
I fondly remember the 2007 Sci-Fi channel original series (back when it was Sci-Fi instead of SyFy) and I had been meaning to check out the series since then. It's a very cool character that is geeky, powerful and cool.
Exploring the mystery/detective genre from a fantastical bent, they do so quite enjoyably. I definitely approve and recommend the Dresden Files from the two books I've read (books 11 and 12 respectively), and I am looking forward to checking out the rest too (although my library only has 11-14, having skipped 1-10 for whatever reasons). Changes had much more action in it, and although at the end they did a little bit of a reset to the events of the book, I find it plausible that each additional book will show a Dresden that is more and more powerful (with the possible exception of Book 13).
Zero Review: 8.5/10, B
Zero Recommended
October 2, 2013
I support the ACA
Is that a surprise?
You may remember this, The Cogs of Academia, where I commented on the fact that I went from working over 60 hours a week to just under a 29 hour per week average (for YSU). They even lowered it again so that now I am working ~22 hours per week average (~35.7 hours per week during school).
And you might be saying, what is this guy thinking?
Well, a few things.
(1). The ACA helps everyone, including me, my fiancee and even the government and the debt, and yes, even health insurance companies (not that I really think they need any help).
(2). Even if I have suffered personally so far from the implementation of this law (thus far), it still would have been the right thing to do. That's why I pay taxes also. Yes, I do benefit from the government, but it is also the right thing to do for everyone. I am very much a believer in doing what's right.
(3). Although I wish that Obama and the Democratic Congress would have had the gall to enact Hilarycare instead of Romneycare, I don't blame Obama OR the ACA for having my hours cut. I blame the people that cut the hours: the people in charge at my jobs.
I just wanted to share a couple of REAL-QUICK and easy conclusions from calculations that you may have missed in that previous blog.
When I was working full-time at YSU and AIPOD, I generated ~170K dollars at YSU per year and ~497K dollars at AIPOD.
There, was that quick? Too quick to notice?
I was working full-time at both places, although AIPOD ended up cutting the hours before a full year went by. Full-time at YSU meant that I made an EXTRA 170 THOUSAND dollars MORE than what it cost to employ me. 170 THOUSAND DOLLARS. That's not worth healthcare?
I've worked full-time at YSU since 2010. That's 510 THOUSAND DOLLARS that I made them through 2012. This year, they enacted the cuts (a year earlier than they apparently had to by the way), and I'm down to only generating them ~96K this year.That's over $600K I've made them in the last four years.
How about AIPOD? I understand they're for-profit, but it's a bloody online school. They can't afford a percent of that 497K dollars that a full-time year would generate for them?
That's almost 700K dollars of PROFIT (with regards to salary) that was generated by ME. Just me, no one else, not counting any other classes taught by anyone else.
And, I might add, I'm a damn good teacher. I'm sure I'm a fair shade better than the teachers that were hired to supplement my hours. They should be able to afford having good teachers and make the ethical choice of ensuring they are healthy enough to stick around for a while and continue to balance their budgets. WHERE DOES ALL OF THAT MONEY GO?!
So if you're someone that has heard about what happened to me, I urge you to not use it as an example of why the ACA is bad. I do not support using it as an example of why the ACA is bad. I think the ACA is a good thing and I think that businesses are always going to take the path of maximum profit, which in many ways is a bad thing, and as we're seeing more and more everyday, eventually unsustainable.
I've included my calculations for people that doubt the numbers.
Calculations:
YSU:
AIPOD:
These numbers were all accurate as of April 2.
You may remember this, The Cogs of Academia, where I commented on the fact that I went from working over 60 hours a week to just under a 29 hour per week average (for YSU). They even lowered it again so that now I am working ~22 hours per week average (~35.7 hours per week during school).
And you might be saying, what is this guy thinking?
Well, a few things.
(1). The ACA helps everyone, including me, my fiancee and even the government and the debt, and yes, even health insurance companies (not that I really think they need any help).
(2). Even if I have suffered personally so far from the implementation of this law (thus far), it still would have been the right thing to do. That's why I pay taxes also. Yes, I do benefit from the government, but it is also the right thing to do for everyone. I am very much a believer in doing what's right.
(3). Although I wish that Obama and the Democratic Congress would have had the gall to enact Hilarycare instead of Romneycare, I don't blame Obama OR the ACA for having my hours cut. I blame the people that cut the hours: the people in charge at my jobs.
I just wanted to share a couple of REAL-QUICK and easy conclusions from calculations that you may have missed in that previous blog.
When I was working full-time at YSU and AIPOD, I generated ~170K dollars at YSU per year and ~497K dollars at AIPOD.
There, was that quick? Too quick to notice?
I was working full-time at both places, although AIPOD ended up cutting the hours before a full year went by. Full-time at YSU meant that I made an EXTRA 170 THOUSAND dollars MORE than what it cost to employ me. 170 THOUSAND DOLLARS. That's not worth healthcare?
I've worked full-time at YSU since 2010. That's 510 THOUSAND DOLLARS that I made them through 2012. This year, they enacted the cuts (a year earlier than they apparently had to by the way), and I'm down to only generating them ~96K this year.That's over $600K I've made them in the last four years.
How about AIPOD? I understand they're for-profit, but it's a bloody online school. They can't afford a percent of that 497K dollars that a full-time year would generate for them?
That's almost 700K dollars of PROFIT (with regards to salary) that was generated by ME. Just me, no one else, not counting any other classes taught by anyone else.
