"Angels and Demons" By Dan Brown

I have finally gotten around to reading the the second book, or rather the prequel, to "The Da Vinci Code"
I enjoyed it. It was very good.

Structurally, I found it very similar to "The Da Vinci Code" Same kind of story line, same kind of twists. In both he gets involved in the end with the woman he was helping. A fact that I find kinda hard to accept timewise, as there is only supposed to be about a year off stage between the two books.
Reading "The Da Vinci Code", I got the impression that the main character Robert Langdon hadn't been with anyone for a while. ... Maybe it didn't work out with Vittoria for more then about three weeks after "Angels and Deamons". Though I find that hard to believe, so maybe I'm just remembering the beginning of "The Da Vinci Code" wrong. A not entirely impossible possibility.

Fascinating stuff about history and religion. That is one thing I've enjoyed immensely about both books. No complaints from me there.

And there was one more thing I wanted to say. The thought seems to be playing hind and seek inside my brain at the moment. So I'll do an up date if and when/if I remember what it was.

Please leave a comment, tell me what you think. Or find me on my facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/SaaskiOFFICIAL
You can also take a look at my previous post on "The Da Vinci Code" here, http://opinionsstoriesbooksnovels.blogspot.com/2011/10/da-vinci-code-by-dan-brown.html

Thankyou for reading my post, Saaski

Laurell K. Hamilton

I have been reading Laurell's books since I was 15, and have read almost every single book she has ever written/published.
I love her imagination, and her talent for creating/keeping track of hundreds of different characters at a time.

A lot of people have given her some harsh reviews because of the content of her stories. And yes, she can irritate me too sometimes. With how she can fixate on a problem like a dog with a bone, going back to it again, and again, and again.
I tried not to pay attention to what most of them were saying for a long time, but (especially with Anita) it did get tiring after she "over came" the same issues for what felt like the 10th time.
Bullet was the worst.
It's a good sized book, about a inch thick. 360 something pages
After reading it, I felt like I had absorbed 70 pages at most. If that. The rest was mush that I worked my way through.
It nearly put me off reading her books at all truthfully. But you know, despite all that, I do love her story lines. I love her characters, (most of them anyway, a few I want to give a kick up the behind) and you know, there was a reason I had stuck with her until then. The latest few books not included, I really enjoyed being in her different realities.
So I gave her the benefit of the doubt. And I'm glad I did.
As I said in my earlier blog, http://opinionsstoriesbooksnovels.blogspot.com/2012/06/kiss-dead-by-laurell-k-hamilton.html , "Kiss the Dead" was like breathing that first breath of air after being under water for a while.

Laurell's writing style.
Laurell is an author that talks to her reader. She is not as obvious about it as other authors like C. S. Lewis or Terry Pratchett, but her main characters (her narrators) are definitely talking to someone. Not like they expect a response, but almost as if they are laying it out for a diary.
She can also be very factual. Anita and Mary will often be thinking " A is ___ so that means B." All in a very matter-of-fact way, as if there could be no other possibility. "2 is added on to 3 so that means 5".
I'm not saying she's close minded. She's not. 
In fact, her main characters are all surprisingly fluid and ready to accept that they were wrong fairly easily(though not always). Often done in the same but-of-course way that they deal with everything else.

Laurell's different books and series.
Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series.
This is the series that I have mostly been talking about throughout the rest of this post.
All I want to add is a request that you not let my earlier harsh words decide you against taking a look at the series. There are currently 21 books in the entire series and my afore said rants only really apply to about 5 of them.
Every author has her bad day's, and, from what I can gather in the past years her publishers have been putting pressure on her to produce books at the rate hamsters have babies. (Ok, not quite, but you get what I mean)

As for what it's about. Close your eyes for a second and ask yourself "What if, what if Zombies, Vampires, Wears, and all other critters that you hear about in legends were real. What if they were an accepted part of our daily lives. What if, when you saw an animated corps walking outside you window, your automatic response wasn't to question your sanity or think leprosy. It would be to call the police to send in a fire squad and deal with the poor thing." There you go.
Anita, in the middle of all that, is a necromancer and legal Vampire Executioner with a messed up social life.
Great stuff. -No sarcasm intended.-

Merry Gentry Series
I have just now realised that I have not done any previous posts on any of Merry's books. I will change that as soon as I can.

