I thank all of you for putting up with me for the last couple years and hope that all of you will follow me over and continue to put up with for a few more. I am sorry for any inconvenience this might cause (updating RSS/Links). All content and comments have been transfered over, but this blog will remain here and inactive.

I have been happy with WordPress from the beginning, long before I started this blog, and I have recommended it time and time again to those looking to get into blogging and those looking to make the switch from a different free host. WordPress has some quirks, mostly based around strengthening security, and it makes it hard to do some things that I would like, but I have been able to create a blog that I felt looked good (at times, yes) and at least somewhat uncluttered and semi-professional. These ads do a lot to take that away–they are big, take up a good bit of space at the bottom of the page, and about as far from discreet as one can get.

Those who follow me on Twitter and were alive when I found out about this knows that I am not in the slightest happy about this. This is probably not something worth getting annoyed about, after all, a lot of people have adblockers these days. But, that’s the thing. I found out about the ads because people were clicking on them. I am not comfortable with having random ads pop up on my blog, I am less comfortable with the fact that I did not know they were there in the first place because they were hidden from me. All the quirks kind of add up and become frustrating. This just adds a cherry to the top.

I don’t have the money to pay for their removal and, if I had the money, I wouldn’t pay for it. Not sure what to do… kind of afraid of switching over to a host like Blogger and losing the few followers I have (or just being a massive pain in the ass for those with RSS feeds).

If you are seeing ads, I am sorry. This blog has enough useless content without adding ads to the equation.

For those who can’t see it:

Deciding to read The Lord of the Rings came with a bit of trepidation. It is a book that I should have read years ago, more towards the beginning of my journey through this wondrous genre of ours, but put off until I had grown tired of its sort. Keen in my mind is the amount of praise it has received in the past fifty some years since it was initially published, the number of writers it has inspired, and the number of hearts it resides in. If you think the hype surrounding the latest release from Big Publisher X is bad…

The Lord of the Rings encompasses many of the things I dislike about the genre, which played a large role in my avoiding it all these years, and it may as well be the patron saint of the subgenre I have largely abandoned out of tiredness and boredom. Thus, I find myself in an interesting position. I could go into the book with a negative disposition, expecting and embracing the worst if only to attempt to fortify my my decision to avoid it all those years ago. On the other hand, I could go into it with an open mind, perhaps in an attempt to rekindle the fires that brought me into the genre in the first place or perhaps just to understand why it is so praised, beloved, and imitated. In the end, it is probably somewhere in between.

First, an admission. The prologue proved too much for me after a couple pages and I skipped it. If I was forced to read anymore Hobbit history, I would have just given up on the book entirely. World building is not exactly something I look for in a book, because… well, I really do not care about it. The only thing I ask is that your setting is something more substantial than a plywood theatrical backdrop with bits of grit thrown in for good measure. I don’t want histories and infodumps and massive appendices or common animals with weird names, a plethora of races with minor differences, or this war or that war or the war to end all wars. Enough of that, then. I moved on to the story, lest I lose my sanity and my desire to read on.

When it comes to questioning whether or not to continue reading a book, usually when I am failing to get into the book on any level, I tend to adhere to a ‘hundred page test’, which amounts to me asking, “Has anything significant happened?” If yes, I continue reading. If no, I drop the book back on the stack and move on. Having to fall back on this rule is a rare occurrence and, even then, few books actually fail. I think the last one was Brandon Sanderson’s Warbreaker. Technically, the last one that failed this rule was this book, The Lord of the Rings, but I am not stopping because I want to see it through to the end.

I started making excuses for it in order to continue reading: “Well, you have to remember that it is actually one book split into three. A slow first one hundred pages out of a thousand something page novel is not so bad.” The story has my interest, but it is so sluggish that it struggles to keep my attention. In these first hundred paged pages, there has been a party, Bilbo left the Shire, a lot of waiting has been done, and a confused Frodo has begun his journey, but is still not out of the Shire. I am at a point where I want to continue reading, I want to know what happens next, but dammit, I wish something would happen.

Oh, and the amount of songs so far in this book is enough to inspire rage. I dread turning the page and finding another one. It is like randomly inserted torture. I like these Hobbits, they tend toward the lazy and love to eat and drink, but their incessant singing could inspire mass murder. There are songs for walking, for baths, for this and that, and, really, I am thankful this is not not that sort of book, because I do not want to know they sing upon achieving orgasm. And on that note, The Lord of the Rings may be the most unintentionally funny book I have ever read. I have a dirty mind, so when it comes to older books and outdated phrasing there tend to be passages that have me cracking up. One in chapter five, which sees Merry and Frodo discussing leaving the Shire, is basically turned into a conversation about how quickly the group might get off. Within an hour, according to Merry.