And, I might add, I'm a damn good teacher. I'm sure I'm a fair shade better than the teachers that were hired to supplement my hours. They should be able to afford having good teachers and make the ethical choice of ensuring they are healthy enough to stick around for a while and continue to balance their budgets. WHERE DOES ALL OF THAT MONEY GO?!
So if you're someone that has heard about what happened to me, I urge you to not use it as an example of why the ACA is bad. I do not support using it as an example of why the ACA is bad. I think the ACA is a good thing and I think that businesses are always going to take the path of maximum profit, which in many ways is a bad thing, and as we're seeing more and more everyday, eventually unsustainable.
I've included my calculations for people that doubt the numbers.
Calculations:
YSU:
$6469.5 per credit hour instructional fee for average-size class (25 students).Note: A full-time load is 24 credit hours, someone in that position would make them $136,068 per year.
-$800 per credit hour instructional fee paid to instructor
$5669.5 per credit hour remaining after the instructor is paid.
$5669.5 per credit hour
* 30 credit hours I worked
$170,085 per year generated for YSU after I was paid
AIPOD:
$487 per credit hour instructional fee per student
* 15 average class size
* 4 credits per class
$29,220 per class
$29,220 per class
-$1600 instructor salary per class
$27,620 per class remaining after the instructor is paid
$27,620 per class
* 2 classes per half-quarter "full-time load"
* 9 half-quarters per year
$497,160 per year after the instructor is paid
These numbers were all accurate as of April 2.
September 29, 2013
Sci-fi Movie Review: "Star Trek: Into Darkness"
I'm not a Trekkie. I could never really get into (or stand) the television shows in any of their incarnations.
That said, I have enjoyed a few of the movies based on the TV shows and I wouldn't mind watching the ones I haven't seen. Similarly, if there was a "best of" Star Trek where all of the filler episodes were removed and it was boiled down to the essential bits, then I would probably not mind watching that either.
Anyway, I did enjoy the previous reboot movie (found here). This is the inevitable sequel, and it stands up for itself as well:
The action is impeccable and I have no complaints. They even strove to involve some emotional responses there near the end and that was welcome as well.
But this is not the type of movie that is going to stay with you for the rest of your life. It is not going to cause you to weep and it might not even inspire you in the way that heroism usually should. It's just good sci-fi action.
Zero Review: 8.0/10, B-
That said, I have enjoyed a few of the movies based on the TV shows and I wouldn't mind watching the ones I haven't seen. Similarly, if there was a "best of" Star Trek where all of the filler episodes were removed and it was boiled down to the essential bits, then I would probably not mind watching that either.
Anyway, I did enjoy the previous reboot movie (found here). This is the inevitable sequel, and it stands up for itself as well:
The action is impeccable and I have no complaints. They even strove to involve some emotional responses there near the end and that was welcome as well.
But this is not the type of movie that is going to stay with you for the rest of your life. It is not going to cause you to weep and it might not even inspire you in the way that heroism usually should. It's just good sci-fi action.
Zero Review: 8.0/10, B-
On Never Reading Anything by Robin Hobb Again: The Rain Wilds Chronicles
I'm starting off combative because I'm very weary of having my time wasted by piss-poor excuses for books. There's a good chance that someone will eventually convince me to read one of the other offerings by Robin Hobb or her alias, but they will have a much more difficult time to do so after I've read 2 of the 4 Rain Wilds Chronicles books and started the third.
I am astonished that someone can be such a good writer and write such an uninteresting story and have characters with little to no redeeming qualities continuing to be jerks.
I really wanted to enjoy the Rain Wilds Chronicles, and perhaps that is why I am taking it so poorly.
I am disgusted.
I wanted to know what happened. The writing, and by the writing, I mean strictly the prose, was so good. The directing was so bad. I've never encountered such a dichotomy before in all my years of reading.
I read close to 1000 pages in order to get an ending worthy of a short story and I was OK with that. Do you understand how nuts that is? I was OK with having my chain jerked around for 1000 pages in order to get the hint of an ending that wasn't really an ending but was infinitely better than the "ending" supplied in the first 500 pages.
And then within two chapters of the new book they took THAT 1000-page, short-story ending away. Literally, they reversed the course of the expected and took away the ending by saying that a few seconds after we left off it ended disastrously and it's been the same-old, same-old with no change other than more male characters trumpeting their male-ness to be all-out jerks.
What kind of person would *want* to read about this?
I understand that many people think that art should imitate life and that if it occurs in life then it can be written about artfully, but WTF?
Why would you want your art to be like your life? You're living life, your art should satisfy some other need. I prefer the alternative.
I like to think that chivalry came about because writers wrote chivalrous knights, so that knights hearing about those stories grew up wanting to be chivalrous. I like to think that epics and stories of heroes inspire more heroes.
So what sort of lives would imitate the Rain Wilds Chronicles? The sort of life that no one would want to associate with. Why would we want to hear about these creatures? Even if it's a different sort of life than one we want to imitate, they're not even entertaining. It's monotonous and slower than any story ever has a right to be. I can forgive not being sympathetic if it is at least entertaining or if there is SOME REASON FOR ME TO BE READING.
Is this what happens when you become an upper-tier author? Any drivel that you float gets picked up and turned into a book? It should have been flushed. Or some beta reader or editor should have realized the stink they were reading and ask for a stronger director.