Merry and Anita are as different as Strawberry Jam and Marmite.(That's the real, original thing that came before Vegemite)
Not to say that Merry is the epitome of sweetness. Far from it. But she was brought up by a father who expected her to know and understand the different customs of every different culture she might interact with as an adult. (As a Sidhe Princess to the Unseelie court, that's a lot.)
In other words, she was never as shielded as Anita was, and so came into the first book of the series with most potential issues already worked out.
Merry also knows that she isn't human, where as Anita is still in denial.

There hasn't been enough books in the series yet (8 total) for me to know if Laurell is going to get locked into a cycle like she did with Anita. (They may not have the same issues, but Merry's reality is far from perfect.)
Fingers crossed and looking forward to the next book.

Nightseer
This is the first book that Laurell ever published. She didn't make a series out of it, and I'm sort of on the fence about whether or not that is a sad thing.
I wont go into to much detail about that here, as I already posted a blog on this book when I first read it.
Here http://opinionsstoriesbooksnovels.blogspot.com/2012/05/nightseer-by-l-k-hamilton.html

Micah and Strange Candy.
Micah
"Micah" is a sweet little short story that comes into Anita's series just before "Dance Macabre". The two of them (Anita and Micah) are alone together for the first extended period of time.
I read this whole book a while ago now, but I remember that I liked getting to know Micah a bit better.
Strange Candy
"Strange Candy" is a series of Laurell's short stories that she did before getting her first major publication. Some she sent to magazines, some not.
I think there was even one that she did in her early teens. Though I could be wrong about that.
I'll tell you more when I read it again.

Other works.
Laurell has also done a number of other things, including a few compilations with other authors that I refuse to go through one by one.
For the full list, and anything else you want to know about Laurell, you can go to her websight here, http://www.laurellkhamilton.org/


That's it. Please leave a comment to tell me what you think, or find me on me facebook page https://www.facebook.com/SaaskiOFFICIAL

Tamora Pierce

Ok, today I've decided to do something a little bit different.
Instead of talking to you about a specific book or series, I'm going to talk to you about one of my favorite Authors, and all her books in general instead.

I already talked somewhat about Tamora's writing. I was trying to describe what what her Alanna series was like, and what I said then is still true now. So, rather then repeat myself, I think I'll just take out a quote from there for the benefit of those who haven't read it yet, and give you a lick where you can check it out for yourself here: http://opinionsstoriesbooksnovels.blogspot.com/2011/10/song-of-lioness-quartet-by-tamora.html

On her writing..

"...The best way I can describe Tamora's writing, I think, lies in telling you how I myself was first introduced to the books.

I had just finished reading half of "the Wheel of Time" series by Robert Jordan, and anyone who has read them can tell you just how mind numbing that series can be, even if taken in s slowly. Let alone at the almost inhaling pace I'd been going. So, needing a break but still wanting to read something, I asked my friend if she knew of a series or book that didn't force you to think too much, but at the same time wasn't boring or predictable. She showed me Tamora Pierce, and I fell in love. (Cheesy line yes, but none less true.)..."       I relise that by saying "doesn't force you to think", I might have put a few people off by implying that the books are simple, or even unimaginative. That's not what I mean at all. I just mean that you're not constantly banging you head up against the wall wondering just how much more twisted it could get, and wanting to scream at the characters for many reasons half of which haven't even happened yet. No. None of that. Her books are incredibly fun to read and very interesting, but they don't give you a headaches.

The truly brilliant thing about Tamora though, lies not in the fact that she doesn't give you headaches, but in the way that her male and female characters act toward each other. That is not to say that there is no such thing as gender discrimination within her worlds. (For some of main her characters, that is their biggest hurdle in getting to where they want to be) But among the strongest/most prominent characters, the idea of females being weaker because they are females is almost foreign. 

One of my most favorite lines out of her books is, "What do they think their lady mothers do when their fathers are at war and pirates are attacking. Sit there embroidering?"

At the same time, she doesn't lessen the strength in her men in order to make the gril's "seem" stronger. King Jonathon of Tortall, and Briar from the Winding Circle being only the two most obvious examples. 

Briar especially, as he grows up with 3 incredibly strong minded girls, and is raised my two of the most powerful women in the country. 

As a young adult, he is becoming a powerful mage in his own right, and is very secure in his masculinity.

