InsaneJournal

Items of Interest #1

[This is the sort of entry that happens when you are tired of thinking.]

LJ basic elimination:

Man, just…man. That rightly puts an end to my fledgling desire to move back— apparently Brad, i.e. 6A Brad on the advisory board, told them it wasn’t a good idea, and they went ahead and did it anyway. I.e., not promising as far as how much the advisory board can influence anything, so not worth crying over.

My plans as far as journalling now include trying out Tumblr for reals and learning enough PHP that I can produce something like Yong Fook’s lifestream thing, which pulls in posts from his Flickr, Twitter and Tumblr accounts (and maybe one I’m missing) and lays them out gorgeously, and does the comments for everything with Disqus. The way he’s set it up, backing up the database he uses to pull everything together will back up all the data he’s posted elsewhere, and that is neato neatest and I SO want to do it.

Also, I think I’ll go back to Generator for my IJ theme. I am SICK of the one I’ve got, it just rubs me wrong.

Book reviews:

Funny how I always find time to read even when I’m unhappy. It’s one of those things I’ve never really been able to deprive myself of.

Recently read in no order:

• [1] First three books in Susan Matthews’ “Under Jurisdiction” universe.

  • vague impressions: I really shouldn’t like this series so much. The writing is awkward, but then it’s meant to be. And god, what an awful, awful universe to live in. I’d never have thought I would consider Manna Frances’ Administration universe a more glamorous take on the very-very-repressive-government trope until reading these books. I think it’s half because of the huge difference between their antiheroes. One is a sociopath and a sadist; the other is just a sadist, if a painfully (and sometimes annoyingly) honorable one. I liked Toreth more, I have to admit— Koscuicko in too many doses is just boring after a while. And Manna definitely beats Matthews for mystery writing, and that helps. Oh, and there’s the absence of hot, well-written gay sex in Matthews’ universe. And that scintillating central relationship as well. :D
  • good: Man, is Matthews a detail woman. The details are gory and all, but they ring true to my untrained ears. And I kind of grew to like her turn of phrase in some spots, even if I thought it was overused.
  • middling: Over-emphasis of torture-iz-bad thingy. Yeah, I got that. Get on with the story.
  • really bad: The fish metaphor. OH HOLY GOD. When did she write these? I don’t know what was more disturbing, that I grudgingly accepted it (and even found it a little cute in places *cringes*), or that it was there.

• [2] Two books by James Alan Gardner: Expendable and Commitment Hour.

• vague impressions: Liked Expendable better than Commitment Hour, because there was more Festina in it. Oh, and Festina Ramos is completely kickass, and I am going to greedily buy books with her in it and download them to my Kindle, and YAY. I’m just very glad I stumbled across this author— his books are the type my eyes would skip right over in a bookshop. “Old, probably boring and offensive sci-fi,” I would think, and walk right past gems. Commitment Hour is proof alone that this guy has an idea of what he’s doing, but I’m very glad I read Expendable first, so I could trust him and finish it off. His central universe is a very interestingly put-together one, and Commitment Hour is a nice stroll off into the borders to look more closely at how fucked up some spots of it are. And it’s about people who grow up switching genders every year so they can make an informed choice! Premise was interesting, but like I said, I think it needed some more Festina.
• good: Festina Ramos. Oar. The plot. The universe. The League of Peoples. The conclusions to which Gardner takes things. Genderbending FOR REALS.
• middling: Absence of Festina in Commitment Hour. I was so looking forward to seeing her again; now I’ve got to wait.
• bad: I will have to pay money for all of these books. I also have to eat, and pay my phone bill. These two things may come in conflict with each other.
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• [3] Two books by John Scalzi: Agent to the Stars and Old Man’s War, and both for free. The first was free because it is posted entirely online for free, and the second was free because of Tor’s run-up to whatever speshul site they have planned for their sci-fi collection— you get free e-books for a couple weeks before the site is revealed.

  • vague impressions: I like his writing style a whole lot more than I thought I would. After hearing the rough premise of Old Man’s War and drifting over to his blog a couple times, I was convinced that I would hate the book. But I didn’t. I liked Agent to the Stars a whole lot, and I also liked Old Man’s War. He’s got the knack of writing stuff that feels real, which is exactly the sort of stuff I crave nowadays. Whether or not I agree with some of the choices he made in OMW is besides the point— I am now open to Scalzi’s business, so to speak.
  • good: A sarcastic, needling style is always nice to read when it’s honestly set out, and well done to boot.
  • middling: Some of his premises seemed a little fantastic. Yes, I know, sci-fi fantasy, and I’m complaining. But some of it just felt a little thin to me.
  • bad: More money to spend on this guy in the future. *sigh*

• [4] The Throne series (?) by Joshua Palmatier. I.e., in order, The Skewed Throne, The Cracked Throne and The Vacant Throne.

  • vague impressions: I must have more. If I can’t have more of Varis (the awesome female heroine), or even more of Amenkor (the city the first two books is primarily set in), I must have more of this guy’s stuff. There is something incredibly close about reading his work. He has spoilt the “child thief” trope for me by doing it way too well. And the magic, god. Though it was exactly the sort of magic that can violently rub me the wrong way (no defined limits, vague language, etc), the way he handled it really, really worked. It was terrible magic, in a good way.
  • good: VARIS. AMENKOR. MAGIC SYSTEM. Plot. Handling of savage race— I won’t say much, but I think he handled that very well as well.
  • middling: The flashback bits were a bit choppy.
  • bad: No ebook version. Daw books, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. :(

• [5] The Nightrunner series by Lynn Flewelling: in order, Luck in the Shadows, Stalking Darkness and Traitor’s Moon.

  • vague impressions: This is another “I never would have thought” moment. I hate prophecies. I hate Great Quests. David Eddings’ brutal handling of both is undoubtedly at the seed of my dislike for both devices, along with JKR and others I am glad to have forgotten about. However, Lynn (I am NOT typing her last name over and over again) somehow cunningly hid the prophecy and a couple great quests in a very attractive getup, and after I swallowed it whole, I found that I quite liked it.
  • good: M/M relationship front and center. Interesting action. Nice, easy sort of read. Assassin/thief/spy stuff, which I LOVE.
  • middling: Villains were kind of eh. The usual soulless possessed individuals, more or less. But the climax of that plot was pretty awesome, so I forgave her.
  • bad: Next book in the series comes out later this year. *sighs*