The Rain Wilds Chronicles has been one of the worst reading experiences of my life, and I suppose I have no one to blame but myself for not giving up on it in the first book and mistakenly believing that so many satisfied readers couldn't be wrong. I have some idea of what sort of crap those readers were smoking, and I should have trusted my instincts when its odor first reared its ugly head. I will not subject myself to a book as though it were medicine or vegetables ever again, and if it is not enjoyable, I just won't read it.
The Rain Wilds Chronicles are not enjoyable and not worth your time. I regret the hours of my life spent reading them and hope that I never come across another paragraph authored by Robin Hobb for the remainder of my days.
I am astonished that someone can be such a good writer and write such an uninteresting story and have characters with little to no redeeming qualities continuing to be jerks.
I really wanted to enjoy the Rain Wilds Chronicles, and perhaps that is why I am taking it so poorly.
I am disgusted.
I wanted to know what happened. The writing, and by the writing, I mean strictly the prose, was so good. The directing was so bad. I've never encountered such a dichotomy before in all my years of reading.
I read close to 1000 pages in order to get an ending worthy of a short story and I was OK with that. Do you understand how nuts that is? I was OK with having my chain jerked around for 1000 pages in order to get the hint of an ending that wasn't really an ending but was infinitely better than the "ending" supplied in the first 500 pages.
And then within two chapters of the new book they took THAT 1000-page, short-story ending away. Literally, they reversed the course of the expected and took away the ending by saying that a few seconds after we left off it ended disastrously and it's been the same-old, same-old with no change other than more male characters trumpeting their male-ness to be all-out jerks.
What kind of person would *want* to read about this?
I understand that many people think that art should imitate life and that if it occurs in life then it can be written about artfully, but WTF?
Why would you want your art to be like your life? You're living life, your art should satisfy some other need. I prefer the alternative.
I like to think that chivalry came about because writers wrote chivalrous knights, so that knights hearing about those stories grew up wanting to be chivalrous. I like to think that epics and stories of heroes inspire more heroes.
So what sort of lives would imitate the Rain Wilds Chronicles? The sort of life that no one would want to associate with. Why would we want to hear about these creatures? Even if it's a different sort of life than one we want to imitate, they're not even entertaining. It's monotonous and slower than any story ever has a right to be. I can forgive not being sympathetic if it is at least entertaining or if there is SOME REASON FOR ME TO BE READING.
Is this what happens when you become an upper-tier author? Any drivel that you float gets picked up and turned into a book? It should have been flushed. Or some beta reader or editor should have realized the stink they were reading and ask for a stronger director.
The Rain Wilds Chronicles has been one of the worst reading experiences of my life, and I suppose I have no one to blame but myself for not giving up on it in the first book and mistakenly believing that so many satisfied readers couldn't be wrong. I have some idea of what sort of crap those readers were smoking, and I should have trusted my instincts when its odor first reared its ugly head. I will not subject myself to a book as though it were medicine or vegetables ever again, and if it is not enjoyable, I just won't read it.
The Rain Wilds Chronicles are not enjoyable and not worth your time. I regret the hours of my life spent reading them and hope that I never come across another paragraph authored by Robin Hobb for the remainder of my days.
September 26, 2013
"Dragon Haven" by Robin Hobb Book Review
So I was able to finish Dragon Haven last night, but have been running around a little bit more than I expected today. (Unexpected offer of a job interview + no clothes o_o)
Anyway, I'm happy to report that if Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven had been released as one book, then it would have been a good book. A real-book book; not a half-book, a never-should-have-been book, a book with no end, an Act-II-less book, a tease book, a book that had it been released by an indie or self-published writer would have been heralded as why indies and self-publishers should not write and publish.
Anyway, here's the Amazon link:
We get to not have to deal with some of the more unsympathetic characters of the previous book, some get their comeuppance (finally) and some are just not present, while others become, well, if not sympathetic, at least tolerable. On the other hand, the young men keepers are absurdly, absurdly, absurdly, and probably realistically, stupid in the way that only men are ever portrayed. Threatening rape and assuming women are property and all, even though in this world women are apparently (or were at least in their history) more on level footing with men.
I found it frustrating. No, I found it beyond frustrating. Although a couple of them had been portrayed as not being all there in the head, I thought their relationships with the dragons had been improving their intelligence. Yes, I realize that not just stupid people abuse and rape, but well, you'd think there would have been a couple of the guys that were not just not stupid but also not the way they were portrayed.
There were many things that happened in this story that were a long time in coming and I shouldn't begrudge that other things still haven't happened, but especially with the aforementioned stupidity, I wish bloody Thymara would have just stepped into the role Hobb is obviously cutting for her, as leader and not just a bloody hunter/gatherer. A leader that actually thinks was on my wish list, but apparently Santa Hobb didn't get the message. Maybe in Book 4 (yes, I know I just finished 2, but if 3 is anything like 1, well, it will be half a novel).
And that's the other thing. I had the benefit of reading these stories only hours apart. I finished Book 1 around 7 PM and I started Book 2 around 9 PM to finish it around 3 AM. They were not written as two separate books. They were written like they were the same book. Book 1 stops midscene only partially into Act II, while Book 2 starts midscene and does not re-introduce characters the way a sequel usually does.
It must be nice to have so much goodwill built up in the community to be able to do shady, underhanded dealings like this. I borrowed both from the library so I didn't pay a cent for them (unless for some reason they become late, in which case I will pay 10¢ for them), but I can see what the price of them were new. $26.99!
I said it in my mini-spiel before the jump break, but if an unknown had released Book 1 the way it was, it would have been heralded as the epitome of why indie writers should not be publishing. Robin Hobb has used up all of the good-faith I had from her reputation and once I finish the series I hope to never have the displeasure of reading another story by her.