How many authors ever pull that off hmm...?

... On the different reality's Tamora has created....

Tamora has two main realities for her books. One with Tortall in it, the other the Winding Circle. Neither of witch is the only place is either if their respective worlds, but are where the main characters spend most of their time.

Tamora has, in fact, created other realities. In her book (short story compilation), "Tortall and Other Lands" we see quite a number of different ones.

So far, she has written and released 28 books all together, and co-authored two more.

Namely;

White Tiger: A Hero's Compulsion with Timothy Liebe as co-author, and Phil Briones as illustrator.

Young Warriors: Stories of Strength with Josepha Sherman as co-editor.

She apparently has another book coming out soon with Briar as the main character. 

Now, as I don't want to give away any spoilers, I'm going to get cryptic.

Those of you who have read all the Winding Circle books out so far would have noticed that there is certain ... information ... missing between "The Circle Opens" series and "The Will of the Empress". Almost as is if you skipped reading an important book. I have reason to believe that it is that book. (Yay!)

If you want to look Tamora up yourself, her websight is here: http://www.tamora-pierce.com/

And, yeah. Leave a comment to tell me what you think, or find me on my facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/SaaskiOFFICIAL

"The Gathering" By Kelly Armstrong

Kelly is best known by her "Women of the Other World" series.
All though, she has three different series, they are all based in the same reality, and are more or less parallel to each other. (So far as a am aware, non of the characters in each series have met each other yet.)
"The Gathering" is the first book in Kelly's most resent series, "The Darkness Rising Trilogy". I am unsure of exactly where "The Gathering" is in the timeline Kelly has for all three books, because I haven't yet read the other two books and the characters start off very isolated from knowledge of whats actually happening around them.
In fact, the only reason that I know for sure that they are actually in the same reality as the other two series, is that two of the characters happened upon the word cabal. And because it's been a while since I've managed to get my hands on any of Kelly's books, I actually carried on reading one or two paragraphs before my eyes snapped back up to the word and I realised I'd seen something very significant.

If this book wasn't a part of a series, I think I would be very annoyed with it's end. I'd be going 'Nothing's really happened yet! The climax is only beginning.'
It's very much a book that is a first book. Like a really big introduction to the characters and whats going on in there lives. Giving you just enough to know that there HAS to be more. But not so little that you want to ask what the point of the book was.
Definitely engrossing, I enjoyed every minute of it. But if Kelly hadn't already had the next to books up in book stores, I currently be muttering about how there better be a sequel.

That said, it's not one of my favorite books of hers, mainly because I don't feel like I've finished it yet, so maybe after I've gone through the whole series I'll give you an overview of all three of them. See what I think then.

Rose Quartz and it's spherical form Rossele

This is a video I made a while back on Rose Quartz. It's my first ever video, so it's fare from perfect, but I thought it might be interesting those people out there who are wondering just what makes Rose Quartz different from Quartz. Other then it's colour ofcourse. 

The video is in no way in depth, and I don't pretend to be a stone expert, but I did do my research on this. I promise. So think of it as a quick overview rather then something to base your studies on.

So, I hoped you liked it. I'm hoping to do more, better video's like this about other stones and/or things.
Though it might take me a while as I want to get better software to do it with before I do. So I need to save up my money first.
Please leave a comment, tell me what you think, or you can find me on my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SaaskiOFFICIAL .
It's very new. I just put it up there less then 10 minutes ago.

"Wings" By Aprilynne Pike

"Wings" is a good read.
It walks the thin line between traditional folklore belief's and the Authors own imagination, balancing perfectly.
I liked the story line. It's one of the few ones that I can honestly say hasn't been done before, and that's saying something.
The only problem I have for it would be the triangle going on between Lauren, David and Tamani. That definitely has been done before. I swear, the second I realised there was a second guy I felt like banging my head up against the wall and groaning. Why? Why is there always more then one. Maybe this is just me but I intend to make sure that the next book I read involves monogamy or no such relationships at all. I've had enough. For now anyway.

And that is all I'll say for this morning. I'm a bit tired as I couldn't sleep last night. (I ended up picking up "Wings" and reading through the night just to stave of boredom. I can however tell you that this book took me 5 - 6 unbroken hours to read.)
It is now 7:37am and sleep has decided to come calling at last. .... I am so lucky I don't have work today.

