In which I have Thoughts
Nov. 2nd, 2011 04:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lunasarielMy Halloween was fairly quiet. I had vague notions of dressing up as the Tenth Doctor, since I'm thinking of going as him for ComicCon anyway, but I couldn't find a pinstripe suit, either blue or brown, that wasn't, like, $50 more than I wanted to spend on costumey stuff. Also, my big Halloween bash took the form of a Halloween movie marathon with AM, my roomie, and she doesn't watch Doctor Who. But now we've entered my favorite portion of every holiday: the day after, when everything (candy, in this case), is ridiculously cheap! *shifty eyes at the bags already on my shelf*
I'm still not sure whether I'm going to cosplay at ComicCon or not, though. Ten isn't my absolute favorite Doctor (11 and 4 FTW!), but he's close, and he's the one I look the most like. Also, his costume requires relatively little outlandish stuff, so I could probably find most of it in thrift stores for relatively cheap, with some determined digging. Might have to splurge a little on that suit, though. Also, Ten is one of the most popular Doctors, and is easily recognizable, especially to the average ComicCon goer.
On the other hand, a long-sleeved dress shirt, topped by a suit jacket, topped by the iconic overcoat, in San Diego, in July, packed in with 33,000 other sweating nerds? Doesn't sound like loads of fun. Also, H (and possibly C) has/have expressed interest in cosplaying, too, but H wants to be Amy, 11's Companion. The thing is, she'd make a really great Amy. She's got the legs and the height to pull off Amy's famous miniskirts and thigh-high boots, and past experience has proven that she looks awesome with red hair. The other thing is...continuity. We've been tossing around the idea of going as a sort of NuWho mishmash, with me as Ten, H as Amy, and C as Jack, who was Companion to both Nine and Ten, so we could all come from different eras. But C isn't sure if he wants to go as Jack (again: big heavy coat + SoCal summer = bad), so if he doesn't, then H and I will just look weird. Going as a Doctor/Companion pair with H (and C too, of course, if he wants) would be all kinds of awesome, but either she would have to go as one of Ten's Companions (she does *not* look good as a blonde, so Rose is out, she's too tall for Martha, and Donna doesn't have a distinctive enough costume), or I would have to go as Eleven (I'm waaaaay too short, I'm nowhere near beanpoley enough, and attempting Eleven's floppy emohair would just serve to highlight my ever-encroaching bald spot. Also, my hair has been consistently refusing to flop since I got out of grade school). So thought on this matter is required.
I've *finally* started to get my midterms back, and it seems that I'm doing okay. The only one I still have yet to receive is my Gender & Women's Studies, which is hopefully getting back to me on Friday a mere three weeks after I turned it in! </sarcasm> I was absolutely petrified about my Celtic Mythology, but it came back today with a 98%, so I'm happy. Now I'm wobbling between double-majoring in English and Celtic Studies, or just taking a CS minor. The double-major would give me an extra year, which at this rate, I'm going to need, but I'm not sure if I can take 15, 18, even 20 units a semester and keep my grades up. Again, thinking is required.
In Nerd News, I'm still mostly immersed in the age of wooden ships and iron men, as they say over on TVTropes. I polished off His Majesty's Dragon yesterday, picked up Throne of Jade and Master & Commander (both the book and the movie) today, and am almost done with Mistborn, which I'm seeing more and more with a sort of Industrial Revolution/steampunk aesthetic.
From what I saw in HMD, I think I'm really going to enjoy the Temeraire series. Like I said last time, it has the emotional depth of Aubrey/Maturin, but thankfully cuts out the impenetrable naval jargon. Also, dragons! But srsly, HMD had a lot of heart to it, and managed to emotionally invest me in the characters, both human and dragon, early on, and keep me invested throughout.