On an aside: what really blows my mind in the reviews of Dragon Keeper are that most of the 1-star reviews are from bigots and homophobes. Really? It's 2013. Give it a 1-star review because it sucks, not because of your own prejudices. It's BAD WRITING ON ITS OWN MERITS.
And yet it's fantastic prose and creation. I've never encountered such a disparity between the incredible talent of the writing and world-building part of the craft and the absurdly amateurish directorial choices. You cannot be a good novelist and be a bad director.
You can be a good essayist...probably. You can be a good reviewer...probably. You could be a good RPG adventure module creator...probably. But you cannot trivialize the necessity of being a good director, or orchestrator or however you want to describe it. And from these novels, Robin Hobb is not a good director.
The prose is fantastic, although there were a few sentences that jarred me out of the reading experience this time around. The world creation and character creation is even better. The action is almost non-existent. The dramatical scenes hold the only movement in the story, but they are slow to come and mostly just full of idiots being idiots.
The heroes of the story, the two female characters that we have been following all along, fail to do anything to make them worthy of our attention other than being in the center of some drama. And Hobb makes the starring dragon annoying and unsympathetic in this story.
Only Mercor and Sylve are "good" characters by the end of the story, and we are left with the unsettling Sylve's been given to a guy, but she likes him so it's OK BS.
And sitting there behind my shoulder is this nagging sense that I am being preached to. Or at least, participating in consuming propaganda that has no merit beyond its annoyance, err, emotional response.
To sum up. I wish this story could be the story that it could be. It's heavily mired and bogged down right now, but there are only two more books, and I am hopeful for a—if not speedy, then eventual— resolution.
I don't need people to live happily ever after, because tragedies are some of the best stories ever, but I do need Thymara to stop being a putz and step into her role as the most capable keeper. I need the female characters to have more agency than just deciding to sleep with guys or not to sleep with guys (although to be fair, that's more agency than many female characters have), and I need Hobb to stop ruining good characters—I'm looking at you Sintara, Rapskal, Tats and Spit.
That's what I'm going into Book 3 and 4 hoping for. I am hoping for that. My expectations however are that Thymara will become irredeemable before magickally restored in Book 4, probably involving flying and a mating flight of Sintara; there will be more absurd sexist crap thrown at the girls of the story; Hest will be a complete arse for a few hundred pages too long before exiting; nothing will happen in Book 3; and finally, after reading an additional 1000 pages for a total of 2000 pages, I will have felt like I read a single 400 page story, or maybe two 250 page stories.
Zero Review: B- 8.0/10
Great technical writing skill, terrible directing. Great characters that wallow and shrivel before your eyes into big sacks of nothing. Great world-building that is barely relevant to the story because of how little happens in it. A terrible disappointment that is pushing the limits of my empathy and care for the characters. More potential than substance.
Recommended to Avoid. Don't get sucked in.
Anyway, I'm happy to report that if Dragon Keeper and Dragon Haven had been released as one book, then it would have been a good book. A real-book book; not a half-book, a never-should-have-been book, a book with no end, an Act-II-less book, a tease book, a book that had it been released by an indie or self-published writer would have been heralded as why indies and self-publishers should not write and publish.
Anyway, here's the Amazon link:
We get to not have to deal with some of the more unsympathetic characters of the previous book, some get their comeuppance (finally) and some are just not present, while others become, well, if not sympathetic, at least tolerable. On the other hand, the young men keepers are absurdly, absurdly, absurdly, and probably realistically, stupid in the way that only men are ever portrayed. Threatening rape and assuming women are property and all, even though in this world women are apparently (or were at least in their history) more on level footing with men.
I found it frustrating. No, I found it beyond frustrating. Although a couple of them had been portrayed as not being all there in the head, I thought their relationships with the dragons had been improving their intelligence. Yes, I realize that not just stupid people abuse and rape, but well, you'd think there would have been a couple of the guys that were not just not stupid but also not the way they were portrayed.
There were many things that happened in this story that were a long time in coming and I shouldn't begrudge that other things still haven't happened, but especially with the aforementioned stupidity, I wish bloody Thymara would have just stepped into the role Hobb is obviously cutting for her, as leader and not just a bloody hunter/gatherer. A leader that actually thinks was on my wish list, but apparently Santa Hobb didn't get the message. Maybe in Book 4 (yes, I know I just finished 2, but if 3 is anything like 1, well, it will be half a novel).
And that's the other thing. I had the benefit of reading these stories only hours apart. I finished Book 1 around 7 PM and I started Book 2 around 9 PM to finish it around 3 AM. They were not written as two separate books. They were written like they were the same book. Book 1 stops midscene only partially into Act II, while Book 2 starts midscene and does not re-introduce characters the way a sequel usually does.
It must be nice to have so much goodwill built up in the community to be able to do shady, underhanded dealings like this. I borrowed both from the library so I didn't pay a cent for them (unless for some reason they become late, in which case I will pay 10¢ for them), but I can see what the price of them were new. $26.99!
I said it in my mini-spiel before the jump break, but if an unknown had released Book 1 the way it was, it would have been heralded as the epitome of why indie writers should not be publishing. Robin Hobb has used up all of the good-faith I had from her reputation and once I finish the series I hope to never have the displeasure of reading another story by her.
On an aside: what really blows my mind in the reviews of Dragon Keeper are that most of the 1-star reviews are from bigots and homophobes. Really? It's 2013. Give it a 1-star review because it sucks, not because of your own prejudices. It's BAD WRITING ON ITS OWN MERITS.