"Deadlocked" By Charlaine Harris SPOILER

SPOILER FOR THOSE WHO HAVE NOT READ THE EARLIER BOOKS!

Deadlocked is the latest book in the TRUE BLOOD series.
Another series where I wish the main character wasn't so miserable all the time.
I do like Sookie. Part of me wishes she'd get together with Sam already. He's great for her. And she could be good for him if she'd just see whats in front of her. They'd be great together.
The other half of me knows that if they did that then something bad would undoubtedly happen to either force them apart or make them unhappy with each other.
What happened to happily ever after? There are so many interesting things that people can get up to without being miserable.
That's the problem with so many modern writers these days. I think anyway.
People need to realise that there is no lore against happiness.

But sadness aside. I did enjoy "Deadlocked".
Charlaine's book's are always a pleasure to read. She has such a ready imagination, and it's never hard to picture the story as she tells it.
I liked what happened on the forth to last page. And I want to knock Alcide and Eric's heads together. They're both ridiculous. And not in a good funny ha ha way.
Felipe too. I'm quite disappointed in him actually. I expected more of him. Something that didn't include him acting like a spoiled toddler with super powers. I mean really. Oh well.
I know that at minimum he's going to try and get Sookie to work for him again. I hope she looks him in the eyes and tell's asks him what he he has to offer.
Protection? So that she can make a target of herself for his rivals? People who might try to torture her again?
Money? For what? Sookie is happy with her house. She doesn't want a fancy car as far as I can tell, and she has a good income. Enough to live happily off.
Fame? ... Oh, you mean the thing that makes people never want to leave you alone and insist on knowing all your darkest secrets? Talk about nightmare for someone with Sookies abilities.
And if she doesn't do his bidding. He'd hurt her and the ones she loved? Ahh. I see. When he said protection, he meant "Not let them get to you so that I'd have the pleasure of hurting you myself." Of course. That is just the thing to make someone want to agree to work for anyone else. A guarantee that if she wasn't perfect she'd get hurt. And if she IS perfect she'd almost definitely get hurt.
Oh Wait! I apologise. There is a third option. She could give up her freedom entirely and go to live in a strange city with Felipe, then stay in a locked and windowless room under heavy guard without ever coming out except when Felipe wanted her. BRILLIANT!

I guess you can tell I think highly of the vampire King huh...

"Wee Free Men" By Terry Pratchett

I first read this book (Or rather, my mum read it to me then) when I was 8 years old, and I still love it as much today as I did then.
My favorite in the series is actually the forth and last one "I Shall wear Midnight"

Tiffany Aching is a great character. I love the matter of fact way she approaches life and the world in general.
She has such a clever yet somehow innocent mind. Especially in the first book.

My favorite line of hers will always be when she gets made Kelda of the Feagles, and she has to answer something before it can be official. With the wee birdy and the granite mountain. (In mind of not turning this into a spoiler version I wont say more then that.) I love it.

And the Wee Free Men (aka Nack Mac Feagles) are always a pleasure to read about. I like all there lines. Especially Daft Wallies, and Not-So-Big-as Medium-Size-Jock-But-Bigger-Then-Wee-Jock-Jock. (I'm surprised I remembered all that.)

I'd recommend this book to anyone.

"Slave to Sensation" By Nalini Singh

"Slave to Sensation" is the first book in the Psy-Changeling Series.
It's about Sascha, a woman who is Psy. A race of powerful Psychic's who believe that anyone week enough to feel emotion is not worth keeping around.
And Lucas, a Changeling leopard who's just about had enough of Psy superiority.
He want's to know how he can stop the Psy from repeating their latest atrocity.
Nikita, Sascha's mother and head of her family group, wants to get new information on what makes Changeling's tick.

Pretty standard Romance stuff. My own mother doesn't like Nalini, but I do. The world's she paint's are just so fascinating. I love the way the plot develops from book to book. It's not like how most "episode" series end up. When each book is mostly a separate entity on it's own, with just the vaguest background to link them.
Nalini's series actually move forward, and even though I find them in the romance section of my local book shop, I keep getting them because I want to know what happens next.
The romance part of it is good too. She always focuses more on what brought them to be together, not sex. Though that's in there. It's secondary. Which is something I like, though I'm not sure how many of you will agree with me.

