So. There’s a trailer online for The Force Awakens, aka Star Wars episode VII. And I have thoughts. (ETA: Here’s the first full trailer. The thoughts below are–more or less–nchanged by its release.) Those thoughts begin in the summer of 1999, on the release date for The Phantom Menance, I was hiking through Capitol Reef […]
Star Wars, episode … yeah Read More »
CAPITOL CITY (PANEM) — Capitol University sophomore Jayden Sanderson studies a 3D simulation of a lush forest. He zooms in on a river that flows placidly through the trees. “There.” He points to a spot where the river’s bank broadens out. “It doesn’t look like much, but there’s just enough mud here for a Tribute
After the revolution, we’ll run more human interest pieces Read More »
As many of you know, my first sale was to one of Marion Zimmer Bradley’s Darkover anthologies, and that sale gave me my first glimmer of hope that I could build a professional writing career. I recently had a story appear in a second Darkover anthology, produced by MZB’s estate, and I tremendously enjoyed returning
On doing a thing I needed to do Read More »
So on the livejournal version of last week’s post about the hard-to-define magic-y mythic-y lyrical fantasy genre, the subject of books that have this feeling without being fantastical came up. Dacuteturtle talked about how some of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s short stories have this feeling for her. Rachelmanija talked about how “secret garden” books do. I
Realism and mythical lyrical magical books Read More »
So, there’s a certain kind of book I’m always on the lookout for. It’s not the only kind of book I’m on the lookout for, but it is the kind of book I adore when I find it. I think of the genre as lyrical mythic fantasy. Books that can be spare, but not so
Looking for a certain sort of book Read More »
(I’m behind on actually sharing my reading thoughts here, but do post more regularly on Goodreads as I read.) I first read Pen Pal on the author’s blog, where it was primarily a series of letters between the main characters. When I started reading the final version, I initially was uncertain about the addition of
Pen Pal, by Francesca Forrest Read More »
Books Read in 2013: 1. The Planet Savers, Marion Zimmer Bradley (start of a Darkover reread that I never quite finished) 2. Arrow, R.J. Anderson 3. Sword of Aldones, Marion Zimmer Bradley 4. White Fur Flying, Patricia MacLaughlan 5. Doll Bones, Holly Black (adored this book about the changing–and not so changing–role of pretend games
… that they’ve really had enough of hearing about That Poem. Not that it’s a bad poem, all things considered. But more than 150 years after publication, and humans still can’t resist reminding them of it at every opportunity. All their raven-y intellectual accomplishments, all their opinionated trouble-making trickster-inspired awesomeness, and all humans have to
The ravens would just like you to know … Read More »
Prophecy and precognition rarely end well in fiction, do they? Tempting as it is to see this as a moral statement about … well, about any number of things … I actually suspect it’s because “she listened to the prophecy and so no pain and suffering whatsoever came to pass” doesn’t make a good story.
A fictional mistrust of seeing the future Read More »
Specifically, spoilers for Zombies, Run, season 2, mission 13. Highlight to read. Dear Zombies, Run Writers, Don’t you dare kill Archie. Don’t you dare rewire Archie. Don’t you dare do anything but return Archie to us completely and absolutely unharmed. That thing you did with Chris McShell season 1 was bad enough, and I barely
Spoilers for Zombies, Run ahead Read More »