Plot-wise, it threw a lot of unexpected, although by no means unpleasantly so, twists my way. I was genuinely surprised at Choiseul's betrayal, and while his death in itself didn't move me as much as I'd expected (maybe I'm just jaded, especially after coming through ASOIAF), but his last interaction with Praecursoris sure did. Another very moving scene was Levitas' death. I actually got a little misty-eyed there, and that hasn't happened in a good long while. Maybe it's because I've always been a sucker for the "loyal unto death, even to someone obviously disloyal/unkind/cruel" thing, but this little Woobie really got me. Also, Laurence finally got to punch Rankin, which I'd been awaiting for a good long while.
The final battle was also suitably stirring, although not as twist-filled as the rest of the book. The whole "flying ships" thing did catch me off-guard, although I was banking on something involving the dragons, especially after such a big deal being made out of the French aerial corps being AWOL. The battle itself was *very* exciting; I especially liked Laurence's little inner monologue on the speed of combat on a ship vs. the speed of combat on a dragon, at least partially because I was thinking the exact same thing. XD The "boarding" idea was innovative, and another example of how Naomi Novik has managed to go beyond the concept of "dragons + history = AWESOME!" and make it actually seem plausible and workable. I think one reviewer said that the series is full of "what would be well-researched detail if it didn't happen to originate in the author's imagination," which I think is a perfect description. I confess that I saw Temeraire's eleventh-hour discovery of his powers coming, but only because there was literally no other way they could win, save for another army showing up to help them. The divine wind thing was a surprise, though; I will admit that I thought it would be fire, although upon reflection the divine wind makes a lot of sense than fire, and nicely sets up the next book, which looks to be centered around a trip to China.
The heart of the series is Laurence and Temeraire, of course, but I'm also liking the other characters. I hope that we haven't seen the last of Hollin, now that he's got a dragon of his own. I want Rankin to get hit more often. Thanks to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
hamsterwoman, I now can't see Berkley as anyone but a blonde (I think? One thing Naomi Novik does seem to have a bit of trouble with is character descriptions), much less douchey Robert Baratheon. Roland has some striking similarities to Alanna the Lioness, especially in her "mannish" walk (one of the funniest parts of Song of the Lioness, for me, was Alanna re-learning how to walk like a girl). Harcourt is both adorable and badass at once; I will love her forever for her reasons for, and description of, pouring a pot of very hot coffee in that guy's lap, and Laurence's and Berkley's reactions to same. I'm having more difficulty drawing a bead on the dragons, since Laurence being the POV naturally leads to us seeing more of the humans and less of the dragons. The major exceptions here are Temeraire himself, of course, but also Celeritas, who I imagine as being sort of the Dumbledore of the group. In fact, and I have no idea why, I was getting an intermittent but strong Harry Potter-esque vibe, especially from the epilogue, and *especially* especially when Malfoy!Montague showed up to try and troll Harry!Laurence before he went back to his Gryffindor!aviator buddies at their special table.
I also just wanted to note that, according to some rumors, the very earliest draft of Temeraire was actually Aubrey/Maturin fanfic, which makes a lot of sense. I was writing an Amazon review for HMD, in which I described it as "the Aubrey/Maturin series, if Maturin was a twenty-ton dragon," so now I feel slightly vindicated. XD
I'm still not sure whether I'm going to cosplay at ComicCon or not, though. Ten isn't my absolute favorite Doctor (11 and 4 FTW!), but he's close, and he's the one I look the most like. Also, his costume requires relatively little outlandish stuff, so I could probably find most of it in thrift stores for relatively cheap, with some determined digging. Might have to splurge a little on that suit, though. Also, Ten is one of the most popular Doctors, and is easily recognizable, especially to the average ComicCon goer.