"Kiss the Dead" by Laurell K. Hamilton

 I would not recommend Laurell's books to anyone under 15. Just for the record.

I'm really happy that I got this book. I had my doubts a bit. The last two books in the series haven't been up to standards. Not to mention even before then I'd felt like the series was going on a downward spiral.
Anita was having the same issues over and over again. She'd get freaked out, sort of figure out a solution by the end of the book, then in the next one it'd been like nothing had happened. We'd be taken through it all again.
After reading "Bullet" -which is a book with at least 350 pages- I felt like I'd read 50, 100 pages at most for the amount of stuff that was actually in it.
The only reason I'd continued to pick up the next book was because for all that Laurell can get fixated on one particular problem and gnaw on it, she does create the most amazing worlds. And her story lines are great, I wanted to know what happened next.

"Kiss the Dead" was like a breath of fresh air.  We're actually going somewhere. Stuff happened. I didn't feel like I was reading porn with a story line. And I know that sounds a little mean. But it's the truth. The last few books were like that. But this one was actually focused the world outside the bedrooms and Anita's torment.
People are actually happy. Which is something that I don't think has happened since "Skin Trade" or maybe even "Blood Noir" 5 books ago.

So for those of you thinking of giving up on Anita's life, I say "There is light at the end of the tunnel folks!"

We also get to see what Nathaniel's spine looks like! I mean, we've known he has one for quite some time, but normally he chooses not to use it. That is my favorite moment in the whole book, I swear. It's one sweet moment.
we get to see some old time character's come back in, and a new one.

I've been rereading all my favorite bit's again and again over the past few days. Just that in itself speaks for how much I've been enjoying this one.
So yeah. I'm happy, and I think I'll end it on that note.

On Comments...

Just now I went and looked through my settings for this blog for the first time in a while, and I realised that had it so that Registered Users only could comment. 

Which is ridiculous. But anyway, I just wanted to inform you that that's fixed now, I've got the settings on anyone. And sorry for the frustrating inconvenience to anyone who's tried to write me a comment before, only to be told you can't. 

I hope you'll try again.

"Tangle of Need" by Nalini Singh SPOILER

Note: I'm Sorry there's been such a big gap between posts. My Internet has been down for the past two weeks or so, and I just got it back this morning.


"Tangle of Need" is the much awaited latest book in Nalini's Psy-Changling series.
You can find it in amongst the rest of the Romance genre. Same as her Guild Hunter Series (that's the one with Elena, I'm sure I've mentioned) That in itself tells you allot about the main focus of Nalini's books, but it is not why I like them.
Nalini's style, especially with her psy-changeling series, is to focus on one new couple with each book and tell an underlying story through that. And she's very good at it.
I'm not sure if I can give you a good impression of my thoughts on the book without giving too much away. Considering that this is the 11th one in the series... what the hell,(I'll go back and do one about the first book some time I promise) SPOILER ALERT STOP READING
I'm starting to have a fairly good idea as to who the Ghost is. I've narrowed it down to two suspects. One more likely then the other, but I'm not ruling 'the other' out yet.
It's getting exiting.
I liked what happened with Henry Scott. Good riddance. And I think Vasic needs to spend some quality time Sascha. I don't think he's as lost as he thinks he is. (Sascha is an empath and can heal "non-phisical" wounds. Just in case some of you who haven't read any of the other books decided to read past the spoiler alert anyway..)
My favorite line in the whole book is when Aden tell's Adria and Riaz that "We appreciate the assistance" as the two of them are leaving, and Adria looks back over her shoulder and "wondered how often one of these men said that to anyone." It just manages to sum up the entirety of what the Arrows are. You can just feel it in your bones as she thinks it. Their utter isolation and loneliness, with the weight of so much responsibility to so many people pressing down on their shoulders. Just the image of him standing there watching them go, with Vasic behind him, quietly beginning to clean up of the killers remains. Pretty powerful if you ask me.

I like the ending to this one as well, with Adria and Riaz. It's not as predictable as it usually is in all the other books that have come before. It's good to have a bit of verity.

I'm worried about Ming. He's the biggest immediate threat. He could (and probably will) do some serious damage. Though I do also wonder what Tatiana and Shoshanna are up to. Especially Shoshanna. It's not like a Counsil member to go all quite and mousy. This is I think the 2nd or third book where we've heard nothing about what she's up to. It's making me suspicious.

