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lunasarielI am now the epitome of nerd-dom. Or is that geek-dom? Whatever involves me going into paroxysms of delight over a home cataloging program, Lynn Flewelling updates, and using words like "paroxysms," anyway.
Item of Note No. 1: LibraryThing! My coworker and library pal Jen alerted me to this little marvel when I complained about having too many books, and not having any way to catalog and organize the lot of them. It's basically the same system we have at work (I work at the public library, for those just joining us), only without the barcodes. But that's okay, since I already have things organized roughly by subject matter, author, etc. I separate the fiction from the nonfiction, anyway, and try to keep the various sub-genres of fantasy apart, although I have seen limited success with that.
It continually amazes me that by simply entering an ISBN (or the title or author, if one is feeling a bit more adventurous), I can pull up *everything* about the book, right down to the page number. I know, the seasoned book folk out there are probably shaking their heads at my naïveté, but I'm semi-new to this, okay? I'm enjoying having a more sophisticated system than just trying to remember if I have something, and if so, where in the world it is. This is going to be especially helpful with my "closed stacks," the books that I've moved out of "active circulation," but still keep around for one reason or another. That's another thin: although I haven't tested this feature out yet, supposedly LibraryThing lets you keep track of which books you've lent out, to whom, and how long ago. Heather, as dearly as I love her, probably won't be too pleased with this, what with her habit of borrowing my books, only to return them months later, usually in far worse condition than I sent them out in.
Item of Note No. 2: Lynn Flewelling. I have tried (inadequately) several times before to express the depths which my fangirlishness has reached, or the heights of awesomeness that Lynn is capable of achieving. But now, I have finished all four of her Nightrunner books, am thinking of reading her other series, the Tamír Triad, and seething over the fact that her newest Nightrunner, The White Road, which was due out next month, may have been pushed back as far as next June. June! Almost a year! Although, Lynn did take an eight-year break between the third and fourth Nightrunners in order to write the Tamír Triad, so what's one more year, really?
Sanguine maturity aside, I wanna read it now! *pout* We left our heroes, if not at a regular cliffhanger, then with a hell of a lot of unanswered questions. What the hell is Searbhn..Serabhn...Seaburn...*consults Shadows Return* Sebrahn, anyway? Whose side is Ulan í *consults Traitor's Moon* Sathil (these names are impossible!) really on? Is Phoria really plotting against the Watchers? Are Klia and Thero headed towards couple-hood? Why are the *consults online Pronunciation Guide/Glossary* Hâzadriëlfaie (see what I mean about those names?) so pissed off, and who are the Ebardos? Where did Ilar get off to? How is the bloody stinking war going?
I'm really interested in this "danger on all fronts" angle. There are the obvious ones, of course. The warmongering, necromancy-using Plenimarians have always been a big honkin' threat, and some of the Aurënfaie (Ulan foremost among them) have proved none to friendly, although I do have my doubts about him. It seems to me as though he is willing to do absolutely anything, go to whatever lengths necessary, to protect his people. That's a flaw, and perhaps a fatal once, certainly, but it doesn't make him evil; just terribly, terribly pragmatic.
And then there are the not-so-obvious threats. Ilar came kind of out of left field, although ever since early on in Traitor's Moon I've been thinking that we'd be seeing him again, just not in the way things ended up happening. We only knew of him through Seregil's eyes, and therefore thought of him as the devil incarnate. So when we finally saw him, a broken, beaten, bitter creature, stripped of every shred of dignity, it was a bit of a shock. Don't get me wrong, I think he's still very dangerous, and we'll probably be seeing more of him in the future, but he's not the mustache-twirling, "I have you now, my pretty!" super-baddie he evidently once was. It'll be interesting to see, once out of Plenimar and with a chance to regain some of his old power, if he blames Seregil for his current condition (more than he already does, I mean), and how he reacts to the fact that he, the manipulator, false lover, and true traitor, has been enslaved, beaten, and gelded, while Seregil, the dupe upon whose shoulders the blame was supposed to fall, has survived and prospered, and now leads a comfortable, exciting life, with access to all the most important people in Skala, a big house, quite a bit of money, fast friends, and the love of his life. Hmm...maybe he'll turn on Alec, in hopes of destroying Seregil's happiness.