On the other hand, a long-sleeved dress shirt, topped by a suit jacket, topped by the iconic overcoat, in San Diego, in July, packed in with 33,000 other sweating nerds? Doesn't sound like loads of fun. Also, H (and possibly C) has/have expressed interest in cosplaying, too, but H wants to be Amy, 11's Companion. The thing is, she'd make a really great Amy. She's got the legs and the height to pull off Amy's famous miniskirts and thigh-high boots, and past experience has proven that she looks awesome with red hair. The other thing is...continuity. We've been tossing around the idea of going as a sort of NuWho mishmash, with me as Ten, H as Amy, and C as Jack, who was Companion to both Nine and Ten, so we could all come from different eras. But C isn't sure if he wants to go as Jack (again: big heavy coat + SoCal summer = bad), so if he doesn't, then H and I will just look weird. Going as a Doctor/Companion pair with H (and C too, of course, if he wants) would be all kinds of awesome, but either she would have to go as one of Ten's Companions (she does *not* look good as a blonde, so Rose is out, she's too tall for Martha, and Donna doesn't have a distinctive enough costume), or I would have to go as Eleven (I'm waaaaay too short, I'm nowhere near beanpoley enough, and attempting Eleven's floppy emohair would just serve to highlight my ever-encroaching bald spot. Also, my hair has been consistently refusing to flop since I got out of grade school). So thought on this matter is required.
I've *finally* started to get my midterms back, and it seems that I'm doing okay. The only one I still have yet to receive is my Gender & Women's Studies, which is hopefully getting back to me on Friday a mere three weeks after I turned it in! </sarcasm> I was absolutely petrified about my Celtic Mythology, but it came back today with a 98%, so I'm happy. Now I'm wobbling between double-majoring in English and Celtic Studies, or just taking a CS minor. The double-major would give me an extra year, which at this rate, I'm going to need, but I'm not sure if I can take 15, 18, even 20 units a semester and keep my grades up. Again, thinking is required.
In Nerd News, I'm still mostly immersed in the age of wooden ships and iron men, as they say over on TVTropes. I polished off His Majesty's Dragon yesterday, picked up Throne of Jade and Master & Commander (both the book and the movie) today, and am almost done with Mistborn, which I'm seeing more and more with a sort of Industrial Revolution/steampunk aesthetic.
From what I saw in HMD, I think I'm really going to enjoy the Temeraire series. Like I said last time, it has the emotional depth of Aubrey/Maturin, but thankfully cuts out the impenetrable naval jargon. Also, dragons! But srsly, HMD had a lot of heart to it, and managed to emotionally invest me in the characters, both human and dragon, early on, and keep me invested throughout.
Plot-wise, it threw a lot of unexpected, although by no means unpleasantly so, twists my way. I was genuinely surprised at Choiseul's betrayal, and while his death in itself didn't move me as much as I'd expected (maybe I'm just jaded, especially after coming through ASOIAF), but his last interaction with Praecursoris sure did. Another very moving scene was Levitas' death. I actually got a little misty-eyed there, and that hasn't happened in a good long while. Maybe it's because I've always been a sucker for the "loyal unto death, even to someone obviously disloyal/unkind/cruel" thing, but this little Woobie really got me. Also, Laurence finally got to punch Rankin, which I'd been awaiting for a good long while.
The final battle was also suitably stirring, although not as twist-filled as the rest of the book. The whole "flying ships" thing did catch me off-guard, although I was banking on something involving the dragons, especially after such a big deal being made out of the French aerial corps being AWOL. The battle itself was *very* exciting; I especially liked Laurence's little inner monologue on the speed of combat on a ship vs. the speed of combat on a dragon, at least partially because I was thinking the exact same thing. XD The "boarding" idea was innovative, and another example of how Naomi Novik has managed to go beyond the concept of "dragons + history = AWESOME!" and make it actually seem plausible and workable. I think one reviewer said that the series is full of "what would be well-researched detail if it didn't happen to originate in the author's imagination," which I think is a perfect description. I confess that I saw Temeraire's eleventh-hour discovery of his powers coming, but only because there was literally no other way they could win, save for another army showing up to help them. The divine wind thing was a surprise, though; I will admit that I thought it would be fire, although upon reflection the divine wind makes a lot of sense than fire, and nicely sets up the next book, which looks to be centered around a trip to China.