And yet it's fantastic prose and creation. I've never encountered such a disparity between the incredible talent of the writing and world-building part of the craft and the absurdly amateurish directorial choices. You cannot be a good novelist and be a bad director.
You can be a good essayist...probably. You can be a good reviewer...probably. You could be a good RPG adventure module creator...probably. But you cannot trivialize the necessity of being a good director, or orchestrator or however you want to describe it. And from these novels, Robin Hobb is not a good director.
The prose is fantastic, although there were a few sentences that jarred me out of the reading experience this time around. The world creation and character creation is even better. The action is almost non-existent. The dramatical scenes hold the only movement in the story, but they are slow to come and mostly just full of idiots being idiots.
The heroes of the story, the two female characters that we have been following all along, fail to do anything to make them worthy of our attention other than being in the center of some drama. And Hobb makes the starring dragon annoying and unsympathetic in this story.
Only Mercor and Sylve are "good" characters by the end of the story, and we are left with the unsettling Sylve's been given to a guy, but she likes him so it's OK BS.
And sitting there behind my shoulder is this nagging sense that I am being preached to. Or at least, participating in consuming propaganda that has no merit beyond its annoyance, err, emotional response.
To sum up. I wish this story could be the story that it could be. It's heavily mired and bogged down right now, but there are only two more books, and I am hopeful for a—if not speedy, then eventual— resolution.
I don't need people to live happily ever after, because tragedies are some of the best stories ever, but I do need Thymara to stop being a putz and step into her role as the most capable keeper. I need the female characters to have more agency than just deciding to sleep with guys or not to sleep with guys (although to be fair, that's more agency than many female characters have), and I need Hobb to stop ruining good characters—I'm looking at you Sintara, Rapskal, Tats and Spit.
That's what I'm going into Book 3 and 4 hoping for. I am hoping for that. My expectations however are that Thymara will become irredeemable before magickally restored in Book 4, probably involving flying and a mating flight of Sintara; there will be more absurd sexist crap thrown at the girls of the story; Hest will be a complete arse for a few hundred pages too long before exiting; nothing will happen in Book 3; and finally, after reading an additional 1000 pages for a total of 2000 pages, I will have felt like I read a single 400 page story, or maybe two 250 page stories.
Zero Review: B- 8.0/10
Great technical writing skill, terrible directing. Great characters that wallow and shrivel before your eyes into big sacks of nothing. Great world-building that is barely relevant to the story because of how little happens in it. A terrible disappointment that is pushing the limits of my empathy and care for the characters. More potential than substance.
Recommended to Avoid. Don't get sucked in.
"Seeking a Friend for the End of the World" Movie Review
This 2012 comedy-drama was a bit of a nut to crack. It was a definitely a slow burn with the humor being more a result of absurdism than anything (link note: I linked to the Wiki article because if you're not familiar with absurdism, it's hardcore in this movie and it might be nice to at least be cognizant of it).
For all the absurdity, much of the film rang true in a way that many apocalyptic movies never have. Yes, obviously there would be preppers and riots and whatnot, but the everything as normal save everyone's expiration date in site affecting everyone's actions and emotions, it just felt real.
It takes a good portion of the build-up for Steve Carell's character, Dodge, to well, get the hell out of Dodge, and even after connecting with Keira Knightley's Penny and being saddled with a stray dog, it takes a riot to push him to go after his high school sweetheart.
Once the set-up was through though, this movie became absolutely charming.
Thinking about writing this review up as I watched it, I was surprised to realize that I was going to be giving the movie an A-, the big 9-oh.
The set-up was long and slow after all, and some of the moments as they got started on their journey was seemingly only to annoy (or push down) Dodge's character some more, and at those times, I was only watching because of my strong desire to have watched this since I heard of it. If I had not been interested in it, I may have turned it off on one of my more cynical of days.
So once it captivated me, I still found myself going back and saying that the beginning was too slow, it was too unnecessary to do that much set-up.
And then, it got even better.
And the last few minutes were not just wonderful and perfect and the feels and all, but tied together the entire movie. It was perfectly orchestrated. At no time did the obvious loaded rifle rear its head, and yet everything happened for a reason, and yet it didn't feel contrived. It felt magickal.
I did not cry at the end, and I don't hold the movie or director accountable for that. It's not a bad thing. They chose not to push the heart strings attached to tragedy necessary to cause that reaction. Instead, it was just fantastically charming and sweet and romantic.
Zero Review: A: 9.5/10
Here's the Amazon link if you're interested:
For all the absurdity, much of the film rang true in a way that many apocalyptic movies never have. Yes, obviously there would be preppers and riots and whatnot, but the everything as normal save everyone's expiration date in site affecting everyone's actions and emotions, it just felt real.
It takes a good portion of the build-up for Steve Carell's character, Dodge, to well, get the hell out of Dodge, and even after connecting with Keira Knightley's Penny and being saddled with a stray dog, it takes a riot to push him to go after his high school sweetheart.
Once the set-up was through though, this movie became absolutely charming.
Thinking about writing this review up as I watched it, I was surprised to realize that I was going to be giving the movie an A-, the big 9-oh.
The set-up was long and slow after all, and some of the moments as they got started on their journey was seemingly only to annoy (or push down) Dodge's character some more, and at those times, I was only watching because of my strong desire to have watched this since I heard of it. If I had not been interested in it, I may have turned it off on one of my more cynical of days.