To be honest though, Kaleb is the one who worries me the most. He means well I think, but then some of the worst kind of monsters in the world come into being by being when people think that they are doing what is right and necessarily. He'd never do anything to hurt the psy-net. He would do anything to help his people. But what does he consider helpful? I don't know.

I was going to also tell you who I thought the Ghost was, but I'm not sure if anyone would want hear what I think on that one, it might influence you're thinking until you can't come up with you're own guesses. So let me know in the comments if you do want to know and I'll answer when I see it.

"Angel's Flight" By Nalini Singh

Angel's Flight is a collection of 4 short stories that fit into the world of Nalini's second series. We do not see, in any of them, much of either of the main characters Elena and Raphael, as the stories are ones based around things that are "back ground" stories in the main books. Thing's that we may hear hint's of but not get the actual details.
The first one, "Angel's Pawn" is about Ashwini, and her her irritating Cajun vamp as they visit the territory of Nazarach. An Angel who to a woman with the sixth sense like Ash, feel's like death and pain.
It's great because you never get to actually meet Janvier in the books. Only hear about him. So it's nice getting to see what he's like. It's a bit hard to place the timing of when the story happens, but I think it's just before the first book, "Angel's Blood".

Second story, "Angel's Judgement" is of Sarah, Ellie's best friend and Guild Director, and Deacon when they first meet. If that's not enough to entice you, I say 'You'll never guess what his job was before they got together.' Something about Slaying......!?

Third, "Angel's Wolf" is about Noel. A vampire that we meet in the second book who was found brutalised by the evil person. It's a miracle that he survived, and last we hear of him is I think in the beginning of the third book when Raphael tell's Elena that he's sent him to work for the Master Angel of Louisiana for a while, as it was a good place for him to heal. "Angel's Wolf" tell us what happens to Noel once he get's there. Something which I have been quite curious about for a while, and which made buying the book worth it almost all on it's own.

Last but not least is "Angel's Dance. This one is more a short Novel then a short story really, and takes up just over a third of the book. Not that I'm complaining. It is about how Galen first came to be one of Raphael's people, and how he and Jessamy -the Angel's Keeper of History- came to be together. A fact that is even less mentioned then anything about Noel. The only hint of it is when Elena see's him going in to visit her and draws the conclusion that they must be a couple. You also get to see what Raphael's Archangel Tower and the territory around it looked like four hundred years ago. Not to mention a glimpse of what it was like to be in his court only a century after he'd come into his power. We see Aodhan before whatever happened happened. It's nice to know he was once an innocent youth.
And if anyone was interested in finding out how Michaela rose to power, or who the Archangel who came before her was, then that's in there.

All around, good stuff.

"The Magicians of Caprona" By Diana Wynne Jones

You can tell I have had nothing much to do but read these past couple of days, since this is going to be my 3rd post in 30 or so hours.

The Magicians of Caprona is a very entertaining story that starts -note I say starts- off a bit like Romeo and Juliet, with to very respectable feuding families. But it's not about romance at all. It  focuses on the younger members of each family as they try to stop the adults from being stupid, and Chrestomanci is once again left with a big mess to clean up.

If it were juice I would have dipped in a straw, and sucked steadily down to the last dregs. Barely pausing to breathe.
I live for books.

"Charmed Life" By Diana Wynne Jones

This book is actually a few books ahead of "The Pinhoe Egg" in the Chrestomanci series that I posted about around a week back. It's the first one that Cat comes into in fact.

In contrast to the Pinhoe egg, this is not one of my favorite Diana books. This was actually the first time I've reread it. Not because it's a bad read or anything, but because of Cat's sister, Gwendolen. She's a nasty piece of work. I tell you.
And I don't like the way Chrestomanci deals with the whole situation. It's not one of his best moments..

One thing that is fascinating is that you see in detail a lot of Chrestomanci's dressing gowns. Quite amusing really. I'd almost forgotten just how extravagant they all are. By the time the other books come around, Cat has gotten somewhat used to them, and does not notice them so much.

"Black Maria" by Diana Wynne Jones

This is another book by Diana. One that I had put off reading for a while, because the title and cover promised that it would have a dark theme to it. I try to stay away from books like that, with psychological war fair and so on. My own brain doesn't react well to it.
But, I am out of money and new books to read. So, thinking of how I have yet to read a book by Diana that was actually mentally damaging, I went into my sisters room yesterday to pick it up.
And it was ok.
It did have a little scary bit with a ghost, (don't worry, that's not a spoiler. He gets mentioned in the first chapter) but even that can't really be classified as scary.