The heart of the series is Laurence and Temeraire, of course, but I'm also liking the other characters. I hope that we haven't seen the last of Hollin, now that he's got a dragon of his own. I want Rankin to get hit more often. Thanks to
hamsterwoman, I now can't see Berkley as anyone but a blonde (I think? One thing Naomi Novik does seem to have a bit of trouble with is character descriptions), much less douchey Robert Baratheon. Roland has some striking similarities to Alanna the Lioness, especially in her "mannish" walk (one of the funniest parts of Song of the Lioness, for me, was Alanna re-learning how to walk like a girl). Harcourt is both adorable and badass at once; I will love her forever for her reasons for, and description of, pouring a pot of very hot coffee in that guy's lap, and Laurence's and Berkley's reactions to same. I'm having more difficulty drawing a bead on the dragons, since Laurence being the POV naturally leads to us seeing more of the humans and less of the dragons. The major exceptions here are Temeraire himself, of course, but also Celeritas, who I imagine as being sort of the Dumbledore of the group. In fact, and I have no idea why, I was getting an intermittent but strong Harry Potter-esque vibe, especially from the epilogue, and *especially* especially when Malfoy!Montague showed up to try and troll Harry!Laurence before he went back to his Gryffindor!aviator buddies at their special table.I also just wanted to note that, according to some rumors, the very earliest draft of Temeraire was actually Aubrey/Maturin fanfic, which makes a lot of sense. I was writing an Amazon review for HMD, in which I described it as "the Aubrey/Maturin series, if Maturin was a twenty-ton dragon," so now I feel slightly vindicated. XD
no subject
Date: 2011-11-03 12:41 am (UTC)A perfectly understandable and admirable desire! :D (And, yeah, Levitas *sob*)
LOL at the Harry Potter parallels in the epilogue XD
Roland is one of my favorite characters, and I am very fond of Berkley, in his amiable Baratheonness, as well. (I also don't know what he looks like, or anyone, really aside from Laurence and Catherine on account of her red hair).
"what would be well-researched detail if it didn't happen to originate in the author's imagination,"
That's a wonderful way to put it, and one of the things that appeals to me about these books.
the very earliest draft of Temeraire was actually Aubrey/Maturin fanfic,
Hee, I hadn't heard that, but it doesn't entirely surprise me :)
Anyway, glad to hear you are enjoying the series! I find that the books set in England (i.e. this one and book #5) are my favorites, but I really do love the series as a whole, and hope you continue to like it as well.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-03 11:07 pm (UTC)Normally I'm not all that affected by straight-up tragic, Oliver Twist-like pathos, but this time...*wibble* *sniff*
Catherine on account of her red hair
Wait, Catherine is a redhead? I've been imagining her as a brunette all this time! Oops. XD
I find that the books set in England (i.e. this one and book #5) are my favorites
Agreed! I'm about 2/3 through Throne of Jade right now, and I'm feeling the lack of other dragons/captains. I guess it's just the feeling that I'll be seeing Harcourt, Berkley, Celeritas, etc. again, while most of the Navy/Chinese folks aren't going to be around much after this book (I think? One of my favorite things about Naomi Novik is her increasing ability to surprise me).
In other news, I find myself sadly lacking in apropriately naval/dracoic iconage. *icon envy* Might you know of any good comms for such?
no subject
Date: 2011-11-04 12:09 am (UTC)guess it's just the feeling that I'll be seeing Harcourt, Berkley, Celeritas, etc. again, while most of the Navy/Chinese folks aren't going to be around much after this book (I think?
There are a couple of characters introduced in ToJ who show up again, but, in general I feel the same way. One of the things I love about the series is the ensemble cast, and without the rest of Lily's wing there, it's not the same.
As for comms, I haven't found a whole lot myself. There's
no subject
Date: 2011-11-04 07:05 am (UTC)THIS.
This is the set I liked best
Thanks! I snagged a few. *points up* I love both wee!Roland, who is effing adorable, and mama!Roland, who is possibly one of the most badass characters in the series, dragons included (I ran into a few spoilers while on my icon hunt XD). It is now my personal opinion that the Roland line carries an extremely dominant awesome gene.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-04 08:27 pm (UTC)I came to the very same conclusion! :D And Emily definitely displays the Roland hereditary awesome.