So once it captivated me, I still found myself going back and saying that the beginning was too slow, it was too unnecessary to do that much set-up.
And then, it got even better.
And the last few minutes were not just wonderful and perfect and the feels and all, but tied together the entire movie. It was perfectly orchestrated. At no time did the obvious loaded rifle rear its head, and yet everything happened for a reason, and yet it didn't feel contrived. It felt magickal.
I did not cry at the end, and I don't hold the movie or director accountable for that. It's not a bad thing. They chose not to push the heart strings attached to tragedy necessary to cause that reaction. Instead, it was just fantastically charming and sweet and romantic.
Zero Review: A: 9.5/10
Here's the Amazon link if you're interested:
September 25, 2013
Review of "Dragon Keeper" by Robin Hobb
So apparently I was a little farther in the book than I thought I was when I posted my initial impressions of Robin Hobb's writing (I am reluctant to say, "Ms. Hobb" since it is a penname and a title with a penname seems odd to me.
I just finished this, well, I guess you can call it a book. Here's the Amazon link:
Also, the fear of soap opera-ness did not materialize in this, well, I guess you can call it a book.
So, why do I keep saying, "I guess you can call it a book"?
If I had written this 474 page "story", it would have been the equivalent of 3-6 chapters of one of my books.
NOTHING HAPPENS.
I mean, sure, what happens is momentous to the characters it is happening to, since they're all sheltered, never-been-out-in-the-world types, but even that isn't enough.
It hasn't even started yet!
There are four books out in this series so far, and I pray that the fourth book is a conclusion, because as it is going right now I can see Book I being the introduction, Book II and Book III being rising action with some twist of some sort thrown in for Book III, and then Book IV being a conclusion.
But I can also see the possibility of Book II, Book III, and Book IV being nothing more than more of the same with no real rising action, climax and resolution.
By the way, did I mention the book ends on a cliffhanger? And by cliffhanger, I mean, practically nothing has happened the entire "book", out of nowhere something happens, and then it's the end of the "story" not just before any sort of resolution, but before any sort of confrontation occurs!!!
WHAT DID I JUST READ???????
If I did not have the three sequels waiting for me at home, this would be a very generous 3 out of 10 and 1 star on Amazon (on the merits of the impressive writing alone, the plot is nonexistant in its immaturity (as in, not developed past Act 1 in a traditional three-act story)) and if this was not the work of a master writer, it wouldn't have been worth a 1 out of 10. I would have told everyone to run far, far away from ever reading this "story".
And this would have been an unforgivable offense in an unfinished series. Had I picked the story up in 2010 when it was published, I would never pick up another book by Robin Hobb. I suppose being a master at the craft affords Robin Hobb some allowances that an unknown author would never have (like publishing an unfinished book and not being eviscerated for it).
As it is, I am going to go and read the remaining three stories and wait to pass judgement on all four.
I just finished this, well, I guess you can call it a book. Here's the Amazon link:
Also, the fear of soap opera-ness did not materialize in this, well, I guess you can call it a book.
So, why do I keep saying, "I guess you can call it a book"?
If I had written this 474 page "story", it would have been the equivalent of 3-6 chapters of one of my books.
NOTHING HAPPENS.
I mean, sure, what happens is momentous to the characters it is happening to, since they're all sheltered, never-been-out-in-the-world types, but even that isn't enough.
It hasn't even started yet!
There are four books out in this series so far, and I pray that the fourth book is a conclusion, because as it is going right now I can see Book I being the introduction, Book II and Book III being rising action with some twist of some sort thrown in for Book III, and then Book IV being a conclusion.
But I can also see the possibility of Book II, Book III, and Book IV being nothing more than more of the same with no real rising action, climax and resolution.
By the way, did I mention the book ends on a cliffhanger? And by cliffhanger, I mean, practically nothing has happened the entire "book", out of nowhere something happens, and then it's the end of the "story" not just before any sort of resolution, but before any sort of confrontation occurs!!!
WHAT DID I JUST READ???????
If I did not have the three sequels waiting for me at home, this would be a very generous 3 out of 10 and 1 star on Amazon (on the merits of the impressive writing alone, the plot is nonexistant in its immaturity (as in, not developed past Act 1 in a traditional three-act story)) and if this was not the work of a master writer, it wouldn't have been worth a 1 out of 10. I would have told everyone to run far, far away from ever reading this "story".
And this would have been an unforgivable offense in an unfinished series. Had I picked the story up in 2010 when it was published, I would never pick up another book by Robin Hobb. I suppose being a master at the craft affords Robin Hobb some allowances that an unknown author would never have (like publishing an unfinished book and not being eviscerated for it).
As it is, I am going to go and read the remaining three stories and wait to pass judgement on all four.
Initial thoughts on Robin Hobb's Writing
When I was a kid I remember trying to read a novel by Robin Hobb and not being able to get into it at all. I have no memory of what that novel was, but my first impression on my childhood thoughts was that I must have been so full of crap that I couldn't see what the author was offering.
Although, I have been burned before by favorite authors. I honestly believed Sanderson could do no wrong only to not be able to read more than 20 pages of one of his novels before returning it in disgust.
Anyway, I have a few initial thoughts on Robin Hobb's writing style, or what I can glean of her style, as I make my way through Dragon Keeper.
I ravenously devoured the first few hundred pages of this novel before I was jolted back to reality (when I come down from coffee I crash hard, and then the demands of normal living: paying bills and journeying to work, etc), and I was impressed by Hobb's world-building and cast of interesting characters.
