Games of Thrones

Since I've gotten home from St. Louis, I've done nothing in the evenings except read. I come home, say hi to Jeff, and plop myself down on the couch to read. At 11 or so I'll move upstairs and then read until I either fall asleep or read until I think I'm going to have problems waking up the next day. To say that I've been a little focused is a bit of an understatement.

I've been told by at least half a dozen people that I need to read at least the first book of the Song of Ice and Fire series, A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. Jeff had received the book as a gift last Christmas and it's been sitting in my stack. So last week I picked it up. And I was immediately sucked in. The characters are all so unique. Throughout the book I would fall in love with different characters. Eddard, Tyrion, Arya, Catelyn, and Jon Snow all have been favorite characters at one point or another. They are each so well described and their individual stories so fascinating. The book follows the Starks of Winterfell, the lord, his lady, and their five children, as they set out into a very well described fantasy world. Each has their own role to play in just this book and I know that those roles will be every futher expanded as I read the rest of the series.

Martin tells a story that's both raw and truthful, which is a tough thing to say for a fantasy series. The word he creates falls its own set of rules beautifully. Magic exists in small doses but it has it's place. Dragons and other creatures have or do live in the world. But each part of the book rings true. Martin creates a history for the world, a mythology for the world, religions, and enough ruling classes that sometimes they are a tad tough to keep straight. He does provide an overview of the houses in the back, but you're so focused on the Starks that I didn't find I had to consult it often. The book has political intrigue (a lot of political intrigue), a fascinating family story, myth and legend, war, and a bit of sex. It's everything I enjoy in a good book and I can't wait to continue on and find out what happens next.

Yep, I'm a series reader again. I broke my rule with the His Dark Materials trilogy, and shattered it with the A Series of Unfortunate Events series. I already the next book of the Song of Ice and Fire series and after a small break I'll dive back into that one. But it won't be tonight. I should probably catch up on the housework I've been ignoring since I started the first.

A Little Silliness

It's been something of a crazy week. I'm taking a day and a half off work this week and am trying to catch up beforehand. I'm going to be gone most evenings so I won't have that time to post. So this might be it for the week. We'll see. I might surprise you with a later one.

I need a little silliness today. I've got a bit of a cold and am feeling it. I'm a tad run down and I'm even more stressed. But this little cottage in the field makes me smile. I imagine a wise old wizard or the fabled "crooked man" living out here. It would only be better with pink smoke puffing from the chimney. A little fantasy in an otherwise dull day.

Poetry Friday

I feel a bit like I'm cheating doing another Poetry Friday. I've been bad about posting recently and poems are generally easy. But then I thought...hey it's my blog. And I want to post a poem.

I love Neil Gaiman. I love his stories, I love his blog, and I love his poetry. I've only found one thing he's written that I didn't like and considering how much he's written that's pretty incredible. This poem makes me giggle so of course it makes me ridiculously happy.

The Day the Saucers Came
by Neil Gaiman

That day, the saucers landed. Hundreds of them, golden,
silent, coming down from the sky like great snowflakes,
and the people of Earth stood and stared as they descended,
waiting, dry-mouthed to find what waited inside for us
and none of us knowing if we would be here tomorrow,
but you didn't notice it because

That day, the day the saucers came, by some coincidence,
was the day that the graves gave up their dead
and the zombies pushed up through soft earth
or erupted, shambling and dull-eyed, unstoppable,
came towards us, the living, and we screamed and ran,
but you did not notice this because

On the saucer day, which was the zombie day, it was
Ragnarok also, and the television screens showed us
a ship built of dead-men's nails, a serpent, a wolf,
all bigger than the mind could hold, and the cameraman could
not get far enough away, and then the Gods came out
but you did not see them coming because

On the saucer-zombie-battling gods day the floodgates broke
and each of us was engulfed by genies and sprites
offering us wishes and wonders and eternities
and charm and cleverness and true brave hearts and pots of gold
while giants feefofummed across the land, and killer bees,
but you had no idea of any of this because

That day, the saucer day the zombie day
the Ragnarok and fairies day, the day the great winds came
and snows, and the cities turned to crystal, the day
all plants died, plastics dissolved, the day the
computers turned, the screens telling us we would obey, the day
angels, drunk and muddled, stumbled from the bars,
and all the bells of London were sounded, the day
animals spoke to us in Assyrian, the Yeti day,
the fluttering capes and arrival of the Time Machine day,
you didn't notice any of this because

you were sitting in your room, not doing anything
not even reading, not really, just
looking at your telephone,
wondering if I was going to call.

