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Jan. 15th, 2009 09:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spryngI’m writing and editing this at work to actually get something written for LJ for once. It’s been over a week since I last posted, I realized. Anyway – I’ve got several things to focus on for the next six months – reading, writing, and studying. I’ve got all that Greek to work on, Guardians to edit, and much to read. Speaking of which, I need things to read. I haven’t had a chance to read for fun for a while, and now I’m going to make books do the double duty of both being a way to make the bus ride more fun and also to cut them horribly apart and maybe learn something. I recently finished both Terry Pratchett’s Making Money and Gail Martin’s The Summoner. Right now I’ve just started on Tad William’s War of the Flowers, which is both thick and… different. It's taken nearly 100 pages to get properly into it, which I s'pose is only fitting when it's over 800 pages long.
But I'll wait to judge that until I've read it.
Gail Martin's The Summoner follows the quest a prince and his friends who are unexpectedly ousted from their comfy home by his evil step-brother. On his journey he must both learn to be a king and learn how to control his blossoming powers as a necromancer so that he can remove his brother and his brother’s pet mage from power. He meets more companions along the way, each of them with their own specialty and quest.
What drew me to this book in particular was the necromancer aspect - ever since I read World War Z back in October I've been in a bit of a zombie mood. Unfortunately, this story is much more about ghosts and spirits than it is zombies. In fact, it takes a completely different view on necromancy than I'm used to encountering, throwing it into a more positive light, a sort of go-between who can lay spirits to rest. Not so much raising a massive undead army as persuading a few angry souls to take down your enemies in exchange for something. So despite the lack of zombie uprisings, I rather like it.
I also like how the story, while centering around the soon-to-be king, also constantly reminded you that the world didn't entirely revolve around him. Characters go off and do their own thing, and even though it eventually does tie back to the MC, it's not as obvious or forced as some plots I've seen. It gives the characters and plot some much needed depth, as well.
There are, however, many aspects of the book which smacked too much of my own faults in writing and which really should have been fixed during the first edit. Things are hinted at which never come to fruition, things happen to cause tension which should thicken and develop characters but instead the author quickly reassures the reader that no, really, it's all alright. Sometimes it feels as if the author is trying to juggle too many things at once and therefore forgets about the little things. One move made a character who could have made the story much more interesting become completely flat and predictable. And the villains - oh, I don't even know where to start. There's absolutely no depth to them, they're just evil without any rhyme or reason and filled with evil cliches. Ugh.
Beyond the lack of decent character depth I get this strange feeling that the author has played her fair share of D&D games. The quest group consists of a mage, a warrior, a mercenary, a bard, a warrior princess, and a healer at one point. Throw in a rogue and I'll call it good. The MC has a quest where he must descend into the cellars and retrieve a magical sword which could easily be a boss fight in a WoW instance. Lol, fat loots dropped on first attempt. And then the MC also has an Eragon tendency to faint whenever things get tough.
Overall, a mediocre book. I will probably read the next book in further hope of zombies, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they were specifically looking for a generic fantasy or a book about raising the dead.
We have so much furniture now. Lady's mom came last weekend and bought us a dresser and while at the furniture place I caved and got a coffee table and some shelves for our books, so now we have more room for books and a place to put delicious beverages. That and all of our clothes fit in the dresser. Is good. I have a desk, too, courtesy of my mom, which I still have to put together. I'm a little pooped from putting so much furniture together, but now I can't imagine wanting anything more. Well, I mean, aside from a nice vacation and a finished novel, but I can only wish and work on those.
Three year anniversary this weekend. ^-^ And moreover, we have Monday off of work. It's rather nice being paid to not be there. But this weekend... dunno what to do. I love her so much and I want to show my appreciation with food, but there're just so many excellent food places here... sometimes I feel a bit spoiled.
