o/` Fisher – Missing o/`
Well I got the book reviews typed up AND the books section of my website updated finally! It only took a few months ;) Hehe… anyway I will post the new reviews here now (if anyone cares to read them…)
Children Of Dune, by Frank Herbert, 408 pages
Like the Dune books before it, this does not disappoint. It takes place nine years after ‘Messiah’ ends, and tells of what has become of Muad’dib’s children. New characters are introduced into the story, while old are explored further, as with the previous books, the character development is excellent, and the story amazing. Whole new levels of the consciousness when exposed to the spice of Arrakis are explored, and chapter after chapter Herbert dives into the intense mind games that Muad’dib’s son confronts… this makes for a complex, yet enthrallingly interesting story. Very good.
Speaker For The Dead, by Orson Scott Card, 382 pages
This, the second book in the Ender’s Game series, takes place 3000 years after the first, where the miracle of fast space travel has allowed Ender to survive. The planet of Lusitania is now shared by humans and a race of intelligent beings known as “piggies.” Research is done on these piggies, and as the story progresses, a very interesting portrate of what they are and intend emerges. Ender comes into the story as he is called to “speak” for a departed member of Lusitania, and his life takes a turn that may prove to bind him to the people of Lusitania and the piggies. Very good story, as always, Card manages to masterfully develop all his characters, and the story itself contains something of interest to science fiction and fantasy fans of all sorts.
Guns Of The South, by Harry Turtledove, 556 pages
This book is about a group of radicals from the distant future coming to the civil war time and helping the south win the war by supplying them with AK-47’s. The physics of how the time travel works are never explained, but even with my lack of civil war knowledge I found myself captivated by this book. It really sheds light on how things were at that time in history, how brutal things were, and how amazing that it’s merely two lifetimes since that time. I do have an interest in history, which may have compelled me to read this book, but I do believe almost anyone would enjoy it. Well-written, and while some of the historical things may not be perfect (the author admits this), the general idea of the whole book is intact. I’ll be reading more of Turtledove’s alternative history.
Moving Pictures, by Terry Pratchett, 337 pages
This book is another in the Discworld series, it tells of a strange, magical, occurance that allows ideas of another place and time to drive into Discworld. What kind of ideas? In this case, the “idea” of “Holly Wood” (or Holy Wood, as it is known as on the Disc). Armed with cameras (a box with artist goblins drawing really fast inside), a dream, or just a hunch, people flock to Holy Wood to become famous. A milkmaid and an “almost wizard” are unlikely stars in this parody of Holly Wood. The directors are artful, the producers are scam artists, and the actors are just trying to find their way, and they all are literally star-eyed (“what’s wrong with your eyes?”). As if that wasn’t enough, there are talking animals. I enjoyed this book, finished it rather quickly, and I can’t say that I was every bored, another great one by Pratchett!
The Hobbit, by J.R.R. Tolkien, 287 pages
This book is a fantasy classic. Set in the world of Middle Earth, it tells of the adventure of Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit. In this magical world, wizards, dwarves, elves, and goblins co-exist (if not always peacefully), and Bilbo is swept up into an adventuer to reclaim gold from a murderous dragon. Along the way, he discovers a magical ring, which becomes much more important in stories to come (Lord of the Rings Trilogy). I love this book, and I’ve had exposure to it since before I can remember. As a young child I listened to the audio tell
ing of the story on my father’s records, and when I was old enough, I picked up the book and read it myself. The story has never failed to enchant me. Maybe part of it is that you never merely read this book, but are “told a story”, Tolkien’s narrative speaks directly to the reader in a way that makes you truly believe the story, as fantastic as it is. If you haven’t read this book you MUST put it at the top of your “to read” list, it’s not one to miss.
I did end up starting to read Fellowship of the Ring yesterday. As I was reading it I was trying to compare it to the movie, thinking… did the movie really do justice to this book? And I think I decided that, for the parts the movie covered and didn’t make up, I really was pleased with the portrayl of the characters and events. The scene where Gandalf makes Bilbo leave the ring with Frodo was done really good in the movie I thought… I am saddened by people who never get a chance to read the books tho. I have really taken for granted that I have been exposed to Tolkien since I was very young (my father was a huge fan), I could tell the story of Bilbo Baggins from memory, and it’s sad that people who decide just to watch these new movies never get a feel for who Bilbo *is* … the movies are all about Frodo, Bilbo is forgotton as an “old guy” character in the movie, wise, undoubtable cool, but you know almost nothing about him. You don’t see that he wasn’t always an adventurous hobbit, you don’t see him as an “unlikely hero”, you dont see him as that hobbit that was concerned about leaving his burrow without his handkerchief! Everyone should read these books… I love them so much *carefully huggles her old Tolkien books* (these books used to belong to my grandfather, paperpacks from the early 70s… falling apart, hehe.
I am doing lots of laundry today. Not because we have dirtied a lot, but because we emptied out the closet this weekend, trying on clothes, seeing what we could get rid of, checking out what we don’t wear often. See, I hate clothes… no, I don’t want to go around naked %P but I hate shopping for clothes, I hate organizing clothes, I hate washing clothes, I hate having piles and piles of clothes! And try as I might, each time I move I get rid of more clothes, but I kept moving in with family, and my family is notorious for sharing and ‘passing on’ old clothes (this is why I hardly ever got new clothes growing up, they all came from my cousins), so I move in with an aunt or an uncle, and it’s time for them to clean out their closets and give clothes to me. I try to turn down their offer for clothes, but they always find some portion of my wardrobe that needs replenishing “you need more shorts and sweaters!” “but I dont wear shorts and sweaters!” “well you might want to sometime so…” Ugh %) So not to be rude, I always accept a small pile of clothes. Anyway, clothes. We realized that we have piles of clothes that we want to keep, but have been sitting on the shelf so long that they are dusty, and dust stinks! So I’m doing about five loads of laundry today to get all of our clothes clean… fun stuff… I keep sneezing because of all the dust!
Another thing we did while going through clothes, was discover that we do need some more. Mostly just stuff like underclothes, the kind of things you need to buy every couple of years. I think I need a couple more non-flannel, non-sweater long-sleeve shirts (since I only have one, and I tend to wear it often). We’ll probably go out sometime this week and go clothes shopping, ugh %( Did I mention I hate shopping for clothes? It’s worse than shopping for shoes! Anyway, I am going to be smart this time and buy some nice socks, last time I got socks I was living with my aunt, and we bought a huge back of cheap socks at Wal-Mart, which, not surprisingly, made my skin break out if I wore them too long or too often. I kept these socks, just for “running out to the store if i have no
thing else” but finally threw them out last night (the shirts and pants and stuff go to the salvation army).
Yay I talked about socks.
My mother called last night. Actually, my little sister (Annette, 14) called and told me she was getting married to a 14 year old skater guy. Just trying to get me going I guess, didn’t work, I just laughed at her. In all it was a pretty uneventful phone call, my mom just had time to say “Happy Easter” and tell me that Heather (the other sister, 19) came up for easter and they all had a nice time. Ah easter at the egg farm, boy I guess I just don’t know what I am missing *grins*
Anyway, I am going to go do summore laundry, and make sure the closet is all clean so I don’t put clean clothes back onto dusty shelves %) *wanders off*