Although Phoria hasn't done anything outright villainous yet, it's understood that she's well capable of such, and thus bears watching as though she was already an acknowledged villain. I can kind of see how the Watchers almost subconsciously want her to be some horrible villainess, what with her being something of a letdown after Idrilain, but I can also see how Phoria knows that she's not anyone's first choice for Princess Royal, and that everyone is constantly thinking how much better it would be to have Klia on the throne. In her mind, there is absolutely zero room for doubt, especially self-doubt, so she plunges full steam ahead, never showing what she thinks of as fatal weakness or compassion.
I don't know if this is just Lynn being cool, or if it's because I've been watching more TV lately, but there are some scenes in her books that just scream "make me into a movie!" I was especially struck by this during the escape scene in Shadows Return, where Seregil vaults off the roof, silently kills two guards at once (simultaneously slits their throats from behind), frees Ilar, and is just deciding whether or not to kill him when Alec and Sebrahn show up. I can almost hear the Mission: Impossible theme playing as Seregil leaps off the roof in slo-mo, a front shot of the guards getting their throats slit, Seregil appearing from behind them, still in slo-mo, his face bruised and splattered with blood. And then there was that (almost) last bit, where Alec is killed, there is a montage of various people reacting psychically to his death, and then Seregil goes on his rampage'o'doom. Like in Return of the King, everything will slow down and sound will fade out as he realizes what's happening, and will return to normal only when he engages with the two Plenimarian soldiers, just before he kills Yhakobin.
But if there was going to be a movie, there are certain scenes that would need a very deft touch indeed. For example, the reunion scene in Stalking Darkness, which includes Seregil's and Alec's first kiss, could be handles so very, very badly. Worst case scenario, there would be swelling violins. I don't think many filmmakers would be able to carry across the idea that they don't think of themselves as a couple yet. Each one was convinced that the other had been gruesomely murdered by an evil necromancer, and died blaming the other, which is why Lynn herself has called it their first "almost-kiss." Their "real" first kiss, and the real beginning of them as a couple, happens later, at Watermead, when Seregil tries to leave. That, too, could be done so wrong. All in all, there are some scenes I love to imagine on the big screen, but I'm glad that it remains only in print.
Wow, I only finished the last one, Shadows Return, the day before yesterday, and I'm already considering a re-read. Pace yourself, woman!
Item of Note No. 1: LibraryThing! My coworker and library pal Jen alerted me to this little marvel when I complained about having too many books, and not having any way to catalog and organize the lot of them. It's basically the same system we have at work (I work at the public library, for those just joining us), only without the barcodes. But that's okay, since I already have things organized roughly by subject matter, author, etc. I separate the fiction from the nonfiction, anyway, and try to keep the various sub-genres of fantasy apart, although I have seen limited success with that.
It continually amazes me that by simply entering an ISBN (or the title or author, if one is feeling a bit more adventurous), I can pull up *everything* about the book, right down to the page number. I know, the seasoned book folk out there are probably shaking their heads at my naïveté, but I'm semi-new to this, okay? I'm enjoying having a more sophisticated system than just trying to remember if I have something, and if so, where in the world it is. This is going to be especially helpful with my "closed stacks," the books that I've moved out of "active circulation," but still keep around for one reason or another. That's another thin: although I haven't tested this feature out yet, supposedly LibraryThing lets you keep track of which books you've lent out, to whom, and how long ago. Heather, as dearly as I love her, probably won't be too pleased with this, what with her habit of borrowing my books, only to return them months later, usually in far worse condition than I sent them out in.
Item of Note No. 2: Lynn Flewelling. I have tried (inadequately) several times before to express the depths which my fangirlishness has reached, or the heights of awesomeness that Lynn is capable of achieving. But now, I have finished all four of her Nightrunner books, am thinking of reading her other series, the Tamír Triad, and seething over the fact that her newest Nightrunner, The White Road, which was due out next month, may have been pushed back as far as next June. June! Almost a year! Although, Lynn did take an eight-year break between the third and fourth Nightrunners in order to write the Tamír Triad, so what's one more year, really?