I am somewhat disturbed by Tolkien’s love of exclamation marks, which works well for the most part, extending the proper tone of excitement, but sometimes goes in a different direction, lending his characters’ dialogue a sinister edge. Watching Gandalf and even Frodo turn on a dime from warm, kindly characters to seemingly angry and even mean and right back to warm and kindly often has me scratching my head and wondering about their sanity. Bilbo’s sudden shifts in mood were influenced by the ring, what is their excuse?

A hundred something pages into the book and I am surprised to find that it is not as overly descriptive as I was led to believe and that I do not yet wish to throw it against a wall and abandon it in a twisted pile on the floor. It is not a bad read, but it moves at a snail’s pace, has far too much space devoted to songs, and makes me glad that Tolkien did not share a habit with George R.R. Martin, otherwise the many times they stop to eat would create a never-ending succession of intricately described feasts.

On to the next hundred.

As HBO prepares to unveil its epic-sized series adaptation of George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones this Sunday, the payweb has begun talks to acquire the Neil Gaiman novel American Gods to be developed into another fantasy series. The project was brought to HBO by Playtone partners Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman, and it was brought to them by Robert Richardson. The plan is for Richardson and Gaiman to write the pilot together.

Great news for Gaiman fans, but it is still a bit early on for anything concrete and that makes me a bit wary about getting to excited. I have been excited by the prospect of other adaptations hitting HBO, Charlie Huston’s The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Sings of Death in particular, and watched with sadness as they have been shot down, so I know better than to get my hopes up. But, considering the popularity of the author and Playtone’s involvement, I think American Gods stands a better chance than most at finding itself airing on HBO.

Can’t wait to get some more information on this.

Edit: The news has also hit Reuters.
Edit2: The first interview with Ellis in the wake of the announcement.

***

And since I am talking about Warren Ellis, I should maybe bring up the oft-listed and never released Listener, since it tends to crop up in my comments section every once in a while. Listener was supposed to be the second novel out from William Morrow, the first being Crooked Little Vein, but fate or just severely bad luck intervened and basically put a bullet in its brain. Ellis says it best, “Dead. I lost almost 30,000 words in the computer/backup death. Officially cancelled a couple of years ago, and it won’t be back.” The book is still listed on Locus and Amazon, stubbornly persisting year after year, but it is not coming out. So, sorry if you had your hopes up (I did for the longest time, too). As for the story behind what happened, you can read about it here.

Now, I believe Ellis was supposed to be writing a second novel for William Morrow, one to replace Listener, and I think I remember him mentioning something about working on something already (could have become Gun Machine, for all I know), but I have no idea where that stands or if it is even on the table anymore given the current news. Whether there are three novels coming our way over the next however many years or just the two, I don’t care. I am just happy to have more novel work from Warren.

Years ago, not too long after I started reading fantasy and had high aspirations of becoming a published author, I decided not to read The Lord of the Rings. My reasoning was simple, if silly when viewed over half a decade on. With the amount of published and amateur fiction based on or inspired by the trilogy, I started to fear that my writing could and would be influenced if I decided to take that plunge. That I have still not read The Lord of the Rings, the most celebrated work of the genre, is almost a mark of pride for me. I have been enamored with Fantasy for the past seven years and managed, somehow, to avoid ever going near it.

In truth, the time for reading The Lord of the Rings has likely passed, along with my hopes of being a writer and my taste for the Traditional and Epic. But there is no escaping the fact that the trilogy is a core part of the genre’s history, an essential read whose influence has spread far and wide. Seven years… gone from being a die-hard R.A. Salvatore fan more than content with a handful of good fights and some badassery to whatever I am now… a half-assed reviewer that skips amongst genres, swoons over a bit of good prose, and bitches a little too much.

I do extend some effort to reading older books, the sort that can be pointed at as lingering near when a subgenre began or as influencing later generations. Sometimes I fall into it with relish, as with my taste of Sword and Sorcery in Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser. At other times it comes in fits and starts, as with H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard. It is about time that I read The Lord of the Rings, even it means breaking that earlier decision.

