Book Review: The Land of Painted Caves

Alright, not what I have been planning to write about, but still something that needs to be written. Finally got through the last book in the Earth's Children series. And I've spent the day trying to figure out how to put it into words.

Jean Auel's Earth's Children has been a favourite series of mine since I first read "Clan of the Cave Bear" in 8th grade. That was a while back. The concept captured my imagination, and the storytelling was beautiful. Ayla was a wonderful character, the Clan was amazing, Jondalar was a role model, and the Mamutoi were fascinating. I loved pretty much everything about the first 3 books. The 4th book was enjoyable, but retraced the steps of the 2nd book. And then it really started going downhill. The 5th book finally had Ayla with Jondalar's people, and it was such a letdown. Conflicts weren't fulfilled, tension wasn't built, and it was generally a boring book.

The latest book, "The Land of Painted Caves" continued the downhill trend. And I really hate to say that. There were some really amazing ideas that got completely lost in the rambling of the first half of the book. Characters that were half remembered got more time and random thoughts than the main characters, flashes of tension were simply glazed over and some completely forgotten about, and the first 300 pages took me a month to get through. Yes, I was doing other things too, but stil, if it had been entertaining, then I would have read more and faster.

The second half of the book was a bit better. I really loved the descriptions of some of the cave paintings, especially Chaveaux, but even some of those seemed halfway done and not fully fleshed out. When the novel actually starts to have conflict that is cared about, things happen so quickly especially compared to how slow the first half of the book was. There were parts where I was on edge, nail biting because of how wonderfully written parts were. If the whole book had been like this, then I would have been raving about this book as opposed to pointing out its weaknesses.

The ending though felt rushed and incomplete. I had thought that this would be the last book, but if it isn't, then I do hope the wait for the next isn't as long and it isn't as much of a letdown.

Coming up will be a blog about the news stories of the past few weeks. I'm prepared to be hated.

Movie Review: Thor

Alright, after some time for it to sink in, and a couple of cakes made in the mean time, I'm going to try a spoiler free review of Thor. First off, let me say, best comic book movie since Iron Man, at least. Maybe even Batman Begins. It was that good. Rest of the review will be attempting to put a finger on what it was that made it so good.

First off, it felt completely epic. Kenneth Branaugh brought his Shakespearean touch to the super hero movie. It felt like a great dramatic story, with all the highs and lows and feel of a great work of art. Yes, other people could have directed this, but I don't know if they would have captured the scale of it the way that Branaugh did. It felt classy yet didn't lose the fact that is was based on a comic book, so was funny and light at times. It was just beautiful to watch. Asgard was amazing to look at. And unlike so many other movies, sets were built which added a feeling of realism to the movie. It was nice to see actors interacting with a set instead of just having it projected behind them. Yes, there was a lot of blue screen work as well, but the actual set work was amazing.

Further along those lines, the costumes were absolutely amazing. Thor's armor was beautiful, and Loki's armor even more so. The rest almost matched those two. Except for Odin's. There were some things that I really loved about it, but other parts just didn't seem to work for me. But that was the only one that had that problem. And everything else about Odin made up for the not as cool armor. Heimdahl's armor still gives me chills thinking about it.

Thirdly, the acting was top notch. When Anthony Hopkin's arguably turns in the weakest performance, that's saying something. And his performance just had times where it didn't work. Most of the time he was an amazing Odin. But Loki was the scene stealer. The actor was just amazing, conveyed both the good and bad in his character. Truly Loki Silver tongue. Natalie Portman was fantastic as always, as was Stellan Skarsgard. The cast chemistry was just amazing and they all seemed to play off each other really well.

Then comes the story itself. It give something that isn't found in too many movies, shows, or books even. A dual Hero's Journey is so rarely done well, especially in what most people would consider a light fun movie. But I can't think of any off the top of the head that do it as well as this one follows both Thor and Loki. The only thing that comes close is the Dark Knight and Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent. I think that Thor did it much better.

I don't feel like I can say much more without giving too much of the story away, but it was totally amazing and I would recommend everyone go see it.

Updates and other things

It's the last week of the month, so I've been spending the mornings and early afternoons at the local soup kitchen. Haven't had as much time to work on things as much as I would like. But it's a good thing to do and will hopefully pay off in the long run. I have however gotten a bit more done on my scarf.

On the other hand, the season premier of Doctor Who was amazing!!!!!! Totally mind blowing and has me counting the hours to to second half of it. Really need to know what the hell is going on!

In other TV news, I'm really loving HBO's Game of Thrones adaptation. It's been really close tot he book so far, while not being overwhelming to those who haven't read it yet. Plus it's got Sean Bean and Lena Headley in it, which should be enough to sell it for everyone.

I was really enjoying the Borgias as well. But I missed last week's episode and haven't caught the newest one yet either. Jeremy Irons is just amazing, as always.