Book image

I'm not really feeling like writing this week so instead I'll be posting images I like. That way you still get something new but I can take a bit of a break from writing. I found this one years ago and have had it sitting up on my desktop waiting to be posted. I like most of Cindy Grundsten's work but I love this image.

Harlech House

These are the gates of a private residence in Dublin, Ireland. If the inside of the house is as fantastic as these gates are, I want a tour. Or let's be honest, I just want to move in. I want to be guarded by dragons. I think the house is currently for sale but I don't have the $2.5 million or so that is the asking price. Still a girl can dream.

Guess What I'm Reading

I had the day off work and spent most of the afternoon cleaning out my back bedroom. I can now recognize that it holds a bed and even a desk. It was in pretty bad shape. While in there, I started looking over my bookcases for titles to get rid of. I do this every couple of years. I'm a bit compulsive as a book buyer. Without frequent weedings I would have no place to walk in my house. So I was looking to start a box. A huge series of books attracted my attention as possible shelf space but after glancing through them I think I'm going to keep them. They're just such fun.

Years ago my parents subscribed to the Time-Life Series of books. We would get beautiful hard bound books in the mail on every subject imaginable. My favorite then, and possibly still now, was a series called The Enchanted World. This was an illustrated collection of stories and myths broken out by subject. There are books on ogres, witches, brave knights, creation myths, christmas, and dozens of others. This 21 volume series covered every type of story imaginable. They are beautifully bound, richly illustrated, and amazingly heavy. For a fanciful child like myself, they were pure gold.

I've always loved fantasy stories and tales of the occult. I remember spending hours pouring over the book on witches and witchcraft trying to learn spells that would allow me to vanquish my enemies and make boys fall in love with me. In high school I played with tarot and palmistry, often earning me some interesting nicknames. I still love fairy tales and myths.

So I'm going back through those old stories that I may or may not have read. I started and finished The Book of Beginnings which covers creation myths and origin myths from around the world. There are Native American tales about how corn was introduced to the world. I was fascinated by the old Navajo story of the Woman Who Fell From the Sky and the Finnish story about the Princess of the Air who falls to earth and is impregnated by a clash of air and water, creating mankind. I particularly like the old Norse myths. The cover image tells an interesting tale of how animals got their tails. The section on Noah's Ark myths covered an interesting story about how cats came to be that I've never heard before.

I'm now reading Dragons. With only 150 or so pages for each book, many covered with illustrations, it shouldn't take me too read all the way through. Check out this 1985 trailer for the series. This would have come out right when I was the hungriest for stories. At nine I was desperate to still believe in magic. I wanted the world of fairies and dwarves and dragons to be real. I craved something beyond the ordinary. Funny enough I still do. These books are a treasure trove. I can't get rid of them.

The Full Spectrum

I'm sure you won't be surprised to learn that I'm coveting a set of books. Not just any books but one of the most incredible series filled with fantasy art ever created. The first Spectrum book came out in 1994 and the series now includes 17 titles. Spectrum, the brainchild of Cathy and Arnie Fenner, works on a call for entries basis and the results are judged by a jury of fantasy artists. The best entries are then published in book form. Gorgeous book form, crammed full of great work. I pulled this quote from the Spectrum website and I think it sums up the books beautifully.

"Spectrum doesn't exist to categorize or define fantastic art; rather, it exists to honor the imaginations of very special artists who delight in helping us see the world in a wonderfully different light. It's our job to help them reach a wider appreciative audience."

I bought Spectrum 9 about six months and was instantly hooked. Jeff and I drove to Omaha this weekend and I picked up 10 and I'm slowly adding books to my collection. My goal is to have all 17 books. They are one of the best collections of fantasy art that I've found. I love that there are so many divergent styles and artists. Each page offers a treasure trove of artistic talent. I'm excited to find that I can recognize some artists now based entirely on their styles. And some of my favorites are present: Kei Acedera, Bobby Chiu, Peter de Seve, Rick Berry, Shaun Tan, Dan Dos Santos, Rebecca Guay, Dave McKean, Brom...to name a few. And a slew of other artists. The series doesn't just include the great masters who have already established themselves, but is open to all artists.

For fans of art, these books are must haves. I will be picking up 16 and 17 soon. They are both available in the stores. The older editions will be a little more difficult to pick up. But I love the thrill of the hunt. And these books are well worth it.

Kushiel's Dart

I will start by saying that I almost never re-read books and I don’t read series. There are only two books in my entire library that I have ever re-read, Pride and Prejudice and Siddhartha. My reasoning is that there are way too many new books that I want to read and I have a good memory for things I’ve read before. As for series, I will read the first book of a series but almost never continue on to the next book. Series are a huge time commitment and I tend to have plenty of other books waiting to be read. So when I tell you that I finished Kushiel’s Dart and immediately wanted to re-read the book you’ll understand how significant that is. I’m also debating heavily whether or not I want to continue with the series. I don’t remember the last time I was this seduced by a book.



