(Image–sans quote–used by Creative Commons license, property of IRGlover)
Quote found on this passionate and very excellent post by Al Harron that discusses critics, marekting, A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs and the recently released film John Carter.
I hope each and every one of you have a wonderful weekend filled with the pursuit of your passions.
“Sometimes, I worry that I’m not the hero everyone thinks I am.The philosophers assure me that this is the time, that the signs have been met. They say I will hold the future of the entire world on my arms. What would they think if they knew that their champion–the Hero of Ages, their savior–doubted himself? Perhaps they wouldn’t be shocked at all. In a way, this is what worries me most. Maybe, in their hearts, they wonder–just as I do.When they see me, do they see a liar?”
(Paperback cover illustration by Chris McGrath)
Thus begins the first novel in the Mistborn Trilogy which a group of fellow adventurers have chosen to experience together for the first time. Along the way we hope to be joined by others who have already traveled this path as we discuss Mistborn: The Final Empire.
A thousand years of ash has fallen. A thousand years of oppression has befallen a people. A thousand years of rule by a “divine” ruler has gone unchallenged. That span of uninterrupted years is about to come grinding to a halt as Kelsier, bold thief and one of the Mistborn, gathers to himself a group of talented rogues and fellow allomancers to pull off his biggest job yet: the toppling of Lord Ruler’s reign.
For this first week we read through the prologue and chapters one through six. I took first week duties upon myself and came up with a handful of questions to kick this things off. Potential for spoilers does exist beyond the jump.
Continue reading Mistborn: The Final Empire Group Read Part 1
(Cover image by John Jude Palencar)
Guy meets girl. Girl disses guy. Guy limps off with wounded pride with thoughts of vengeance. No, this isn’t your typical tale of jilted love, this is the story of normal goings on happening in a place that is anything but normal: Charles de Lint’s fictional city of Newford. And while the guy in this case is at first glance your typical egotistical, self-centered jerk, the girl is not so typical. Not at all. In fact she believes her origins are from a website called the Wordwood. And when she meets up with another young woman who is herself the cast-off shadow of a Newford author, the two soon discover that there is a very thin line between what is and is not “real”, and that a petty act of prideful revenge can have consequences far greater than anyone could have anticipated.
This is the second and final post in the discussion that Kailana and I will be having in regards to our buddy read of Charles de Lint’s book, Spirits in the Wires. There will be mild spoilers in the post here and I suspect on Kailana’s site as well, so please be forewarned. If you choose not to read on, please allow me to take a moment to encourage you to spend some time in Newford. This was yet another novel in which I closed the final page with an intense feeling of satisfaction. Charles de Lint knows how to tell a story with characters who are at once tangibly real and impossibly fantastical. He demonstrates with Spirits in the Wires that he can take what seems to be an implausible premise–spirits living in the internet–and weave a sophisticated story around it that hits all the right emotional notes while exploring concepts such as our belief systems as well as what it means to be alive.
This week I had the task of coming up with the discussion questions. I do hope you’ll join us and share any thoughts you feel like sharing.
If there is a mantle for Goddess of Geek Culture, it rests squarley on the shoulders of Felicia Day. With her role in Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer and later Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and her own creative online sensation, The Guild, Day has become a household name for the geek set. Her nearly 1.9 million Twitter followers, for example, demonstrates that she has struck a cord. And not just with those guys who dream of finding a cute girl who shares their geek passions. She is also a hit with the girls who are coming out of the basement, so to speak, to proudly proclaim their own geek status. For Felicia Day is the real deal.
A Juliard-accepted violinist (she opted instead to attend UT at Austin) she double majored in math and music (wiki). And if that wasn’t enough to fill her time she was also the avid gamer that provided the inspiration for her web-hit, The Guild.
So why all the Felicia Day love on this Friday morning? Well come along and I’ll tell you.
April 10th will mark the 100th anniversary of the day the “unsinkable” Titanic set sail on its ill-fated maiden voyage. The first time I can recall this tragedy making an impact on my consciousness was when I saw a drawing (at a young age) that demonstrated visually just how deep the Titanic sank. I remember a feeling of awe that this ship would be laying at that kind of depth. It was, and still is, hard to imagine. Years later when they finally visited Titanic, bringing to us images of its final resting state, the awe rose up all over again.
15 years ago my wife and I sat in a theater in Tulsa, OK on opening weekend to see the film that became bigger than even James Cameron probably would have ever dreamed. I remember tears rolling down my cheeks during the scenes of the bodies floating in the water. It was gut-wrenching despite my knowing that it was but a pale imagining of how truly horrific those last few hours of life must have been for those unfortunate people.
Tonight we attended a sneak preview of the re-release of James Cameron’s massive hit which opens Wednesday night. The film’s release is timed to commemorate the sailing and sinking of the Titanic a century ago. Though we have seen the film several times, there was no question that we would leap at the chance to see it once more on the big screen.
And it was well worth another viewing.