It will never be one of my favorite books, mainly because it's not my type, but Diana certainly demonstrated with it her ability to make engaging even that which you thought wouldn't interest you.

The Pinhoe Egg. by Diana Wynne Jones

Dianna was a genius with pen and paper as far as I'm concerned. (I use the word 'was', because sadly she passed away last year.................... A moment of quiet in respect.....................)

I have yet to read one of her books that I didn't like, and 'The Pinhoe Egg' is my favorite of the lot. 

Hmm, I'm having trouble describing what I liked about it without giving away spoilers, so I'll start by saying the simple things and hopefully that will put some wind in my sails.

• It's aimed at a younger audience, but it's enjoyable for everyone.
• Her writing stile is simple but engaging. It has a steady rhythm to it that manages to remain constantly "new" yet not overwhelming. 
• It's part of the Chrestomanci series about Chrestomanci who is a very powerful enchanter, who's job it is to police other magic users so that the don't misuse it.
  'The Pinhoe Egg' is about Erik Chant - aka Cat - who is in training to be the next Chrestomanci.

I would definitely recommend it to anyone. 

And that's pretty much all I can say about it I think without turning this into a spoiler version.

The Fellowship of the Ring. by J.R.R. Tolkien

Two days ago, (I didn't have a computer on me at the time, so I wrote what I thought down on a note book. Which I will now copy onto here.) I finished reading Part 1 of "The Lord of the Rings", and I tell you it was a bite and a half.
It took me 5 days to finish. Though even with the fact that it had small font, usually that size of book would only have taken me 2, maybe 3 days at most.
Having said that though I did enjoy it very much.

For years, people have been telling me that it is a great book but really hard to read, and that Tolkien rambled on a bit about scenery etc., taking ages to get to the point.
I did feel this a bit as I was reading. Though I think it does make sense, as he originally made these books as a place for his made up language (the eleven language) to exist. In a sense the world and the culture of the people where more important then the main characters.
In opposition to that theory however, there was a jarring note when it came to directions. To give you an example; In the beginning when the four hobbits are going through the Old Forest, they start off facing East, then turn 'right' towards North.
If you are facing East and turn right, you are going South.

This, among other things, makes me think that Tolkien was a person who "heard the words" (in his mind as he read) rather then saw the pictures that they represented.
What I mean, is that when reading most people(as far as I know most people) picture what is happening in their mind. This way, it can be almost as though they are watching the story rather then reading it.
Tolkien on the other hand was, I think, among those who enjoyed the flow of the words and how they formed ideas. - As I am not one of these people, I'm not rightly sure how it works. -

I must admit, the way he strung the words together was beautiful. Lord of the Rings is one story which I wouldn't mind getting in audio. Though usually I like to read the book myself, I have a feeling that it would be great to listen to.

I loved his songs. One person who told me about the books described them in the same category as his long descriptions of the scenery's, but I loved them. I could almost hear the people singing.
Every time I came to the songs, I would sing them out loud just to hear them, and they would make their own rhythm on my tongue. No effort required on my part.
-Side Note. Maybe Tolkien would have been able to become a great Bard if those things were still around.-

As to the movie, I haven't seen it in a while, but I still think it is one of the best book based movies ever to be made. And maybe Tolkien's slow but steady pace had something to do with that.

NightSeer by L. K. Hamilton

This book is the Debut Novel by one of my favorite author's.
I've been curious for some time about it, and so when I saw it at the book store I couldn't resist.

I am Happy to say that I liked it very much. The only problem I had with it was that it didn't really feel finished to me, and I know it doesn't have a sequel.
I would like to see a bit more of the relationship between Keleios and Lothor. Also, I would like to see him defend his actions in the beginning of the book a bit. Because under all that devil-may-care attitude, I think he does have his reasons, (what is happening back home for example) and I think he actually does care for her very much.
Otherwise yeah, I loved it.

For Love and Mercy.

“For love and mercy, I give you this coin.” I told the young girl standing in front of me. Her eyes widened as she took it, and no wonder, it was no ordinary coin that I gave her. “You know what this is?” I wanted to be sure.

