Archive | September 2011

Things I have liked this week

Sep8
Dancing stuff
Strictly Come Dancing is back. Whoop whoop! I love Strictly. And while I don’t really know who half the celebrities are, I’ll be supporting whoever is partnered with Artem or James :-).

Space picture
From Cassini in the shadow of Saturn. An amazing picture that looks like it’s not real, but it is.

Writing stuff
This week I read an article about avoiding certain cliched and overused words on your CV. I thought a lot of the advice applied to writing about characters. Basically it boils down to ‘give examples and let the reader work out the qualities’. Good stuff.

A Read of A Dance with Dragons – Part 34

Sep7
Chapter 33 – Tyrion
Tyrion and Jorah Mormont have left Volantis, ostensibly bound for Qarth, but really going to Meereen. Penny, the jousting dwarf girl, is also on board. Tyrion tries to be nice to her but she hates him. Moqorro is a red priest sent to bring the light of Rh’llor to Daenerys. The ship they’re on is big, cumbersome and slow. Over the days, Tyrion and Penny get to know each other and move closer to becoming friends. Jorah seems to spend most of the time asleep.
The ship passes Valyria, which is red and smoking. Moqorro tells Tyrion that it was a massive volcanic eruption that destroyed Valyria. He says they must get to Meereen as quickly as possible as there are others that are seeking out the Queen of Dragons. He has seen it in his flames, in particular, he has seen a one-eyed kraken.
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Daenerys doesn’t know what’s just around the corner. If only she can hold on for a little bit, then maybe she won’t have to marry Hizdahr zo Loraq.
Tyrion’s friendship with Penny is quite sweet. She brings out his gentle side, much as Sansa Stark did.
So, the doom of Valyria was a volcano. That’s kind of what I’d thought but is a bit of an anti-climax. It’s a shame it wasn’t a big, magickal kerbluey. Also, I recently read about how the presence of whales makes the oceans thrive (link is to an abstract, not the full article) and naturally I thought about how the presence of dragons makes magic thrive.

100 Books in 2011: Irons in the Fire

Sep6
I picked up Irons in the Fire by Juliet E. McKenna at Alt.com a couple of years ago. Juliet McKenna does quite a few writing conferences and I’d heard a lot of what she has to say about writing and the writing life. I thought I ought to read one of her books.
McKenna is published by Solaris Books and I guess I wondered what differentiated authors who are with small presses from those with the big publishers. In between buying this book and reading it I’ve read three Angry Robot books, all of which were excellent, so I’m not sure there are any conclusions to be drawn.
Irons in the Fire is the first in a trilogy. It is set in a fantasy world where the Kingdom of Lescar is being torn apart by incessant civil war. Many people have left or sent their children away, so there are substantial communities of Lescari in other countries. Tathrin is the son of an innkeeper sent to study in the city of Vanam in the country of Ensaimin. There he meets Aremil, the crippled son of one of the Lescari Dukes and find himself drawn into a conspiracy to bring peace to Lescar. Along the way, a small band of conspirators is drawn together, all with different agendas and Tathrin finds that he’s not entirely comfortable with some of the actions they take.
I think the problem I had with this book is that the characters were too ordinary. I didn’t enjoy it very much and found it hard to stick with. The writing is ok – it starts off a bit ropey but settles down quite quickly. It’s not great but it’s better than some books put out by bigger publishers. It was quite an easy read and the pacing was good. It’s seven hundred pages and, in terms of the time I spent actually reading it, didn’t take that long to finish. But I did put it down and read two other books before I made myself complete this.
So, I asked myself, what is it that’s missing? Why isn’t this engaging me? There’s two things; the characters and the world. I didn’t buy into McKenna’s worldbuilding. Perhaps it’s because I haven’t read any of her other books, which I believe are set in the same world, that I found that there were a lot of things left undeveloped. It just didn’t feel that solid. For example, there were gods, which I knew because people swore by them and there were shrines. But there was no information about how the gods related to each other, or to society, or about what impact religion has upon the world. It felt superficial.
Maybe that wouldn’t have mattered if I’d really liked the characters. It was difficult to feel anything about them at all because they were flat and ordinary and not well-drawn. The POV characters lacked passion and depth. There was much telling about how they felt that was not backed up in dialogue or action. The other main characters who didn’t have POVs were potentially interesting but just didn’t jump off the page. They were not characters who I would think about whilst not reading the book. Also, I think the guy on the cover is supposed to be Tathrin, but I think it says quite a lot that I’m really not sure. I can’t connect the picture on the front with the character in the book.
I won’t read anything else by Juliet McKenna and if you’re looking for epic fantasy, there’s much better stuff available. But I will give Solaris Books another go if I find something that looks interesting.