Alright, will write more on the important stuff later. So much to say but so many emotions involved in pointing out the stupidity of people. lol

Feeding addiction

Again, I've been a horrible blogger. I've been feeding a new addiction instead of being a good boy. Bad James. But here's a progress report on what I've been up to. :D

Book Review: The Exile

I'm still trying to make up my mind about this one. It's a graphic novel set in the Outlander universe. Hell, it's set within the first half of the novel Outlander. So the story is a very familiar one to fans of the novels. The point of view however is completely different. Instead of focusing on Clair's point of view, this is told mainly from Jamie and Murtaugh's view points.

I will say, that I do love the way the story is told. Murtaugh has always been my favorite character, and to see inside his thoughts for once was an interesting experience. There was a layer of the story there that I never picked up on from the novels, though I wonder if it was there. Won't tell what it is fr spoilers sake, but it was a revelation into the character of Murtaugh. It was also interesting to get Jamie's view on things. I had forgotten how young he was at the beginning of the saga. So different from the man at the end, but the similarities are there as well.

The part that keeps me up in the air is the art style. I honestly can't make up my mind about it. It tells the story wonderfully and it is gorgeous, but it doesn't quite suit the story in my opinion. The highly Asian influenced style, and it just doesn't click with the Scottish story. It is beautiful to look at however. The depiction of Claire is spot on. Jamie is young and handsome. But Murtaugh just doesn't look rough enough. In none of his panels does he really come close to looking the way that I pictured him. He's just too soft and good looking. lol I take that back, the opening pages are exactly how I pictured him, but there aren't any close ups there.

Overall, if you're an Outlander fan, go pick this up from the library at least. Give it a shot. You'll finish it in well less than a day. And if you like it, then go get it. There's probably a Borders closing somewhere near you and they have it 50% off. Well worth it.

Book Review: Songs of Love and Death

Time for another book review. After stretching it out as long as possible, I finally finished the last in this fantastic collection of short stories. There isn't really much I can say about this. Found a couple of authors that I'm going to have to look up other works. But the fact that it's a collection of short stories by authors like Neil Gaiman, Diana Gabaldon, and Jacqueline Carey, edited by George R. R. Martin should be enough to convince anyone who is a fan of sci fi and fantasy to give this a shot. Like all collections, some stories stand out more than others, but I can't say that there were any that I just didn't enjoy reading. There is a lot more of the love than death than the title would suggest, however. There weren't any that were just plain morbid. Gabaldon's and Carey's stand out above the others. They fill in several areas that fans of their writing will really enjoy. Gaiman's story was his usual mind trip of wonderful prose. But all around, if you don't buy this book, at least go to the library and check it out. It's really fantastic and I recommend it all around.

Again, I've been bad

Once more I've been a bad blogger, reneging on the promise I made to myself and anyone else who does keep reading this, that I would be blogging regularly again. So much going on, so many things that I want to talk about, but unable to to figure out where to start, I've paralyzed myself again. I'm awful, and I know it. So much has made me angry, and riled so much emotion, and that is a position that I hate writing from. What it adds in passion, it takes away from the logic and reason of the argument. And while sometimes the raw passion is a good thing, with most of the things I enjoy writing about, it is a downside.

But, where should I start? Most pressing in the news at the moment is Libya. So why not start there? If I could pick one place in the world to be right now, this would be it.

Revolution has finally caught up with Gadhafi. He was the bogey man for a while when I was a child. The man responsible for the Lockerbie bombing. The first world leader that I can remember being talked about as funding world wide terrorism. Of course this was at the time when we were supporting Saddam in Iraq. lol But now the people have risen up in a long overdue rebellion. Rebellion against a corrupt regime is always a good thing. Even I didn't dare imagine that what started in Tunisia and Egypt would move to the country that is sandwiched between them.

But what is the point of rebellion? It is to topple the unjust and replace it with something better for the people. Not necessarily something better for the world. Due to the impact that the rebellion is having on oil prices, the temptation is there for intervention from the outside. There are calls for UN and US air strikes, mobilization of ground forces, and the whole 9 yards. Iraq has shown that doesn't work. Is Gadhafi as bad as Saddam? Yup. Has he treated his people with the same kind of disdain? Yup. The difference is that in Libya the people have risen and are willing to go as far as it takes to topple a corrupt leader.

A light hand is needed in dealing with situations like this. Should the world abandon the rebels to whatever the army may do to them? No way. but support should be subtle, under the table. Not overt shows of force and occupation. Self determination has been the correct policy of international relations since the collapse of the British Empire. Imperialism has no place in the modern world. Support for just revolution should be offered without condition, without expectation of pay back, but for the simple fact that it is the right thing to do.