Seduced is an apt word for this story. Kushiel’s Dart, by Jacqueline Carey, is filled with intrigue, adventure, and romance with some steamy sex scenes. The story follows Phedre, a courtesan/spy who starts the book working for a nobleman to gain political information. Phedre is unique in that she experiences pain as pleasure (a masochistic prostitute), denoted by a mark in one of her eyes called Kushiel’s Dart. She uses her unique seductive skills to learn information which she then passes on to her benefactor. But Phedre and her benefactor are betrayed. He is killed and she is sold (along with her bodyguard Joscelin) to a tribe of barbarians as slaves. While there, she uncovers a plot to overthrow the Queen of Terre D’Ange (her home) and Phedre and Joscelin escape to warn her. The Queen decides that an alliance between Terre D’Ange (France) and Alba (England) would save the country from the invaders, and sends Phedre and Joscelin to Alba to return with the king and his army. On the way they must persuade Dalriada (Scotland) to lend its aid, gain safe passage from the Master of the Straits, and get back to Terre D’Ange before the invaders. I’m leaving out half the book practically with this plot summary but so much happens in this thick book that it would be impossible to list it all.

I want to talk for a moment about the setting before anything else because it affects so much of the rest of the book. The story is set in Terre D’Ange which is an alternative Renaissance France. A religion of sorts dominates the lives of the people, denoting where their position in society will be. Phedre is sold to a benefactor at a young age because her parents cannot take care of her. She is trained as a Servant of Naamah (a goddess of sex) but also follows Kushiel (a god of pain and destruction). Each of the characters has their role in society because of the god they are most aligned with. Joscelin is a Cassiline Brother, a priest who is trained from birth to protect. He is skilled in weapons and lives the ascetic life of a priest. So there is considerable friction between him and Phedre because of their different roles in society. Terre D’Ange is the wealthiest country and also the most beautiful in the invented world. Because of their wealth, they are often focused on politics, fashion, and pleasure.

There are so many characters in the book that at times they are tough to keep track of. Carey provides a detailed character list which helped greatly and the main characters are easy to keep straight. Phedre and Joscelin are the focus of the book and I really felt like I got to know the characters over the course of the book. So much happened and the characters grew so much that when I finished the book I wanted to go back to the beginning to watch the progression again. I wanted to see them again with the knowledge of what they would become. The book jacket gives you very little idea of the plot and when the benefactor was killed I was shocked since it was so early in the book. In fact I was surprised by almost every twist and turn. I had no idea what to expect and each adventure seemed to just breed more adventures. It was hard to put the book down since it seemed that there was a climax every couple of chapters. Speaking of climaxes there is plenty of interesting sex in the book since Phedre works as something of a prostitute for the wealthy. If you are turned off by submissive behavior or pain in sex this may not be the book for you but I found the scenes steamy but understated. This is not a Story of O, and everything is done very tastefully. And the sex is often overshadowed by the political intrigue which fills almost every page of the book.

There is an incredible diversity of characters and places in the book which makes for a very fleshed out setting. Carey creates a complex world, and fills it with interesting characters. It has been years since I loved a character but I loved the character of Joscelin so much that I had to skip to the end to see if he survived. I didn’t want to be surprised by his death. Both he and Phedre are the main focus of the book and Carey breathes life into both of them, creating complex and interesting characters. The relationship between them evolves beautifully after all that they have been through and we see that progression. The dialogue in the book is wonderful, filled with things unsaid and undercurrents. The setting is interesting and beautiful, and the characters are well written. The book was exciting enough to make me ache to know what happens, long enough to make me feel that I knew the characters, and steamy enough to leave me wanting more. A great read and an incredible story. Perhaps I will have to pick up the second.

Reading Weekend

I spent most of the weekend reading. I haven't given myself the chance to just sit around and read in a while and it was blissful. I took long hot baths and read. I curled up in bed and read. I ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner reading. Other than helping a friend move on Saturday, having dinner with my parents on Friday, and breakfast with Jeff and mushroom hunting on Sunday, all I did was read. Part of that was just enjoying the chance to curl up. But a good part of it was the books.

