First off, a podcast of my short story 'Flowers for Clockwork Street' is posted up over at Every Day Fiction! It's read by the lovely Folly Blaine who has the perfect voice for reading fiction. Check it out HERE.
It was really surreal to hear someone else read my story out loud. I realized, more than ever, that when you read your story yourself you have your own thoughts on how your characters sound, where you pause, what syllables you emphasize. When someone else reads your story, these little details change and it reveals how another reader interprets your character. The interpretations aren't too different than what you had in your head, but still different. Perhaps the reader makes a character braver or more arrogant or even more passionate. Perhaps a scene is fast to a writer, but is read slowly by a reader.
These little things they do make a difference. And it made me wonder how my view of characters were colored by the reader of many of the audio fiction books I listened to as a kid and even now.
What would my view of Bilbo Baggins be if I had read The Hobbit before listening to it over and over. Is my view of the book completely my view, or does it have touches of Rob Inglis's? And if it does have touches, which it most likely does, how much is a touch? And what about other books, like Sherlock Holmes, Myth Adventures, Dealing with Dragons, and many many more?
I'm not sure. And I'm not sure if it would be enough of a difference to really matter that much.
But it is certainly interesting thing about, especially as am I'm driving the hundreds of miles toward the Atlantic. Whose voice is this really? Is this really Bilbo Baggins, or is it just Rob Inglis's?
Monday, April 30, 2012
Friday, April 13, 2012
WTF Beneath Ceaseless Skies cover!
Okay, apologies for the title of this post because it sounds like I have a beef with Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and I really don't. It's one of my favorite zines out there. I'm just kind of shocked at the moment.
I headed over there today to read their offerings and saw their cover art. Go look at it. Now!
See that weird creepy head thing?
Let me show you a picture of mine:
*shivers*
I headed over there today to read their offerings and saw their cover art. Go look at it. Now!
See that weird creepy head thing?
Let me show you a picture of mine:
IT'S THE SAME WEIRD CREEPY HEAD THING!!
I saw this thing in Krakow back in 2007 behind the Cloth Hall and wondered what the heck it was. Ever since then it has been driving me absolutely crazy trying to figure out what it is. Then, all of a sudden, it appears on this cover! Mocking me! Gah!!
*shakes fist* I'll figure out what you are yet weird creepy head thing in a random location of Krakow with no explanation at all!
While we're on the subject of weird creepy thing I've found that have no explanation, take a look at this thing I found in Lindau Germany:
*shivers*
Monday, April 9, 2012
Spellwright
Last week I went to the library to find some new books to read. After skimming the shelves I found a book with a really beautiful cover.
It was called Spellwright and after I got about halfway through the summary on the inside cover, I laughed out loud and had to check it out.
The plot wasn't what made me laugh, rather it was something so obvious, yet so clever I was surprised no one had thought of it before. The book takes place in a world with a unique magic system that relies on words. Of course words and magic have been in other books before, but what made me scoop this up was this: the main character couldn't spell.
How ridiculously brilliant is that?
It's such an obvious problem for a character, such a fantastic point of conflict that I couldn't help but laugh at how simply marvelous it was. There is so much potential in something like that and I couldn't wait to see what the author did with it.
The Plot: In the wizard's keep of Starhaven, wizards are trained in linguistic magics, a system where words and paragraphs are formed in muscle and can be used to create spells and creatures. Nicodemous Weal, however, is an exception: he can't spell. And since spelling is important to such a magic, he is limited to the most menial tasks by his disability, and forced to live with the shame that because of his disability, the scars on the back of his neck do not prophecy him to be the world's savior for an upcoming apocalypse called the Disjunction. However strange things begin to happen at Starhaven. People begin to get murder, and Nicodemous begins having strange dreams that tie him to the murders. Meanwhile a strange man is haunting the keep who wants nothing more than to lay his hands on the failed child of prophecy.
