I love Jim Butchers Dresden Files, and the latest installment is coming out in April. That means that as we count down the month, Mr. Butcher will release a chapter a week leading up to the next book. And this book, aptly called Changes, promises to be one hell of a ride. And all I have to say is thank god for it. I have probably read all of the Dresden Files books four or five times easily, and cant wait for the next one to come out. I truly believe that Mr. Butcher is the author of our generation.
What i love about the dresden files is the fact that there is an overarching storyline, without the books specificly dealing with that storyline in any way. Each book is a mystery, as Harry is a private eye, but each mystery shows a little more of the overall story than the last one did. Slowly throughout the series, which will number at twelve when the newest one comes out and is supposed to go to twenty, you get to see a little more of who the actual bad guys are and kind of what they are trying to do. And i love it.
The newest book deals with a character we haven't seen since the fifth book, Susan, and the child she apparently had with Harry. Dont worry, im not spoiling anything, cause it literally says in the synaps of the book that Harry has a child. And if you don't believe me, the first line of the first chapter that was released today is Susan telling Harry she had his kid and someone took her.
Anyway, if you are a fan of good fantasy, and haven't read any of Jim Butcher's work, than you have until April 6 to get up to date. Dont be shocked if the first two books arent all i said the series would be, he was still a new author when he wrote them. When you get to the third you will understand what i mean. Good luck and have fun :)
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Waiting
I hate waiting, but sometimes its a good thing. And i dont just mean in the character building sense. Sometimes if you wait for something long enough, when it actually comes around its a complete surprise and can make your day. Or even your week, depending on what you were waiting for. Take me for example. I am a huge reader of science fiction, have loved reading it sense literally the third grade. And i'm not talking about weak ass teen sci fi either, the first series i read was r. a. salvatore and his Drizzt Do'Urden books. Anyway, i have been waiting for Lorna Freeman's new book to come out for over three years. I absolutely loved the first two, and couldn't wait to see more of Rabbit and everyone in further adventures. But then nothing. The release date comes and goes, with not a word from the publisher or author as to why this happened. Being a massive reader, books not coming out on the day that they are supposed to is nothing new to me, but usually authors have some way of communicating why the book is going to be late to their fans. But Lorna seems to hate the internet, and her publishers werent much better. Absolutely nothing came out about why the books were late. I thought nothing of it at the time, trusting that it would be out in a month or two, but then a year passed and still nothing was out. Finally i started poking around on the internet to see if she had died or something (its happened to me before. Rest in peace Chris Bunch, we will not forget you). Nada. there were a few forums of other conserned readers such as myself, but from what little information we could gather it seemed like she was taking a hiatus or something, and even the publishers didnt know when the next book would be out. So i waited another year, hoping that i would go to amazon one day and see that it was out. now when i poked around the internet i hear rumors of contract troubles and deadly illnesses, but no word from either author or publisher, just the book will be out when it comes out. around this time i started losing hope, and over the last year i checked in on ms. freeman maybe once or twice on amazon, but nothing showed up so i gave up hope. until yesterday, when a casual trip to barnes and nobles gave me a wonderfull present. there it was, the new lorna freeman book in all its glory. i have to admit, i almost cried.
After all that, i suppose its prudent of me to give a review of the book. I have mixed feelings about it. I think its way better than the second one, and yet i cant help but feel that it isnt quite as good as the first one, which set the bar rather high for ms. freeman. I like that she goes back to exploring the world that she created for us, with hints that the next book will take us even farther abroad than the first three have, and the adding in of a love interest or two definatly spices things up a lot, and yet so much is the same that it makes me wonder what exactly she was doing for all those years. once again rabbit is unable to use his powers until the very end of the book, and remains clueless that other people besides himself and his teachers can use magic. I knew have way through the book that he was being manipulated, and yet it takes him till the last 40 pages to figure out that maybe someone else has been using magic on him the whole time. and the supporting cast isnt much better.
There are some really good parts, with well written scenes, but the negatives made me more sad than happy. If you have read the other two books, i would definatly say read this one, as it truly does bring the story along and give more insight into the characters. just be prepared to see almost the same ending as the other two books, except in a different place and with different villians. kind of like robert ludlum in a way. if you havent read the other two, pick up the first one. i think its much better written overall, and you wont be disapointed.
After all that, i suppose its prudent of me to give a review of the book. I have mixed feelings about it. I think its way better than the second one, and yet i cant help but feel that it isnt quite as good as the first one, which set the bar rather high for ms. freeman. I like that she goes back to exploring the world that she created for us, with hints that the next book will take us even farther abroad than the first three have, and the adding in of a love interest or two definatly spices things up a lot, and yet so much is the same that it makes me wonder what exactly she was doing for all those years. once again rabbit is unable to use his powers until the very end of the book, and remains clueless that other people besides himself and his teachers can use magic. I knew have way through the book that he was being manipulated, and yet it takes him till the last 40 pages to figure out that maybe someone else has been using magic on him the whole time. and the supporting cast isnt much better.
