Another week out
Mar. 22nd, 2008 02:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blodeueddIt's bad: I'm starting to get with tv series the way I am with books, i.e. I find myself in the middle of several at once. At the moment, I'm sitting pretty in the middle of Princess Princess D, Flight of the Conchords, Ouran High School Host Club and Prince of Tennis OVA series 2 (would that I could finish that last one right away, but it's not done being released yet).
On the other hand, I finished two books this week!
On the door-stopper fantasy front -- and I mean that only in terms of size, not the quality of the work itself -- we have
Shadowland (Tad Williams):
The first of a trilogy!
I really enjoy Tad Williams's books. While I wouldn't rank any of them among my Favourite Books Ever, at least certainly not the top ten, they're well-written, interesting and satisfyingly filling, both in terms of length and plot, and this one surpassed my expectations, mostly because the young, female heroine? She totally rocks, so allow me to gush about her instead of actually talking about the plot.
I have quite the crush on Briony. Williams has managed to write the stereotypical "she's smart but not really pretty but there's something about her even though she resents how women are treated as inferior to men and doesn't act like a lady and insists on learning the art of the sword and dressing like a man sometimes" princess in a way that makes her believable as a person and her acting out make sense, in the context of her circumstance. A problem with the Noble Girl Wo Refuses To Act Like A Lady trope is that there is often no real reason why she would a) have modern, feminist thoughts and b) why she would have been indulged enough to act the way she does (the usual indulgent-toward-his-only-daughter is alive and kicking in this book). In Briony's case, she lost her mother when she was quite young, and grew up with an older brother and a twin brother. The fact that they're twins, I think, is quite important, given that since they're so close and physically equal (at least until puberty hits), Briony would naturally want to share in everything Barrick does, and resent being told she can't, just because she's a girl. Also, she's shown as praying to Zoria (an Athena stand-in) and looking to other strong women (her tutor, queens of the past) for inspiration and guidance.
What I also liked is that she manages to both act her age -- she is only a teenager, after all -- and bear the burdens of the crown, once she becomes co-regent. She's started to notice men, and finds herself reacting strongly to some, yet the greatest portion of her love is still reserved for her twin, and her thoughts and feelings about him ring true throughout, especially her resentment at Barrick showing the slightest interest in any female (and Barrick reacts the same in the reverse situation, of course). On top of that, while she sometimes lets her temper get the better of her, it's clear that she's been raised to rule, and that she's been paying attention. Good thing, too, because Barrick is too wrapped up in his (justified, at least!) angst to do much ruling, and I liked that Briony is shown actually running the kingdom, getting involved in the day-to-day business such as legal disputes and organising feasts and delegating the tasks she can't take care of herself. And to round it out, she has a sense of humour; I completely understand her reaction to Tinwright's poetry. ^_^
Anyway, the story itself revisits Williams's old favourite that is the clash between humans and fairyfolk, though this time around, the fairies are much more sinister*, and they've decided to come back and reclaim the land that was once theirs. The story of Chert and the foundling boy is obviously related to that, though we don't quite know how yet (apart from the hint about Merollana's lost child), and the Eddon family's ancestry is also. Intriguing!
And now, since the other plot about the autarch and Quinnitan has shot off in a new direction, I have a feeling that both the fleeing girls will meet up. At least, I hope they will! Quinnitan has the potential to be quite a cool character, and she's certainly shown herself to be resourceful enough. I think she and Briony would make quite a team.
Final verict: 8/10 and I can't wait to read the rest of the story!
* In Memory, Sorrow & Thorn, you had Jiriki & Co. to balance out the Norn, and in The War of the Flowers, Fairyland was an insular world and so there wasn't that contrast between fairies and men on such a large scale.
On the revisiting of beautifully-illustrated fantasy front, we have
Stardust (Neil Gaiman):
Perhaps it's a good thing that I first read this years ago and was fuzzy on a lot of the details, otherwise I might not have enjoyed the movie adaptation so much. At least I had the niggling feeling that there hadn't been a big fight at the end! One thing that I didn't remember, however, was that the story starts off with Dunstan and not Tristran. But for some reason, when I started reading the book, I had exactly the same moment of "What's this about a guy named Dunstan? Wasn't his name Tristran?!" *facepalm*
One reason I think this story works so well is that Gaiman managed to combine a fairytale-like atmosphere and a modern sense of irony without it ever feeling awkward. Peter S. Beagle tried the same thing in The Last Unicorn without half as much success, to my mind: that irritating butterfly guy stuck out like a sore thumb and disrupted the flow of the story. In Stardust, perhaps because all the characters possess at least some measure of humour, it works.
Anyway, all I really have to say is that it's an excellent book, and that if you haven't yet read it, do so. Get the illustrated version if you can.