For me, reading this, I had mixed emotions. The book started off slow, with me never really connecting with the characters. Then, about halfway through, something changed and I spent my entire Easter Sunday afternoon reading. Throughout the entire book though, I kept feeling as if I were reading something where more was happening, especially with the characters, then was being expressed, as if I was looking at the laminar flow of a swiftly flowing stream. Yet, beneath the streams surface, I knew there were eddies and turbulence. Once in a while, some of this underlying action would burst through to the surface, giving sudden flashes of depth, understanding, and brilliance, before disappearing beneath the surface again. It was odd, but in the end, I realized what kept me reading was the world and the plot, not, as what would normally happen, the characters. I became so interested in what would happen with this world, what would happen with this magic system and, most compelling to me, what other fascinating things the author was going to come up with, that I ordered the second book in the trilogy before I even finished the first.
So, *rubs hands together* what did I think over all?
The Good: The magic system in this book is fascinating and original. The author, Blake Charlton, created a hard magic systems (more Sanderson or Modesitt Jr. than McKillip or Hodgell) in which sentences can kill or heal, can make creatures called constructs, and can be worn on the skin or a variety of other things I'm sure I'm not explaining properly. It's a unique take on an old concept that I certainly appreciated. In fact this originality is all over this books and is certainly one of the strengths of this book.
Plus, he completely won me over with the fantastical animal constructs created from Nicodemus's childhood. Adorable. Sold.
The world building is also fun. Some reviews I think were a little unfair on the world building, criticizing a lack thereof. I understand their point. The landscapes and cultures weren't as well developed as they could be, but political side of things, the history of the continent and the details of the workings within Starhaven were good, which is another part of world building that is important.
Lastly, the stakes. There are a lot of things at stake and a lot of upcoming conflict--which is why I chose to order the second book when I did. The negative thing is that the most interesting things at stake seem to be upcoming in other books and weren't exactly in this one. However a source of conflict that I really respected was the MC's struggle with a disability which isn't something that's always seen in fantasy.
The Bad.
The characters. For some reason I simply couldn't connect to them. For most of the time they seemed like archetypes and didn't really express the depth that I long for in a good fantasy. Towards the end of the book there were flashes of amazing character depth and flaws with Nico. For example, his drive to be whole, to be complete, to be who he is supposed to be--of course not realizing he is already who he is but can't accept it yet--is so human and something you just have to connect and feel for. The problem was that I didn't see any sort of character depth in the first part of the book. As a result, I never felt I got to know him as a person and, in fact, he didn't seem like a person to me. Those flashes of depth were the eddies in the stream I mentioned earlier. As for the other characters they were, unfortunately, forgettable.
The Explanations. Some of this is certainly personal preference, but there was a lot of exposition going on and it would knock me out of the story. Additionally, some of the world building wasn't folded in as neatly as it could have been. It also had a tendency to make the writing seem uneven. That is all likely due to the style, which wasn't really that exciting to me. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it, to be clear. Nothing at all. I have more of a love for interesting language and in this case it seemed a little flat. But again that is simply a thing of personal preference.
The last thing that was a sticking point for me is a little silly, but it did keep making smile. There are two prophecies in the book, and one centers around a figure who will cause discord and chaos. This figure has a negative connotation and is called the Storm Petrel. The thing is...I did a little study on storm petrel's when I was in South America, and I can't for the life of me, think of a storm petrel as anything other than the cute little seabirds who paddle water with their feet to attract fish. I know they're supposed to herald an upcoming storm and that kind of goes along with this prophecy figure, but I just can't take it too seriously.
The Last Thing:
There's a great amount of heart in this book. The author apparently struggled with severe dyslexia and the reader can see his own struggles reflected in the character. As a result there is something a little bit magical in the character and I couldn't help but think of other kids who have similar learning disabilities who would read this book and finally see a hero like them, with their own thought s, wishes and insecurities. Like I mentioned before, you don't see learning disabilities that often in fantasy, and to see it here was wonderful and heartwarming at the same time.