A Read of A Dance with Dragons – Part 33

Sep5
Chapter 32 – Reek
Ramsay Bolton is staying at Barrowton. He’s been looking for someone he didn’t find. Usually this would mean that he’d want to hurt someone but he has to be careful around his father’s allies. Ramsay orders a feast and has Reek stand in the corner while they eat. All Ramsay’s dogs are named after peasant girls he’s hunted and raped and killed, but only the ones that gave him good sport. During the feast, Roose Bolton turns up. He tells Ramsay that Stannis has taken Deepwood Motte and given it back to the Glovers. Ramsay asks if he will march on the Dreadfort. Roose says no. They talk about the Frey’s that have gone missing. They were travelling with Manderly and they suspect Manderly has killed them, despite how distraught he appears to be and note that he didn’t bring hostages as he was supposed to. Roose tells Ramsay that his allies are disturbed by the things they hear about him and that he must be more discreet.
Roose tells Ramsay he will marry Arya Stark and it should be at Winterfell. This will send a message and Stannis will have to come to them. With Arnolf Karstark who is still their ally. Roose tells Ramsay he’s going back to where he is staying and that he is taking Reek with him. Ramsay whispers to Reek that he’s to keep quiet and tell him everything his father says. Ramsay says that when Reek gets back he’ll take another finger.
On the ride, Roose asks Reek what Ramsay said to him. Reek can’t speak because he’s so afraid. Roose says he knows anyway because he knows what his son is. All of Ramsay’s men are actually his. He tells Reek that Ramsay killed his trueborn son. Then he says to Reek that he will give him a bath and clean clothes and terrifies Reek all over again. He says he has wounds and is desperate not to be seen naked. They arrive at Barrow Hall where Roose introduces him to Lady Barbrey as Theon, heir to the Iron Islands.
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So many reasons to hate Ramsay. What an evil bastard. But interesting to hear what his father really thinks of him – and just how much he’s prepared to sacrifice for real politik. And what are they doing with Theon now?
I reckon Theon’s been castrated. There was a vague reference to this before. That, and possibly he’s afraid to reveal the full extent to which Ramsay has tortured him.
The Karstarks are playing both sides, like Manderly and the Umbers. I wonder how that will fall out but Roose Bolton seems to have a better grip of it than Stannis does. I guess it all depends whether Davos finds Rickon.

A-Z challenge: L is for Library

Sep4
I always wanted to have a proper library: a whole room in the house dedicated to books and reading. All the walls would be fully shelved and there would be one of those ladder things that wheels around the shelves. It would have a chaise longue or day bed for reading in the most comfort.
There would be a roaring fireplace, probably gas because I can’t be doing with the bother of a real fire, nice as they are. And of course, I would have acres of free time which I could spend lying around in my library reading all the lovely books.
I find it soothing to be in libraries, just in the presence of books. It’s restful and serene and the rest of the world melts away. Bookshops work as well, but then you feel obliged to buy something and that’s how book mountain grows.

A Read of A Dance with Dragons – Part 32

Sep3
Chapter 31 – Melisandre

It is never dark in her chambers and the fire must never go out. Melisandre looks into the fire and prays for a vision. She is looking for Stannis and for the girl on a dying horse. She sees a white wood face and a boy with a wolf’s face, memories of her past and the wildwoods. She sees Jon Snow, both wolf and man, and she sees him surrounded by enemies.