I do not plan on reading it all at once, because it is nearly a thousand pages and I have other books that I need to read and review, but I will be starting it today. Unlike most books, which I might talk about once or twice over the duration of the read, I will be making regular progress reports. I am not sure whether or not I will have the usual review at the end of each book or if I will just sum up my thoughts and link the progress reports… or if I will give up on the book and not get around to any of it. In any case, the book has been plucked off the shelves and is sitting next me, ready to be read and enjoyed or hated or, at the very least, appreciated.

And, just so this post isn’t a total waste of your time:

Have you read The Lord of the Rings? What did you think of it? Tell me in the comments.

There should be a review in this space, but that is not going to happen. I read the last few pages of The Quantum Thief on Saturday morning as Mal and I headed towards a 4×4 rally. I sat there for a few minutes after finishing and just thought about the last few days’ reading, trying to piece things together and maybe, just maybe, put together some kind of coherent opinion on the book. Finally, I turned to Mallory and said, “This is the most confusing book that I have ever read.”

I could review the book. I could talk about prose and characters and pacing, hint at the plot a little and rattle on a bit about some random tangent. I could, but it would be a half-assed attempt to review a book that I did not understand enough to feel comfortable writing about. The Quantum Thief is not the first book that has left me reeling and confused, but unlike the rest, it does it through its story and not through stylistic choices or prose–Wolfe and Cisco chief amongst the latter.

I am still not sure just what the hell was going on in The Quantum Thief. A great deal of Saturday, those moments when I was left to sit around with Mal’s silent family, were spent thinking about the book, attempting to puzzle out certain parts and scenes. Though I figured out that the gogols played a large part in tripping me up, there was still a great deal of confusion.

Some books demand a close, careful reread. For me, The Quantum Thief is one of those.

For those of you contemplating whether or not to get this book, remember that it is getting all sorts of praise from around the SFF community. The book is well worth a read. Do not let my confusion put you off of it.

What do you think about one professional writer taking a dig at another professional writer in such a manner?

This question comes from A Dribble of Ink, where Aidan is talking about Steven Erikson’s recent swipe at fantasy’s current-reigning whipping boy, Terry Goodkind. There is some good discussion about it in the comments and I even make a brief appearance to talk about Robert Jordan’s zombie going toe to toe with Brandon Sanderson. Despite my short comment that sort of wandered off in a different direction than everyone else’s, the question did get me thinking.

No, not so much about whether authors should criticize their peers or redden their cheeks with a literary bitch slap, but rather an interesting authorial feud of days gone by. I came across this account a couple years ago after getting lost in the Wikipedian Maze and it has stuck with me since, especially since it concerns an author I’m quite fond of. Now, you must remember that this comes from Wikipedia and the reliability of its content is shady at the best of times. Google if you must.

I am referring to Edgar Allan Poe, Thomas Dunn English, and The Cask of Amontillado:

(As quoted from Wikipedia, because I am lazy.)

Poe wrote his tale, however, as a response to his personal rival Thomas Dunn English. Poe and English had several confrontations, usually revolving around literary caricatures of one another. Poe thought that one of English’s writings went a bit too far, and successfully sued the other man’s editors at The New York Mirror for libel in 1846. That year English published a revenge-based novel called 1844, or, The Power of the S.F. Its plot was convoluted and difficult to follow, but made references to secret societies and ultimately had a main theme of revenge. It included a character named Marmaduke Hammerhead, the famous author of “The Black Crow”, who uses phrases like “Nevermore” and “lost Lenore”, referring to Poe’s poem “The Raven”. This parody of Poe was depicted as a drunkard, liar, and an abusive lover.

Poe responded with “The Cask of Amontillado”, using very specific references to English’s novel. In Poe’s story, for example, Fortunato makes reference to the secret society of Masons, similar to the secret society in 1844, and even makes a gesture similar to one portrayed in 1844 (it was a signal of distress). English had also used an image of a token with a hawk grasping a snake in its claws, similar to Montresor’s coat of arms bearing a foot stomping on a snake — though in this image, the snake is biting the heel. In fact, much of the scene of “The Cask of Amontillado” comes from a scene in 1844 that takes place in a subterranean vault. In the end, then, it is Poe who “punishes with impunity” by not taking credit for his own literary revenge and by crafting a concise tale (as opposed to a novel) with a singular effect, as he had suggested in his essay “The Philosophy of Composition”.

I was introduced to The Cask of Amontillado back in my freshman year of high school and fell in love with the story. It was interesting to come across the interesting background of the story so many years later. I can’t speak for the rest of the feud, but Poe won this battle. His story is still on the market over one hundred and fifty years on and, as far as I know, still being discussed in classrooms. There is a limited selection of work from Thomas Dunn English available on Amazon and 1844, or, The Power of the S.F. is not amongst them.