Over all, I would say if you enjoy epic fantasy, it's worth a read for sure.
 |
| Look at that! Isn't that beautiful? |
It was called Spellwright and after I got about halfway through the summary on the inside cover, I laughed out loud and had to check it out.
The plot wasn't what made me laugh, rather it was something so obvious, yet so clever I was surprised no one had thought of it before. The book takes place in a world with a unique magic system that relies on words. Of course words and magic have been in other books before, but what made me scoop this up was this: the main character couldn't spell.
How ridiculously brilliant is that?
It's such an obvious problem for a character, such a fantastic point of conflict that I couldn't help but laugh at how simply marvelous it was. There is so much potential in something like that and I couldn't wait to see what the author did with it.
The Plot: In the wizard's keep of Starhaven, wizards are trained in linguistic magics, a system where words and paragraphs are formed in muscle and can be used to create spells and creatures. Nicodemous Weal, however, is an exception: he can't spell. And since spelling is important to such a magic, he is limited to the most menial tasks by his disability, and forced to live with the shame that because of his disability, the scars on the back of his neck do not prophecy him to be the world's savior for an upcoming apocalypse called the Disjunction. However strange things begin to happen at Starhaven. People begin to get murder, and Nicodemous begins having strange dreams that tie him to the murders. Meanwhile a strange man is haunting the keep who wants nothing more than to lay his hands on the failed child of prophecy.
For me, reading this, I had mixed emotions. The book started off slow, with me never really connecting with the characters. Then, about halfway through, something changed and I spent my entire Easter Sunday afternoon reading. Throughout the entire book though, I kept feeling as if I were reading something where more was happening, especially with the characters, then was being expressed, as if I was looking at the laminar flow of a swiftly flowing stream. Yet, beneath the streams surface, I knew there were eddies and turbulence. Once in a while, some of this underlying action would burst through to the surface, giving sudden flashes of depth, understanding, and brilliance, before disappearing beneath the surface again. It was odd, but in the end, I realized what kept me reading was the world and the plot, not, as what would normally happen, the characters. I became so interested in what would happen with this world, what would happen with this magic system and, most compelling to me, what other fascinating things the author was going to come up with, that I ordered the second book in the trilogy before I even finished the first.
So, *rubs hands together* what did I think over all?
The Good: The magic system in this book is fascinating and original. The author, Blake Charlton, created a hard magic systems (more Sanderson or Modesitt Jr. than McKillip or Hodgell) in which sentences can kill or heal, can make creatures called constructs, and can be worn on the skin or a variety of other things I'm sure I'm not explaining properly. It's a unique take on an old concept that I certainly appreciated. In fact this originality is all over this books and is certainly one of the strengths of this book.
Plus, he completely won me over with the fantastical animal constructs created from Nicodemus's childhood. Adorable. Sold.
The world building is also fun. Some reviews I think were a little unfair on the world building, criticizing a lack thereof. I understand their point. The landscapes and cultures weren't as well developed as they could be, but political side of things, the history of the continent and the details of the workings within Starhaven were good, which is another part of world building that is important.
Lastly, the stakes. There are a lot of things at stake and a lot of upcoming conflict--which is why I chose to order the second book when I did. The negative thing is that the most interesting things at stake seem to be upcoming in other books and weren't exactly in this one. However a source of conflict that I really respected was the MC's struggle with a disability which isn't something that's always seen in fantasy.
The Bad.
The characters. For some reason I simply couldn't connect to them. For most of the time they seemed like archetypes and didn't really express the depth that I long for in a good fantasy. Towards the end of the book there were flashes of amazing character depth and flaws with Nico. For example, his drive to be whole, to be complete, to be who he is supposed to be--of course not realizing he is already who he is but can't accept it yet--is so human and something you just have to connect and feel for. The problem was that I didn't see any sort of character depth in the first part of the book. As a result, I never felt I got to know him as a person and, in fact, he didn't seem like a person to me. Those flashes of depth were the eddies in the stream I mentioned earlier. As for the other characters they were, unfortunately, forgettable.
