Daniel > Recent Status Updates

Been chompin' at the bit for this ever since I saw the TV series last year. Got the complete set ... let's do this!

Ugh ... hopefully I'm past the middle third fluff that authors love to inflict upon us to inflate a 250 page story into a 400+ page book. Lotsa skimming to get through that. After the excellent action/suspense/drama plot of book #1 and the adequate action/suspense/drama plot of book #2, this series has gone off the cliff. I'll try to force myself to finish next week ... maybe.

Re-read #1

Four books in,
still tryna work this out...

“Killian and the twins are technically brothers, even though they’re cousins. All of our dads are brothers, but Killian and the twins’ moms were identical twins. So they’re genetically more than half siblings and also cousins because they have two different sets of parents. And they were born less than two weeks apart, so they’ve pretty much grown up like triplets.”

This is better than I was expecting 😀

Elvis was a sleaze...
we would label him a pedophile with his harem of 14-16 year old girls.
Priscilla wondered if she had made a big mistake. Who was this confident 27-year-old man and how could he possibly be interested in her? He went on playing pool, coming back from time to time to give her a kiss, continuing to play the star role, while treating her like a prize possession meant to be casually shown off.

Sheesh... what's with the tsunami of 3-star and lower ratings this year? I need to eviscerate my 28-person "Friends" list. Scrolling my feed is just... sad. Do you not know what you like to read? Are you gluttons for punishment? Did your parents not teach you to make good choices? Make better choices, people! Between the weak ratings/reviews and the pretentious, college thesis-style reviews, my feed is just ... UGH!

“I’m here! Don’t panic, boo! Dusty’s got you!”

“Dusty? What are you doing here?”

“You sent up a bat signal.” She fists her hand on her hip.

“I…what?”

“I’m your spirit guide, remember? I can feel when there’s something wrong with you, and a short while ago, you went into a panic the likes of which I’ve only ever seen when Ruby ate some bad sushi and almost couldn’t get her taping off in time."

Dad appears next to Pop. “I, uh…so, funny story. I was in Tristan’s kitchen during a supernaturally charged storm with two drag queens, one dead and one very much alive, a psychic private investigator, and a Scotland Yard detective with a broken leg, and... um, Death shows up.”

Two faces stare back at me.

“Hello.” I check my phone settings to see if the screen has frozen. “Er, Dad? Pop? Have I broken you?”

“Firstly, the kind of shop she runs I’m absolutely certain is nothing like mine. Secondly, the spirit world and/or portals leading to and from it is not my area, and third, they are not superpowers. It’s magic.”

“Isn’t it essentially the same thing?” I ask, just to rile him up.

“One requires that I wear underpants over a unitard and a cape, while the other would have got me hanged only a century ago.”

It's like the "sorting hat"!

"Come, Âlaburg, hearken unto my call,
A decision is needed; a selection must befall.
A student comes here and choose you must,
If he is to learn and serve like us.
To a fraternity now he must be bound,
And bring it honor once it is found.
No matter which you shall announce,
He shall fight for peace, and our adversaries denounce."

Oh, I'm enjoying this! Billed as "Harry Potter meets Lord of the Rings" and that's what I'm seeing... Alaburg is "Hogwarts"!

"Bryn, this is Âlaburg University. Here, we teach whatever is necessary so peace and friendship can reign among the four enlightened nations. Only a few are allowed to enter through the Lekan Gate. That it has chosen you is a good sign. It means you belong here—that you have the gift."