I should be getting a raise at work next week. And probably switching to Deed in Lieu completely, which is cool, because then I get the people who actually want to get rid of their homes instead of those cheating the system or in bad times. Either way, I really want out of the foreclosure business. It's sucking at my soul a little bit at a time. I mean, I do have job security, but I would much rather be doing things that help people. Call me a humanitarian. I'd better get into grad school.
But I'll wait to judge that until I've read it.
Gail Martin's The Summoner follows the quest a prince and his friends who are unexpectedly ousted from their comfy home by his evil step-brother. On his journey he must both learn to be a king and learn how to control his blossoming powers as a necromancer so that he can remove his brother and his brother’s pet mage from power. He meets more companions along the way, each of them with their own specialty and quest.
What drew me to this book in particular was the necromancer aspect - ever since I read World War Z back in October I've been in a bit of a zombie mood. Unfortunately, this story is much more about ghosts and spirits than it is zombies. In fact, it takes a completely different view on necromancy than I'm used to encountering, throwing it into a more positive light, a sort of go-between who can lay spirits to rest. Not so much raising a massive undead army as persuading a few angry souls to take down your enemies in exchange for something. So despite the lack of zombie uprisings, I rather like it.
I also like how the story, while centering around the soon-to-be king, also constantly reminded you that the world didn't entirely revolve around him. Characters go off and do their own thing, and even though it eventually does tie back to the MC, it's not as obvious or forced as some plots I've seen. It gives the characters and plot some much needed depth, as well.
There are, however, many aspects of the book which smacked too much of my own faults in writing and which really should have been fixed during the first edit. Things are hinted at which never come to fruition, things happen to cause tension which should thicken and develop characters but instead the author quickly reassures the reader that no, really, it's all alright. Sometimes it feels as if the author is trying to juggle too many things at once and therefore forgets about the little things. One move made a character who could have made the story much more interesting become completely flat and predictable. And the villains - oh, I don't even know where to start. There's absolutely no depth to them, they're just evil without any rhyme or reason and filled with evil cliches. Ugh.
Beyond the lack of decent character depth I get this strange feeling that the author has played her fair share of D&D games. The quest group consists of a mage, a warrior, a mercenary, a bard, a warrior princess, and a healer at one point. Throw in a rogue and I'll call it good. The MC has a quest where he must descend into the cellars and retrieve a magical sword which could easily be a boss fight in a WoW instance. Lol, fat loots dropped on first attempt. And then the MC also has an Eragon tendency to faint whenever things get tough.
Overall, a mediocre book. I will probably read the next book in further hope of zombies, but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone unless they were specifically looking for a generic fantasy or a book about raising the dead.
We have so much furniture now. Lady's mom came last weekend and bought us a dresser and while at the furniture place I caved and got a coffee table and some shelves for our books, so now we have more room for books and a place to put delicious beverages. That and all of our clothes fit in the dresser. Is good. I have a desk, too, courtesy of my mom, which I still have to put together. I'm a little pooped from putting so much furniture together, but now I can't imagine wanting anything more. Well, I mean, aside from a nice vacation and a finished novel, but I can only wish and work on those.
Three year anniversary this weekend. ^-^ And moreover, we have Monday off of work. It's rather nice being paid to not be there. But this weekend... dunno what to do. I love her so much and I want to show my appreciation with food, but there're just so many excellent food places here... sometimes I feel a bit spoiled.
I should be getting a raise at work next week. And probably switching to Deed in Lieu completely, which is cool, because then I get the people who actually want to get rid of their homes instead of those cheating the system or in bad times. Either way, I really want out of the foreclosure business. It's sucking at my soul a little bit at a time. I mean, I do have job security, but I would much rather be doing things that help people. Call me a humanitarian. I'd better get into grad school.
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no subject
Date: 2009-01-16 10:13 pm (UTC)Yay for interesting take on necromancy!
I vote you take her out to Taco Bell. ;p Happy anniversary!
no subject
Date: 2009-01-17 04:44 pm (UTC)anyway, best of luck with grad school! i'm sure it will allow you to find a career in which you ARE helping people :)