Sanguine maturity aside, I wanna read it now! *pout* We left our heroes, if not at a regular cliffhanger, then with a hell of a lot of unanswered questions. What the hell is Searbhn..Serabhn...Seaburn...*consults Shadows Return* Sebrahn, anyway? Whose side is Ulan í *consults Traitor's Moon* Sathil (these names are impossible!) really on? Is Phoria really plotting against the Watchers? Are Klia and Thero headed towards couple-hood? Why are the *consults online Pronunciation Guide/Glossary* Hâzadriëlfaie (see what I mean about those names?) so pissed off, and who are the Ebardos? Where did Ilar get off to? How is the bloody stinking war going?
I'm really interested in this "danger on all fronts" angle. There are the obvious ones, of course. The warmongering, necromancy-using Plenimarians have always been a big honkin' threat, and some of the Aurënfaie (Ulan foremost among them) have proved none to friendly, although I do have my doubts about him. It seems to me as though he is willing to do absolutely anything, go to whatever lengths necessary, to protect his people. That's a flaw, and perhaps a fatal once, certainly, but it doesn't make him evil; just terribly, terribly pragmatic.
And then there are the not-so-obvious threats. Ilar came kind of out of left field, although ever since early on in Traitor's Moon I've been thinking that we'd be seeing him again, just not in the way things ended up happening. We only knew of him through Seregil's eyes, and therefore thought of him as the devil incarnate. So when we finally saw him, a broken, beaten, bitter creature, stripped of every shred of dignity, it was a bit of a shock. Don't get me wrong, I think he's still very dangerous, and we'll probably be seeing more of him in the future, but he's not the mustache-twirling, "I have you now, my pretty!" super-baddie he evidently once was. It'll be interesting to see, once out of Plenimar and with a chance to regain some of his old power, if he blames Seregil for his current condition (more than he already does, I mean), and how he reacts to the fact that he, the manipulator, false lover, and true traitor, has been enslaved, beaten, and gelded, while Seregil, the dupe upon whose shoulders the blame was supposed to fall, has survived and prospered, and now leads a comfortable, exciting life, with access to all the most important people in Skala, a big house, quite a bit of money, fast friends, and the love of his life. Hmm...maybe he'll turn on Alec, in hopes of destroying Seregil's happiness.
Although Phoria hasn't done anything outright villainous yet, it's understood that she's well capable of such, and thus bears watching as though she was already an acknowledged villain. I can kind of see how the Watchers almost subconsciously want her to be some horrible villainess, what with her being something of a letdown after Idrilain, but I can also see how Phoria knows that she's not anyone's first choice for Princess Royal, and that everyone is constantly thinking how much better it would be to have Klia on the throne. In her mind, there is absolutely zero room for doubt, especially self-doubt, so she plunges full steam ahead, never showing what she thinks of as fatal weakness or compassion.
I don't know if this is just Lynn being cool, or if it's because I've been watching more TV lately, but there are some scenes in her books that just scream "make me into a movie!" I was especially struck by this during the escape scene in Shadows Return, where Seregil vaults off the roof, silently kills two guards at once (simultaneously slits their throats from behind), frees Ilar, and is just deciding whether or not to kill him when Alec and Sebrahn show up. I can almost hear the Mission: Impossible theme playing as Seregil leaps off the roof in slo-mo, a front shot of the guards getting their throats slit, Seregil appearing from behind them, still in slo-mo, his face bruised and splattered with blood. And then there was that (almost) last bit, where Alec is killed, there is a montage of various people reacting psychically to his death, and then Seregil goes on his rampage'o'doom. Like in Return of the King, everything will slow down and sound will fade out as he realizes what's happening, and will return to normal only when he engages with the two Plenimarian soldiers, just before he kills Yhakobin.
But if there was going to be a movie, there are certain scenes that would need a very deft touch indeed. For example, the reunion scene in Stalking Darkness, which includes Seregil's and Alec's first kiss, could be handles so very, very badly. Worst case scenario, there would be swelling violins. I don't think many filmmakers would be able to carry across the idea that they don't think of themselves as a couple yet. Each one was convinced that the other had been gruesomely murdered by an evil necromancer, and died blaming the other, which is why Lynn herself has called it their first "almost-kiss." Their "real" first kiss, and the real beginning of them as a couple, happens later, at Watermead, when Seregil tries to leave. That, too, could be done so wrong. All in all, there are some scenes I love to imagine on the big screen, but I'm glad that it remains only in print.
Wow, I only finished the last one, Shadows Return, the day before yesterday, and I'm already considering a re-read. Pace yourself, woman!