A heavy handed military response would feed the anti Western sentiment in the Islamic world. It would fuel the fires of radicals that have been taking arms and preaching jihad for years. But an Islamic country that rises up against a cruel dictator, that chooses a western style democracy, the way of life that is raved against, is better than any publicity or propaganda that we can throw out about ourselves.

Alright, that's enough of a rant for now. Agree? Disagree? Love it? Hate it? Leave a comment and let me know.

On happenings in Egypt

Alright, first political rant in a while. Bear with me if the language isn't up the par with some of my previous posts.

Alright, if you've been under a rock for the past couple of weeks, a revolution has started in the Islamic world. It started with the overthrow of the government in Tunisia. Things seem to be progressing well there, and I have high hopes. But their revolution was quickly eclipsed by uprisings in Egypt. The reason that Egypt gets more coverage than Tunisia, aside from the population and strategic importance, is that more people in the US know basically where Egypt is. Yeah, we're a special people aren't we?

Back on point, Egypt for the past...half century at least, has been ruled by strong willed presidents who have taken on the power of dictator. The most famous being Nassar, but most recently Mubarak. Dictators provide stability in a part of the world that doesn't know stability without a strong hand. The western idea of democracy and country is still a relatively new concept in the middle east. History has shown that the area goes to chaos quickly when a strong leader is removed, or a strong stabilizing government. Be it empire or monarchy or dictator, strong leaders have been the only way to provide stability.

The cost of this stability, however, is what are thought of in the western world as basic human rights. The idea of democracy is so entrenched in our way of thinking that it is hard for a westerner to see things through a different set of glasses. What we don't realize though, is that it has taken over 300 years for us to reach this state. Less than 100 years ago, most of the region was ruled by one of the European empires, before that various other empires. Egypt stands out as being relatively independent for a good chunk of that time. Left to their own string of dictators.

Am I saying that revolution is doomed to fail in Egypt? Far from it. I think of all the countries in the middle east that Egypt has the best chance of forming a stable democracy. It has a lot of western educated professionals, western influence is stronger than in most countries (even if it is mostly due to tourism), and it has a history that almost predates time itself. It has seen more changes than most other parts of the world could imagine.

However, revolution is always a dangerous proposition. Iran was an extremely westernized country prior to their revolution in the 1970's. Now it is one of the most isolated and feared and hated countries in the world. The strongest opposition to Mubarak is an Islamic radical group that would turn back the clock in Egypt and make it another Iran. Democracy is more than just mob rule, though mob rule is the easiest thing to achieve. They would more than likely set up a theocracy in the guise of democracy. Another set of dictators, but with seemingly popular backing.

How will things work out? I don't know. I personally would like to see a British style parliamentary system set up with an American style constitution in place. A set of checks and balances set up to ensure long term stability. But level heads need to prevail. Inciting a riot is easy, creating a proper government is much harder.

If you haven't figure out yet, yes, I do believe in a distinct right and wrong and that some cultures and governments are better than others. Relativism has it's place, but is highly overrated and used by western culture today.

Book Review: Fool Moon

Alright, onto another book review...Yeah, I know, I probably read a bit too much. But it's fun. haha This time, book two of the Dresden Files, Fool Moon.

The story itself was quite good. If you can't guess, paranormal book, moon in the title, werewolves play an important role. But unlike most books in the genre, Butcher takes a much wider and more interesting view of werewolves. And it was one of the things that I really loved about it. Different cultural perspectives on werewolves, and a fantastic combination of different themes comes together and works extremely well. Two thumbs way up to Butcher for his fresh take on a genre cliche.

Dresden also gets a good bit of character development. He still seems a bit flat at times, but is growing. His backstory begins to get fleshed out and I'm interested in seeing where it is going. I do love him though. He's a character that bleeds, that has limitations. There is room for growth, but it seems like Butcher is going to stay within the rules of his world so far. (Unlike some authors with their heroes. *coughHamiltonBlakecough*)

Yeah, I know, not the best review again, but I'm still working on getting back into writing. Give me some more time and I'll get back up to speed. :) Stick with me until then. But thumbs up to the book, looking forward to getting the next. Fun, entertaining, and pulls you into the story, that's what I look for in books generally and this one fills them nicely. If you like paranormal thillers, give it a shot.

Double book review

Alright, going to do something different and do two reviews at once. The books in question are "The Gathering Storm" and "The Towers of Midnight," which were originally intended to be one book. They are 12 and 13 in the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan and the first two written by Brandon Sanderson after Jordan's death. They are amazing reads and probably my favourites of the series so far.