There are some really good parts, with well written scenes, but the negatives made me more sad than happy. If you have read the other two books, i would definatly say read this one, as it truly does bring the story along and give more insight into the characters. just be prepared to see almost the same ending as the other two books, except in a different place and with different villians. kind of like robert ludlum in a way. if you havent read the other two, pick up the first one. i think its much better written overall, and you wont be disapointed.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Dreams
Dreams are a funny thing. One second your completely aware of something that you have never before experienced in your whole life, something wonderful and fantastic that only you can see, and the next your waking up to your alarm and its time to start another day. I've always been facinated by dreams, probably because mine are so vivid that i almost always remember them, but i have yet to find an explanation that makes sense to me. My psych professor says that dreams are ways that the brain can process the events that have happened during the day, or that they are influenced by what the body is experiencing while sleeping, and that makes some sense. But i have trouble with the fact that this explanation seems to be the only explanation that science is giving us. I may be wrong on that, its really late and im writing this with no further research done besides what has already been told to me, but in two years of psych classes this is it. Of course they talk about Frued, but he was a crack head and no one really takes him seriously any more.
so i have decided to make my own theory of why we dream what we dream. I believe that dreams are not a way to process what we have seen and learned through out the day, but rather a way to escape it. life is HARD, and sometimes its absolutely no fun at all. but dreams are a way to escape that, to go to a good place or a fun place or a place where everything that you wish you could do in real life you can do here. it doesnt always work out that way of course, we are human and thus fallible creatures, but i would say 90 times out of 100 it does. And its when we do this, escape our reality for one of our own creation that is so much better than, that our minds can take the hurt and pain we see everyday and put it behind us. Kind of like Aloe, making the pain of the sunburn go away for one more day. and in this world, in the times we are living in right now, who doesnt want that kind of comfort?
i think that maybe thats the reason that so many people like science fiction/fantasy. I am a huge reader of science fiction, devour books from my favorite authors and those who i havent heard of with equal delight, yet find myself unable to read any other type of genre with any real interest. people constantly ask me why, why only this one genre and no other? are there not books, they ask, worthy of being read that are as good if not better that the silly sci fi and fantasy books you are reading now? of course there are, but most of those books are set in this world, in this reality with all the constraints that we face here and now. and while i wont say that the people in sci fi books never experience hardships similar to those faced in this world, they always seem to come out on top, with the good guys winning and the bad guys defeated. i dont know if i could say that about other books. and so when people ask me why i read them, i say some silly excuse and they just asume that im weird, but the reality is i read them to get away from here, just for a couple hours, and go somewhere were the wrongs in the world can be righted by someone with a strong sword, loyal companions, and a little magic. the same can not be said for our world.
Night, Dieter
so i have decided to make my own theory of why we dream what we dream. I believe that dreams are not a way to process what we have seen and learned through out the day, but rather a way to escape it. life is HARD, and sometimes its absolutely no fun at all. but dreams are a way to escape that, to go to a good place or a fun place or a place where everything that you wish you could do in real life you can do here. it doesnt always work out that way of course, we are human and thus fallible creatures, but i would say 90 times out of 100 it does. And its when we do this, escape our reality for one of our own creation that is so much better than, that our minds can take the hurt and pain we see everyday and put it behind us. Kind of like Aloe, making the pain of the sunburn go away for one more day. and in this world, in the times we are living in right now, who doesnt want that kind of comfort?
i think that maybe thats the reason that so many people like science fiction/fantasy. I am a huge reader of science fiction, devour books from my favorite authors and those who i havent heard of with equal delight, yet find myself unable to read any other type of genre with any real interest. people constantly ask me why, why only this one genre and no other? are there not books, they ask, worthy of being read that are as good if not better that the silly sci fi and fantasy books you are reading now? of course there are, but most of those books are set in this world, in this reality with all the constraints that we face here and now. and while i wont say that the people in sci fi books never experience hardships similar to those faced in this world, they always seem to come out on top, with the good guys winning and the bad guys defeated. i dont know if i could say that about other books. and so when people ask me why i read them, i say some silly excuse and they just asume that im weird, but the reality is i read them to get away from here, just for a couple hours, and go somewhere were the wrongs in the world can be righted by someone with a strong sword, loyal companions, and a little magic. the same can not be said for our world.
Night, Dieter
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
California
First Post, woooo. So first things first, I'm Dieter. I go to a small liberal arts college in Southern California, but have no idea what i am going to be doing for the rest of my life. I created this blog so that I would have something to do in my free time, which i have a lot of what with the economy the way it is and me unable to find a job. So i thought a good thing to do would be to comment on the lovely state that i find myself living in.
If you have never been to California, then you are missing out. I honestly dont know why anyone would want to live anywhere else. It is November, and its literally 85 degrees outside. This came as a shock to me my first year of school, but being a sophomore now its to be expected. What i like about this, and thus the reason for this page, is the fact that we get this kind of weather with out having to pay for it with horrible storms like some other places do. Sure, we get earthquakes, but you can barely feel them most of the time. Supposedly we have had four this week, but i was completely unaware of any of them. I just thought my neighbors upstairs were having really violent sex at night, causing my ceiling to shake a little. Its happened before, so I do have precedent. So awesome weather, with a little shaking from time to time. I call that a fair trade. But the best part of the whole thing is that while we do get rain, very rarely does it come down hard enough to blow down houses.
If you have never been to California, then you are missing out. I honestly dont know why anyone would want to live anywhere else. It is November, and its literally 85 degrees outside. This came as a shock to me my first year of school, but being a sophomore now its to be expected. What i like about this, and thus the reason for this page, is the fact that we get this kind of weather with out having to pay for it with horrible storms like some other places do. Sure, we get earthquakes, but you can barely feel them most of the time. Supposedly we have had four this week, but i was completely unaware of any of them. I just thought my neighbors upstairs were having really violent sex at night, causing my ceiling to shake a little. Its happened before, so I do have precedent. So awesome weather, with a little shaking from time to time. I call that a fair trade. But the best part of the whole thing is that while we do get rain, very rarely does it come down hard enough to blow down houses.
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