Final verdict: 8.5/10
Only five more days of teaching at the embassy! It's not that I dislike teaching there, it's that I hate having to prepare classes when it's only an hour a week per group, and it makes my apartment messy with photocopies. After next week, I'll be able to chuck a whole lot of paper into the recycling, and I'm looking forward to it.
On the other hand, I finished two books this week!
On the door-stopper fantasy front -- and I mean that only in terms of size, not the quality of the work itself -- we have
Shadowland (Tad Williams):
The first of a trilogy!
I really enjoy Tad Williams's books. While I wouldn't rank any of them among my Favourite Books Ever, at least certainly not the top ten, they're well-written, interesting and satisfyingly filling, both in terms of length and plot, and this one surpassed my expectations, mostly because the young, female heroine? She totally rocks, so allow me to gush about her instead of actually talking about the plot.
I have quite the crush on Briony. Williams has managed to write the stereotypical "she's smart but not really pretty but there's something about her even though she resents how women are treated as inferior to men and doesn't act like a lady and insists on learning the art of the sword and dressing like a man sometimes" princess in a way that makes her believable as a person and her acting out make sense, in the context of her circumstance. A problem with the Noble Girl Wo Refuses To Act Like A Lady trope is that there is often no real reason why she would a) have modern, feminist thoughts and b) why she would have been indulged enough to act the way she does (the usual indulgent-toward-his-only-daughter is alive and kicking in this book). In Briony's case, she lost her mother when she was quite young, and grew up with an older brother and a twin brother. The fact that they're twins, I think, is quite important, given that since they're so close and physically equal (at least until puberty hits), Briony would naturally want to share in everything Barrick does, and resent being told she can't, just because she's a girl. Also, she's shown as praying to Zoria (an Athena stand-in) and looking to other strong women (her tutor, queens of the past) for inspiration and guidance.
What I also liked is that she manages to both act her age -- she is only a teenager, after all -- and bear the burdens of the crown, once she becomes co-regent. She's started to notice men, and finds herself reacting strongly to some, yet the greatest portion of her love is still reserved for her twin, and her thoughts and feelings about him ring true throughout, especially her resentment at Barrick showing the slightest interest in any female (and Barrick reacts the same in the reverse situation, of course). On top of that, while she sometimes lets her temper get the better of her, it's clear that she's been raised to rule, and that she's been paying attention. Good thing, too, because Barrick is too wrapped up in his (justified, at least!) angst to do much ruling, and I liked that Briony is shown actually running the kingdom, getting involved in the day-to-day business such as legal disputes and organising feasts and delegating the tasks she can't take care of herself. And to round it out, she has a sense of humour; I completely understand her reaction to Tinwright's poetry. ^_^
Anyway, the story itself revisits Williams's old favourite that is the clash between humans and fairyfolk, though this time around, the fairies are much more sinister*, and they've decided to come back and reclaim the land that was once theirs. The story of Chert and the foundling boy is obviously related to that, though we don't quite know how yet (apart from the hint about Merollana's lost child), and the Eddon family's ancestry is also. Intriguing!
And now, since the other plot about the autarch and Quinnitan has shot off in a new direction, I have a feeling that both the fleeing girls will meet up. At least, I hope they will! Quinnitan has the potential to be quite a cool character, and she's certainly shown herself to be resourceful enough. I think she and Briony would make quite a team.
Final verict: 8/10 and I can't wait to read the rest of the story!
* In Memory, Sorrow & Thorn, you had Jiriki & Co. to balance out the Norn, and in The War of the Flowers, Fairyland was an insular world and so there wasn't that contrast between fairies and men on such a large scale.
On the revisiting of beautifully-illustrated fantasy front, we have
Stardust (Neil Gaiman):
Perhaps it's a good thing that I first read this years ago and was fuzzy on a lot of the details, otherwise I might not have enjoyed the movie adaptation so much. At least I had the niggling feeling that there hadn't been a big fight at the end! One thing that I didn't remember, however, was that the story starts off with Dunstan and not Tristran. But for some reason, when I started reading the book, I had exactly the same moment of "What's this about a guy named Dunstan? Wasn't his name Tristran?!" *facepalm*
One reason I think this story works so well is that Gaiman managed to combine a fairytale-like atmosphere and a modern sense of irony without it ever feeling awkward. Peter S. Beagle tried the same thing in The Last Unicorn without half as much success, to my mind: that irritating butterfly guy stuck out like a sore thumb and disrupted the flow of the story. In Stardust, perhaps because all the characters possess at least some measure of humour, it works.
Anyway, all I really have to say is that it's an excellent book, and that if you haven't yet read it, do so. Get the illustrated version if you can.
Final verdict: 8.5/10
Only five more days of teaching at the embassy! It's not that I dislike teaching there, it's that I hate having to prepare classes when it's only an hour a week per group, and it makes my apartment messy with photocopies. After next week, I'll be able to chuck a whole lot of paper into the recycling, and I'm looking forward to it.