She has a great mastery of writing characters that at first appearance seem sympathetic and interesting only to turn that on its head and make them petty and detestable, and conceivably, able to turn that on its head again. More impressive to me are the serpents and dragons acting not like humans would, but like the creatures they are. Although it is somewhat upsetting when you feel an immediate attraction to a character only to find that even the best characters are annoying, I suppose this all contributes to very "realistic" and 3-dimensional characters, and these characters are probably some of the most realistic I have ever encountered in their depth, even if that is somewhat annoying sometimes.
On the other hand, it does move somewhat slowly. I cannot imagine reading this at the pace of only 50 or so pages a day, as after having read over 200 I am more than ready for it to progress forward. The pieces have been set-up to move into position for quite a while, and seeing how slowly it moves is sometimes mind-numbing.
The great description that goes into everything is at once charming and bothersome when it is moving slowly and you are more than ready for the next event to fall into place.
That's fine though, that's how practically everyone else writes everything I suppose, and her mastery of description and lifelike characters is nothing less than impressive.
That said, the biggest worry I have moving forward is that the dominoes are set for it to get very soap-opera-y, which is always one of my biggest complaints when it exists. It would be one thing if it actually meant people developing through instead of as a result of conflict, but it usually seems to be just conflict for conflict's sake.
I mean, I enjoy drama and character development and even strife, but when it comes from the characters being petty and "realistic", it churns my stomach and saps enjoyment. It's one thing for some characters to be "realistic", but when it seems like they are all going to be "realistic", it implies that the remaining few hundred pages will be less and less enjoyable as they go on.
I hope to be proved wrong as I am enjoying the story much more than I anticipated and looking forward to reading the remaining three books I have access to in the series.
If you haven't caught on yet, I really don't think of "realistic" characters as being very realistic. Don't get me wrong, I think there are plenty of "realistic" people in reality, but there are also plenty of people that, from a literary critic point of view, would not be overly three-dimensional and literarily praise-worthy in a novel.
In "modern" literature, the thing that annoys me more than anything is when I can see the "art" in the work. I think of this as being masturbatory and reading it feels like seeing a peep show I'd rather avoid. It's one of the things that always bothers me in Quentin Tarentino movies, in spite of enjoying them, they feel heavy-handed.
This is what it feels like reading this Robin Hobb story. It feels like reading literature, not a good story. I have high hopes there is a good story under all of this literature, but I am starting to despair.
I really don't want to sound overly critical, because I am enjoying it so far, but after 200 some pages when the book flap's promised adventure has finally started and all the pieces are together for the first time, this ugliness has started to rear its head and I could not keep quiet about it so far.
You can expect a review on Dragon Keeper by the end of the week.
What are your thoughts on modern literature or Ms. Hobb's style? No spoilers please.
Although, I have been burned before by favorite authors. I honestly believed Sanderson could do no wrong only to not be able to read more than 20 pages of one of his novels before returning it in disgust.
Anyway, I have a few initial thoughts on Robin Hobb's writing style, or what I can glean of her style, as I make my way through Dragon Keeper.
I ravenously devoured the first few hundred pages of this novel before I was jolted back to reality (when I come down from coffee I crash hard, and then the demands of normal living: paying bills and journeying to work, etc), and I was impressed by Hobb's world-building and cast of interesting characters.
She has a great mastery of writing characters that at first appearance seem sympathetic and interesting only to turn that on its head and make them petty and detestable, and conceivably, able to turn that on its head again. More impressive to me are the serpents and dragons acting not like humans would, but like the creatures they are. Although it is somewhat upsetting when you feel an immediate attraction to a character only to find that even the best characters are annoying, I suppose this all contributes to very "realistic" and 3-dimensional characters, and these characters are probably some of the most realistic I have ever encountered in their depth, even if that is somewhat annoying sometimes.
On the other hand, it does move somewhat slowly. I cannot imagine reading this at the pace of only 50 or so pages a day, as after having read over 200 I am more than ready for it to progress forward. The pieces have been set-up to move into position for quite a while, and seeing how slowly it moves is sometimes mind-numbing.
The great description that goes into everything is at once charming and bothersome when it is moving slowly and you are more than ready for the next event to fall into place.
That's fine though, that's how practically everyone else writes everything I suppose, and her mastery of description and lifelike characters is nothing less than impressive.
That said, the biggest worry I have moving forward is that the dominoes are set for it to get very soap-opera-y, which is always one of my biggest complaints when it exists. It would be one thing if it actually meant people developing through instead of as a result of conflict, but it usually seems to be just conflict for conflict's sake.
I mean, I enjoy drama and character development and even strife, but when it comes from the characters being petty and "realistic", it churns my stomach and saps enjoyment. It's one thing for some characters to be "realistic", but when it seems like they are all going to be "realistic", it implies that the remaining few hundred pages will be less and less enjoyable as they go on.
I hope to be proved wrong as I am enjoying the story much more than I anticipated and looking forward to reading the remaining three books I have access to in the series.
If you haven't caught on yet, I really don't think of "realistic" characters as being very realistic. Don't get me wrong, I think there are plenty of "realistic" people in reality, but there are also plenty of people that, from a literary critic point of view, would not be overly three-dimensional and literarily praise-worthy in a novel.
In "modern" literature, the thing that annoys me more than anything is when I can see the "art" in the work. I think of this as being masturbatory and reading it feels like seeing a peep show I'd rather avoid. It's one of the things that always bothers me in Quentin Tarentino movies, in spite of enjoying them, they feel heavy-handed.
