lizfu: (Knit)
Oh, yeah, finished The Hunger Games two days ago. I <3 this book so damn hard. I'm almost afraid to read the next two, because I'm afraid one of my favorite characters will go by way of character assassination, so that the author can push on us an unsatisfactory, unbelievable romance.

As much as I like the Katniss/Peeta pairing, I could totally get into some femslash for this book. Because Katniss/Madge (what little interaction there was - BUT! it was totally significant) and Katniss/Rue are/would have been amazing and more believable than Katniss/Peeta or even Katniss/Gale.

With regards to Katniss/Peeta, though, I really really enjoy SPOILERS! )

More thoughts later.

Dystopian BDSM slash now.
lizfu: (Default)
Last Monday, I bought A Game of Thrones. Last Wednesday, I started REALLY reading it, taking huge chunks at a time, staying up into the wee hours of the morning reading until my eyes BEGGED to be closed. I took a break Saturday and Sunday, when I was down to the last 100 pages and wanted to savor every line I read, and finished Monday.

SO.

My impressions.

I really really really like this book. I know somewhere there's probably a ton of articles written by more knowledgeable women with more critical eyes, but I think George RR Martin's women are as intriguing and as convincing as his men. Cersei Lannister is conniving, but there's another dimension to her as well that makes her character even a little sympathetic: she's a woman in love (with somebody she shouldn't be in love with - cos, seriously, ew) and her ills against her husband, the king, are, honestly, understandable (though overblown). Catelyn Stark is every bit the loving, loyal wife, but she has an arrogance towards Jon Snow (her husband's bastard) that makes her unlikable at times. Even Sansa becomes three dimensional as the story progresses, starting off shallow and naive, but slowly developing into a cautious young woman with conflicting loyalties, living in a dangerous situation.

In general, I think the characters have this awesome three dimensionality where they're obviously meant to fulfill certain roles in the story (the hero, the villain, etc) but their personalities are well-rounded to the point where they aren't JUST that role. The role does not define them. Jon Snow is by all rights meant to be a hero (he is Special Snowflake x 10), but he's a teenage boy with issues, so he's prone to being moody, doing incredibly stupid things every once in a while, while at the same time thinking he's HOT SHIT but a complete outcast because he's a bastard. Tyrion Lannister (one of my favorite characters) is deliciously ambiguous: he hates his family, but he's loyal to them; he genuinely likes some of the Starks and Jon Snow, but he - well, that would be giving away too much.

And Eddard Stark is just awesome, hands down.

(So's Daenerys, even if her subplot squicked me more than a bit)

Moving away from the characters, I am loving the structure George RR Martin uses - switching the story between character's PoV's by the chapter. It kept me on my toes, wondering what was going to happen to, say, Eddard, when the story shifted to Dany. I like to think of this structure as the Soap Opera method; soap operas do the same thing (sometimes with less success, because it makes the story laaaaaag) and keep the audience watching. The most recent incarnation of Bleak House (the BBC version with Gillian Anderson) did the exact same thing, and it made a very dry story compelling. Martin does it, and, well, the results are an AMAZING book with AMAZING characters, INTENSE plot, and political intrigue coming out the ears. It's a page-turner (and a fast read - 600 pages in three days fast), because the author knows how much to give the reader at a time before giving the reader something else.

Well, I bought A Clash of Kings yesterday and have started on that.
lizfu: (. . .)
British Children's Author, Brian Jacques, died over the weekend.

I heard this while listening to NPR and could only stared in wide-eyed traumatized shock for several minutes. Brian Jacques Redwall series means a lot to me. I read Mossflower in the sixth grade and was completely enchanted. Before, if I read anything, it was usually short, between 150 and 200 pages - easy reads. I'd like to think that the Redwall series made me a more literate child, expanded my vocabulary, and introduced me to such detailed, sensory writing that wasn't purple. It also encouraged me to read books that were hundreds of pages; normally, I would have been intimidated, because I always thought of myself as stupid (because people told me I was - teachers, other students, my sister).

And, for a girl who was bullied relentlessly, had no friends, and a really sucky family life, the Redwall books were easy to get lost in and forget that I was utterly alone. Nobody in that series was alone; they all had great, supportive friends and places that felt like "homes" - even Martin, outcast and wandering so far, was able to find somewhere to belong.

R.I.P Mr. Jacques. Your works touched so many lives and saved at least one lonely little girl.
lizfu: (WTF)
I finished Dresden Files: Changes about two hours ago.

What the fuck, Jim Butcher?!

(that's all I'm going to say for now, but if anybody else has read it and wants to join in the angstfest that's currently going on - party of one, as of now - please feel free to throw comments around. Out of consideration to people who haven't read it, please mark spoilers)

I'm hoping that Supernatural will make things better, but judging from [personal profile] everysecondtuesday reaction when I called her earlier today, it sounds like I'll be trading one bad thing for another.

I need an injection of joy and happiness.
lizfu: (ILU)
I forgot to mention that I finished all of Turn Coat on the bus ride to Grand Forks. My reaction: Yeah, it was cool, but why was there no Marcone?

I swear, this is a series that I read partly for the awesomely stupid things that Harry does Spoiler ) and the awesome characters who can easily put Harry in his place with a sexy smirk and a purring voice that makes you want to believe that if Harry wasn't a bucket of angst over women and Jim Butcher wasn't writing your typical male-oriented urban fantasy, Harry would totally be having mindblowingly awesome and shameful sex with Marcone. I'm just saying....

Okay, I can accept that there really was no place for Marcone in this book (though if Harry had dropped a call to him reluctantly, I'm sure he totally would have been SPOILER ) I look forward to the next book, which is supposed to be coming out this year (if it hasn't already). Hopefully we'll get Marcone??

I blame you, [personal profile] everysecondtuesday.

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