I won't try and explain the plots or what happens, but the tension that has been building for most of the last 3 books at least is finally resolved in a wonderful matter. I was actually surprised by some of the occurrences and the style it was written in was fantastic. Sanderson's writing is obviously different from Jordan's, but I thought that it flowed much better. Sanderson jumped between characters more often, which made it easier to remember who was where doing what, where, and with whom. The convergence of characters added to the sense of release as well as serving to build more tension for Tarmon Gai'don. Overall, they were a fantastic pair of books that really highlighted the skill of Sanderson as a storyteller and of Jordan's epic tale. Two thumbs way up above the clouds.

That is not to say that the books were perfect. The only real complain that I had was the chronology of the story was all messed up. In "Towers" particularlly, the story jumped back and forth in time with jumps between character. It was a almost impossible to tell what was happening when. It had me really screaming and pulling my hair out at times. Because the story was so enrapturing. I'm not sure if it was the author's fault or the editors, but that was the only real complaint I had at all.

Now comes the hard part. After over a year of reading, 13 books, and many dollars down, I finally have caught up in the series and have to wait 10 months till the next book comes out. lol Not the longest I've waited for a book in a series, but still, a bit frustrating. lol AT the same time, something to look forward to.

A slow week

I haven't written much this week, but it's been one of those weeks. The snow came Sunday evening a week ago, and have been stuck in the house since then. It has been hair pulling out crazy time. And nothing really has jumped out aside from that. Though it wasn't as horrible as it could have been. Bjorn was hilarious in the snow. So much at home with himself in a way that I wish I could be. But this is not my season, not my time. Hell, probably not even my place in a more philosophical view. But it was fun playing with the puppy. Otherwise, I've just been reading too much and staying by the fire to try and stay warm. lol Emphasis on try. Have I mentioned yet I hate the cold?

Timelessness

First week of a new year is generally one of reminiscence and this one has been no different. Sometimes good things, sometimes not so good, but this one has been one of the better times. Two coincidences got me seriously thinking about some serious and not serious things. Well, serious for nerds and dorks, not so much for others. But I've never claimed to be more than a nerd so... Firstly, BBCA began showing The X Files. Secondly, Ovation TV did Firefly all week. Two shows that I loved and were critically, if not popularly acclaimed during their run. But watching the first few episodes of the X Files just made me shake my head. Everything seemed so dated and out of touch, so different from the groundbreaking show of the time. Yeah, it was the only American Sci Fi on TV at the time so that made it stand out. But everything just seemed so bad looking back. Fun, but bad. On the other hand, Firefly is just as new, fresh and mind shattering as watching it the first time. This got me thinking about what the difference was in the two shows. Why does one hold up while the other show its age?

The first thought was the setting. The X Files starts in the early 90's and is very much set in that time. No cell phones, big bulky computers, no laptops....the devices of moder life that are so hard to imagine life without. Firefly is set in the future, space travel, all kinds of flashy stuff imposed over the old west...just crazy stuff. But then I discarded that from watching Buffy. Extremely time set, just as corny as the X Files, but somehow it holds up much better. MASH is kinda the same. Set in Korea, the lack of things is just as foreign, but most episodes are just as hilarious now as they were when it originally aired. So setting isn't the difference.

Writing then? Yeah, every episode of Firefly is a masterclass in writing and it took the X Files a while to reach their stride. Could it be that just good writing makes the difference? That's probably 99% of it. Those early episodes of the X Files were just not creative and pretty blahly written. But they tapped into something that had been untapped for such a long time. There were other bad sci fi shows out there when the X Files started, but none tapped a moment in time better than the X Files. And that moment then passed.

I guess that's 90% of what was going through my mind. Yeah, still working on getting myself better with words. I had this whole big idea in my head about what makes something good and bad and everything in between. But it all boils down to some things are just good and some things aren't. lol Oh well, hopefully with practice the loquaciousness will return. Feedback is always welcome.

Book Review: Storm Front

Finally picked up the first book of the Dresden Files. I must say that I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting another set of guilty pleasure books, but it was actually really good. The plot was well thought out and the characters just pulled me in. Dresden is a wonderful change up hero from most urban fantasy. First off, he's male. In a genre dominated by female sex pots, lesbian vampires, and teenage idiots, a male nerd hero is a nice change up. Secondly, he's just a damn fun character to read. Great sense of humour and seriousness, intriguing background and just all around an interesting character. Don't wanna give too much away, if anyone hasn't read it yet, but needless to say it was a fun story read.

Yeah, still working on getting my mind back to making words into sentences that make sense. lol But I will recommend the book highly. Two thumbs way up.

New Year's resolution

Alright, I'll be the first to admit, that the last year I was a horrible blogger. Swung back and forth between too angry to blog about some things and just too lazy and awful to blog about others. Changing that for this year and hopefully going to get back into the writing rhythm. So keep tuned for the usual political rants, book reviews, movie reviews and everything else in between. Mostly, the manic ramblings of this weirdo.

Happy new years and best wishes to anyone else who is still out there. :)