Two weeks ago my possibly hopefully soon-to-be brother-in-law (long story) handed me a book he had loved in his youth and suggested I read it. It was D'shai by Joel Rosenberg. I had started it during the week and it became my constant companion. I would pull the book out for lunches and the bits of time I get during the week. But over the weekend I devoured the rest of it. The idea is intriquing although I was a bit disappointed by the ending. Rosenberg creates a world where people are born into their positions. Warriors give birth to warriors, acrobats give birth to acrobats. They each have a magical energy call Kazuh that they can raise when they are doing well at their task. Think of a runner's high, that moment when mind falls away and the body can carry on for an almost unlimited time. The story follows an acrobat/juggler who is simply not as adept as everyone else. He is clearly not a kazuh acrobat. When the troupe arrives in town he becomes embroiled in a love triangle with deadly consequences. He is called upon to solve the murders and in that way finds his magical energy.

The book itself was interesting but the idea of Kazuh was what kept me fascinated. This idea of finding ones strength and knowing it because it will become effortless is a unique one. We are each born with unique gifts and the idea that these would seem natural to us made me really think. I enjoyed the book with the political intrique and mystery but again the ending left me disappointed. The mystery did not provide enough clues for the reader to even hazard a guess. The society though and it's magical gifts (all based on balance) kept me reading until very late last night. I'm paying for it this morning. (Thank god for coffee)

On Friday Seven Impossible Things profiled illustrator Christopher Denise. I instantly fell in love with his work. His picture book Me With You (written by Kristy Dempsey) is so incredibly adorable that I had to show his rainy day picture around. I love the soft expressions on his characters faces and the just beautiful quality of his work. I was curious to see that he'd done some illustration work for some of the Redwall books by Brian Jacques. I had Redwall sitting on my bookcase at home waiting to be read. So I picked it up over the weekend. And hardly set it down again until it was finished. This amazing story of the mice and woodland creatures living in Redwall Abbey who battle the evil rat Cluny the Scourge was exciting and magical. There was constant action, and constant danger. The characters were all livable (or in Cluny's case, despicable). The story follows Mattias the mouse, who is not really cut out for the abbey. He has dreams of being a warrior. When Cluny attacks, he discovers that he might be the greatest mouse warrior ever. He must face sparrows, snakes, and of course rats to keep the abbey safe. The action was thrilling but the characters were what really drove the story. I loved Constance the badger. This book reminded me of Wind in the Willows, just with a lot more bloodshed.

Over the weekend I read two fantasy novels in a very short period of time. I simply couldn't stop. When my nephew comes for a visit this weekend I will have to recommend Redwall for him. It's right up his alley. This was a great weekend to remember how much I love fantasy writers. Two very different books but both equally engaging. Now I just have to find a new book. Maybe one that won't keep me up so late.

Movie Theaters and for the love of all things Guillermo

I will be the first to tell you that I have a deep and well-known hatred for movie theaters. I have never enjoyed the experience of shelling out 20 buck to sit in a darkened theater surrounded by people who obviously could not care less what they are here to see. Most people say I'm too sensitive but I can't stand people talking through a movie, checking their cell phone constantly, or even worse, answering it. I've sat in theaters with all three. We won't even talk about an attempt I made with Jeff to see Shrek 2 where sixty percent of the audience were throwing candy, talking, and running up and down the aisles. Jeff and I left after 30 minutes. 

It is well known that I go to see one movie a year in the theaters. This past year it was Iron Man. Now I know that some of you out there will yell at me for not seeing the Dark Knight in the theaters. I was a Heath Ledger fan and would have loved to see him in what they are calling his finest performance. Plus I really enjoy the Batman series, particularly the dark turn it has taken in the last two movies. But even if I hadn't seen Iron Man in the theaters (which was worth it) I wouldn't be rushing out to Batman. My second choice would have been Hellboy 2. 

I just bought the first Hellboy movie at Target this evening and came home and immediately watched it. I love this film. It's campy and fun and humorous and beautiful. I didn't even see that one in the theaters. But I did run out to see Guillermo del Toro's next film Pan's Labyrinth in the theaters. I saw it at a small theater and absolutely fell in love with this film. If you haven't seen it you must. If you enjoy fantasy, particularly dark fantasy, this movie is for you. The movie jumps between these fantastical creatures and scenes, and the dark reality that this young girl is living through. Imagine Alice In Wonderland if only England was a terrible brutal world and Alice had to jump back and forth. 

After seeing both Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth I knew that I had to see Hellboy 2.  Just like I can't wait to see what he is currently doing with The Hobbit. I just couldn't bring myself to go to the movies again. It will be a rental as soon as it comes out. Thank god for Blockbuster home delivery. I have always been a fantasy fan but the images that this man creates are just breathtaking. Wild and dark they remind you of the nightmares you have had or perhaps some of your best dreams. So for the love of all that is Guillermo, get out there and rent Hellboy and Pan's Labyrinth. Just don't check out Hellboy 2 yet. I want there to be enough copies to see it right when it comes out.