The Explanations. Some of this is certainly personal preference, but there was a lot of exposition going on and it would knock me out of the story. Additionally, some of the world building wasn't folded in as neatly as it could have been. It also had a tendency to make the writing seem uneven. That is all likely due to the style, which wasn't really that exciting to me. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it, to be clear. Nothing at all. I have more of a love for interesting language and in this case it seemed a little flat. But again that is simply a thing of personal preference.
The last thing that was a sticking point for me is a little silly, but it did keep making smile. There are two prophecies in the book, and one centers around a figure who will cause discord and chaos. This figure has a negative connotation and is called the Storm Petrel. The thing is...I did a little study on storm petrel's when I was in South America, and I can't for the life of me, think of a storm petrel as anything other than the cute little seabirds who paddle water with their feet to attract fish. I know they're supposed to herald an upcoming storm and that kind of goes along with this prophecy figure, but I just can't take it too seriously.
The Last Thing:
There's a great amount of heart in this book. The author apparently struggled with severe dyslexia and the reader can see his own struggles reflected in the character. As a result there is something a little bit magical in the character and I couldn't help but think of other kids who have similar learning disabilities who would read this book and finally see a hero like them, with their own thought s, wishes and insecurities. Like I mentioned before, you don't see learning disabilities that often in fantasy, and to see it here was wonderful and heartwarming at the same time.
Over all, I would say if you enjoy epic fantasy, it's worth a read for sure.
Monday, April 2, 2012
Science Monday: Deserts
Happy Monday everyone! I've been neglecting my blog for the past two weeks but as we're winding down toward the end of the semester, I have finals to make, to prepare for, and other little things that crop up, including our state's Science Olympiad!
Anyways, I've been busy reading, writing, and bein' all sciency which leads me into another edition of Science Monday!
This Science Monday I'm not treating you to a link or an article. Instead I'm going to flex my teachery muscles and talk for a moment about deserts. Because it has come to my attention recently, from my own students actually, that many people who don't live in deserts don't actually understand them. Which is bad, for a writer, because the less you know about a landscape the less you can incorporate it into your work.
So, deserts!
When most people think of deserts, they think of places like this:
But it might surprise you that, in reality, deserts mostly look like this:
And this:
Even this:
And this:
You see, deserts aren't defined by the fact that they are hot, or that they have sand, or cacti or anything like that. The only thing that defines a desert is rainfall!
Rainfall. That's it. You can have all the grass in the world, all the plants and flowers and animals you want, but as long as it gets less than 16 inches of rainfall in a year, its a desert. That's why Antarctica is considered a desert along side places like the Sahara and the Gobi.
In conclusion, more than dunes define a desert! And deserts can be really diverse and amazing places.
Anyways, I've been busy reading, writing, and bein' all sciency which leads me into another edition of Science Monday!
This Science Monday I'm not treating you to a link or an article. Instead I'm going to flex my teachery muscles and talk for a moment about deserts. Because it has come to my attention recently, from my own students actually, that many people who don't live in deserts don't actually understand them. Which is bad, for a writer, because the less you know about a landscape the less you can incorporate it into your work.
So, deserts!
When most people think of deserts, they think of places like this:
But it might surprise you that, in reality, deserts mostly look like this:
And this:
Even this:
And this:
You see, deserts aren't defined by the fact that they are hot, or that they have sand, or cacti or anything like that. The only thing that defines a desert is rainfall!
Rainfall. That's it. You can have all the grass in the world, all the plants and flowers and animals you want, but as long as it gets less than 16 inches of rainfall in a year, its a desert. That's why Antarctica is considered a desert along side places like the Sahara and the Gobi.
In conclusion, more than dunes define a desert! And deserts can be really diverse and amazing places.
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