As for the original question… I am all for authors taking digs at one another as long as there is reason behind the criticism. But then, given the relative friendliness of our community, I wonder if there are many SFF authors ready to throw off the I don’t imagine that there are too many SFF authors ready to throw down the gloves and have a go.

…

OK, I’ll admit it. I do this a lot.

I am fond of change and do not like it when things stay the same for too long. This plays a part in most aspects of my life, barring relationships and employment. It is responsible for me not staying in any particular genre or subgenre for too long before exploring other reads. The site has been due a change since the turn of the year, but I have had trouble finding something I liked enough to change over. I am a picky person and though there were a lot of potential replacements that I liked, there was usually some flaw that made me hold back. Since then, I have been waiting for WordPress to introduce a new theme that I might take a shine to. They do this on a regular basis. It was only a matter of time.

Despite my previous theme, which I loved, I am partial to themes that are clean, white, and not overly flashy. I have been hoping for one that stands out, one with font that isn’t some shade of light grey and hard to read. Along came this theme, The Morning After. I like it, I really do, but it has a major flaw and if you are reading this from the home page… then you know about it. The featured posts are not limited and go all the way back to the first posts, which has caused the load time to ramp up considerably. It is a new theme, so finding new information on it is a pain in the ass, but I have gone to support to see if there is any way to limit the posts. Hopefully, they will get back to me before too long. If there is no fix, I will either go to a different theme that I have had my eye on or go back to my last theme. Love the theme, but don’t love the loading times.

The original theme, available for self-hosted sites, appears to have a way to limit the amount of featured posts on the home page. WordPress has a way to limit the amount of posts per page, too, but it does not work on this thing. Could be there was something I missed, could be this is how things are supposed to look. I’m just hoping that there is something that I can do, because I’d like to keep this theme for a while.

UPDATE:

I gave up on the other theme after hours of frustration and settled on one that I’ve had my eye on for some time now, but have been to afraid to try. The problem I was having with the other theme was fixed late this evening, but another one quickly slid into place. The blog went from having every post on the front page to only having the latest post on the front page. A post has to be sticked to appear. I could go further and waste a lot of words on technical bits that no one is interested in, but I won’t bore you. Let’s just say that the other theme could have worked, but it would require a lot of work from me to maintain it and a better archives function (like this theme features).

This book is posing something of a problem for me, an annoying problem that has me confused and slightly concerned that my mind is shot. You see, I cannot remember the title of this book. When I want to talk about it, I am left sitting there scratching my head, because the only titles that float to mind are: The _______ Thief and The Neutronium Alchemist. The former is just an example of my inability to pull quantum from my grey matter and the latter is a book by Peter F. Hamilton, which I have never read or even seen.

The Quantum Thief has been getting a lot of praise around the blogosphere, with some suggesting that it is the best SF debut since Richard K. Morgan’s Altered Carbon. The hype surrounding the book intrigued me, played a large part in me picking up the book at all, and, I have to admit, makes me slightly worried. Why? Because I adored Altered Carbon. It is easily one of my favorite books, and that means Rajaniemi has some mighty large shoes to fill.

I am about one hundred and sixty pages in, which places me just shy of the halfway mark. The book is cracking along at a dizzying pace, melting my mind with the occasional blast of technical jargon and introducing me to characters and cultures that range from interesting to what the fuck. There is absolutely nothing wrong with the book, nothing for me to complain about, at least…

…and yet…

And yet, I am not sure if I like it. There is nothing that makes me want to put it down, but there is also nothing that really grabs me, snares my attention or interest, and forces me to go on. I feel as though I could sit the book aside and move on to something else without so much as a look back or the insidious nagging that wonders what happened in the end. At halfway through the book, I feel I should know what is going on, but I don’t. The plot to find Jean’s memories is clear and present and has been since the very beginning of the book, but Isidore’s sections seem almost random and his role in the overall story unclear. It is only now, in the chapter I am currently reading, that we see a tie between Isidore and the other characters. That said, the sections involving Isidore are by far my favorite, if only because I love a good detective yarn.

There is still a ways to go before the book is over, so I am hoping things start coming together and that it starts to click with me. It is a good book so far, without a doubt. I can admit that even if I am sitting on the fence. I just hope by the end I can say that it is a good book and I loved it.