Melisandre has kept Devan with her even though he’d rather have gone with Stannis but she thinks Davos has lost enough sons. She needs Jon Snow for something but so far he is immune to her charms. She believes he should have moved into Stannis/Mormont’s chambers, she tells Devan she will have breakfast and asks him to send her Rattleshirt.

She uses powders for her effects and conceals them in her robes. Her supplies are low and she can’t get the ingredients to make more, but she thinks her true magic is stronger than it used to be.

Rattleshirt arrives. She sees shadows all around him. He has put aside his shirt of bones so she tells him it protects him. The ruby he wears in a black iron fetter around his wrist gives him a glamour and Melisandre says he needs the shirt as well. She wants to send him after the girl on the dying horse. She tells him what she just saw in her vision and he says the place is Long Lake.

A horn blows. Only the once, meaning rangers returning. Melisandre leaves Rattleshirt in her chambers and goes to see who has come back. She goes through the Wall gate with two guards. They’re effectively useless but it’s all about the show. On the other side of the Wall there are three eight foot spears with three rangers’ heads on them. Bowen Marsh says they should never have sent the rangers out. Jon orders them taken down and asks Melisandre to walk back with him. He asks if she knows anything of the other six. She has seen an attack on the Wall and says it is Eastwatch, but she’s not certain, what she sees in a vision is not real and has more in common with dreams.

Melisandre asks Jon to come to her chambers. She thinks Jon and Stannis have a lot in common. Rattlesnake is still there and Melisandre tells Jon he’s going after the girl. Jon objects on the basis that Rattleshirt is a rapist and brutal killer. So Melisandre reveals that Rattleshirt is actually Mance Rayder and that she burned the real Rattleshirt.

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What is she up to? She’s trying to reel Jon in. Beware enemies who pretend to be friends, indeed. Who is the girl? I don’t think it could be either Sansa or Arya. Sansa is in the Vale with Littlefinger and Arya is in Braavos. Neither of them is wearing grey and riding north on a dying horse. Who else might it be? Or maybe it’s in the future and it will be Sansa? Not that she seems in a hurry to get away from Littlefinger.

Also, it’s interesting to have some confirmation that Melisandre is as much a fake as the others.

A Read of A Dance with Dragons – Part 31

Sep2
Chapter 30 – Daenerys
Skahaz mo Kandaq has been following Hizdahr zo Loraq who has been visiting the nobles of Meereen and the murders have stopped for three weeks.
Grey Worm comes to tell her that a rider has come from Astapor, which has been destroyed. He had the bloody flux. He says the rider says that Astapor was waiting for Daenerys to come and rescue them. The rider was on a pale mare. Daenerys recalls her sellsword companies. Some more Astapori refugees arrive and tell the her the details of the fall of Astapor. Daenerys orders a camp to be set up for the refugees outside the city so the disease does not spread. People are urging Daenerys to use her dragons but they are a weapon she can’t control. Others suggest abandoning Meereen. She realises she doesn’t have the right counsellors about her. Daenerys doesn’t know what to do and everything she tries to help just makes it worse.
Daenerys can’t sit out a siege so she must engage the Yunkai’i and make it on her terms. And she decides she must marry Hizdahr.
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Oh, Dany, you can only have two husbands – don’t waste one on Hizdahr. She is in such a difficult position and she is not getting good advice. It’ll be better when Tyrion arrives. It looks like Quaithe’s prophecy is coming true.

Things I have liked this week

Sep1
Writing and procrastination
The whole You are not so Smart blog is fascinating, but what really resonated with me this week were a couple of posts on procrastination. I procrastinate much more than I am happy with and sometimes that’s because I forget that I can’t work all the time. Other times it’s because big projects are scary and sometimes it’s because I want the emotional reward now, damnit!
More writing stuff
I’m worldbuilding at the moment and this week I came across On Thud and Blunder by Poul Anderson. It’s about internal consistency and realism in fantasy worlds. Highly entertaining and very instructive. It’s published on the SFWA website and is quite long, but a worthwhile read.
Pretty pictures of space
The loveliness of cosmic clouds from Astronomy Picture of the Day.