This is what it feels like reading this Robin Hobb story. It feels like reading literature, not a good story. I have high hopes there is a good story under all of this literature, but I am starting to despair.
I really don't want to sound overly critical, because I am enjoying it so far, but after 200 some pages when the book flap's promised adventure has finally started and all the pieces are together for the first time, this ugliness has started to rear its head and I could not keep quiet about it so far.
You can expect a review on Dragon Keeper by the end of the week.
What are your thoughts on modern literature or Ms. Hobb's style? No spoilers please.
On Why I Haven't Posted a Review of "Un Lun Dun" by China Mieville
Some have inquired why they haven't seen a review of it yet. Does it really take me months to finish a novel? Here's why:
I couldn't finish it.
Not because it was bad writing or bad editing or anything like that. I couldn't feel anything for any of the characters, they annoyed me more than they intrigued me and were not overly sympathetic to me, and also, it was too foreign.
I know that sounds bad, but take that as from someone whose favorite television programme is "Doctor Who" and normally relishes in all things British (even pronouncing program in the British way...). I just couldn't connect. I suppose I could have gotten through that if I enjoyed the characters, but as it stood, I could not get into it.
Also, I was put off by the words of praise in the front of the novel. As someone that reads as fast as I do, I could not help but digest more than a few of them as I flipped to the beginning of the novel, and the sense I got was that the main character was not the main character, which implied that her sidekick was the main character, whom I was not interested in even more than I was not interested in the main character.
Even though this was presented to me as something praiseworthy, I went into it feeling betrayed and annoyed.
Maybe I'm wrong, but one of the problems with being a writer (or having any sense at all), is that you can usually see what's coming in stories even if they are devoid of foreshadowing. And trailers, reviews or words of praise are like having a cheatsheet going into it. The whole, "don't put a rifle in Act 1 if it's not going to go off at some point" backfire of now we know why they are showing us everything they show us (hint: there's a reason or they wouldn't be showing us and chances are if it's Hollywood it will be the game-ending move), and they not only show it to us in the first 20 minutes of the movie, but we see its Mark II form in the trailer before we see the Mark I form in the movie!
...
What I saw of the other world also seemed stupid and trivial.
So, since I was just put off by it and I didn't feel that I could offer any worthwhile criticisms or commentary: no review score or review beyond these few words.
I'm not even going to blog-label it.
I know some reviewers assign 1 star or a failing grade to those works they couldn't get through, but well, I think of it more as an incomplete grade than a true F.
Apologies if you think China Mieville is the greatest thing since sliced bread (side note: unsliced bread > sliced bread), but reading Un Lun Dun hasn't necessarily put me off the author. I still look forward to reading Perdido Street Station someday, but he's off my current to-read author list until the bad taste goes away. I didn't even open Kraken which I had checked out at the same time as Un Lun Dun.
Thanks for your time. If you think I should give it a second chance, I welcome your thoughts on why. Sometimes hearing other people's appreciation helps inspire my own appreciation for a work...although usually there has to be at least a seed of enjoyment to fan into a flame of fandom. I'd probably be more receptive to why I should read Kraken though.
I couldn't finish it.
Not because it was bad writing or bad editing or anything like that. I couldn't feel anything for any of the characters, they annoyed me more than they intrigued me and were not overly sympathetic to me, and also, it was too foreign.
I know that sounds bad, but take that as from someone whose favorite television programme is "Doctor Who" and normally relishes in all things British (even pronouncing program in the British way...). I just couldn't connect. I suppose I could have gotten through that if I enjoyed the characters, but as it stood, I could not get into it.
Also, I was put off by the words of praise in the front of the novel. As someone that reads as fast as I do, I could not help but digest more than a few of them as I flipped to the beginning of the novel, and the sense I got was that the main character was not the main character, which implied that her sidekick was the main character, whom I was not interested in even more than I was not interested in the main character.
Even though this was presented to me as something praiseworthy, I went into it feeling betrayed and annoyed.
Maybe I'm wrong, but one of the problems with being a writer (or having any sense at all), is that you can usually see what's coming in stories even if they are devoid of foreshadowing. And trailers, reviews or words of praise are like having a cheatsheet going into it. The whole, "don't put a rifle in Act 1 if it's not going to go off at some point" backfire of now we know why they are showing us everything they show us (hint: there's a reason or they wouldn't be showing us and chances are if it's Hollywood it will be the game-ending move), and they not only show it to us in the first 20 minutes of the movie, but we see its Mark II form in the trailer before we see the Mark I form in the movie!
...
What I saw of the other world also seemed stupid and trivial.
So, since I was just put off by it and I didn't feel that I could offer any worthwhile criticisms or commentary: no review score or review beyond these few words.
I'm not even going to blog-label it.
I know some reviewers assign 1 star or a failing grade to those works they couldn't get through, but well, I think of it more as an incomplete grade than a true F.
Apologies if you think China Mieville is the greatest thing since sliced bread (side note: unsliced bread > sliced bread), but reading Un Lun Dun hasn't necessarily put me off the author. I still look forward to reading Perdido Street Station someday, but he's off my current to-read author list until the bad taste goes away. I didn't even open Kraken which I had checked out at the same time as Un Lun Dun.
Thanks for your time. If you think I should give it a second chance, I welcome your thoughts on why. Sometimes hearing other people's appreciation helps inspire my own appreciation for a work...although usually there has to be at least a seed of enjoyment to fan into a flame of fandom. I'd probably be more receptive to why I should read Kraken though.