“I, I do.” She said. Her eyes never left the coin.

I was satisfied. “Then take it. Take it and use it well.”

The girl, who was also one of the only trustworthy spies I had left, bowed, and made her exit.

The man who stood behind me shifted his weight. I knew he wasn’t certain of my wisdom in doing what I had done, but he said nothing, so I let it pass as well. I was certain.

                                                       

I left the Queens rooms, still trembling. My heart was beating so fast I could barely breathe. Not to mention I wanted to cry. I have no idea how I made it back to my rooms. Only that I got there.

Once I was out of view I let myself cry a bit, then I collected myself.  The Queen had entrusted me with something beyond precious, and if I was going to guard it as she wished, then preparations had to be made.

First things first, I wrote a letter to my sister. I didn’t say anything out right. I asked about how things were going at home, hinted that perhaps spying wasn’t the work for me after all and that maybe I’d find some other work. Then I said that I had a friend who was looking to travel in the direction of home, and would my sister like to house them for a couple of nights.

Anyone who didn’t know me would think nothing of it. My sister however, did know me, and knew that I loved being a spy. I would never give it up. And cows crap on the “friends coming to stay” nonsense. A spy made enemies. I would never tell anyone, not even those I most trusted, where my loved ones lived.

The next couple of my days were spent at the markets, buying food and plain but worm cloths for travel. I also took out what money I could carry from the bank and secured a place on caravan that was going the way I wanted.

I noticed some people trying to trail me, but not for nothing was I one of the crowns youngest spies. I’m certain that I didn’t let them see me at anything of importance.

It was on the third day that anything of interest happened. It was early morning, and I was putting last minute touches on my packing when there was a knock on the door. It was Lester. I didn’t wait for him to say anything, just slammed the door in his face.

“Now, that’s not very nice love.” He called through the door.

“I haven’t been your love in a long time.” I called back as I fastened the straps on the pack I was taking, and did a last check to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything. It didn’t bother me that he was at the door of my room. I had other ways out.

Then a knock came from the wall behind my bed, and another from my sealing.

I stowed my bag out of sight. Gods curse him if he made me late for my caravan. I yanked the door open, “What?”

“Touchy.” He was leaning on the frame of my door, an easy smile on his lips.

I glared at him. His smile widened, “Can’t old friends come see each other once in a while? To see how you’re doing and all?”

“If you were coming for a friendly visit Lester, you wouldn’t have had me blocked in.” I said.

He shrugged. “So tell me what you’ve been up to these past couple of days.” He said.

Something clicked in my brain, “It was you who set the watches on me.”

He shrugged again.

“You’re falling in standards Lester. Time was you’d never have been scared to do work yourself. Especially if you know you can do better, and those that trailed me were defiantly not up to our standards.”

“You’re right. But I also respect your abilities Bella, and you would have seen my face from a mile off. No?”

We stared at each other for a minute. Then I let out a breath, “I’m not up to anything, I threw those trackers because I wanted to do my shopping in peace. I think I have a right to that.” I said.

Lester’s eyes narrowed “Don’t play with me Bella. You’re one of the only people here left who is still working for the Queen without being a double agent. I know that she talked to you two days ago, and that you haven’t sat still since. Talk.”

I nearly laughed. “Lester, you know better than anyone where my loyalties lie. As I recall, it was a dispute on that matter which ended our relationship.” But I opened the door wider, “Why don’t you come in at least, tell your other friends to come in as well. We can have another healthy argument about it, since it seems I can’t get you to leave.”

He called to his friends out of hiding as I took my special cups down and filled then with drink. I noticed that one of the men was one that had been set trail me these past two days. He was looking less than happy at having to had to listen to two people insult his work.

We all sat around the table, I raised my cup “To honesty, and the future.” I said. Then took a big gulp of the drink to show it wasn’t poisoned.

They echoed me and drank. I smiled at Lester. He frowned at my happy smile, then jumped as his friends slumped in their seats. He tried to stand and curse me but the potion took effect and he keeled over onto the floor instead.

The drink hadn’t in fact been poisoned, but in case of something like this ever happening, I had recently taken to painting a powerful sleeping draft onto the insides of half of my cups. They wouldn’t wake for at least 5 hours.

I stared at Lester for a moment, “You didn’t learn all of my secrets while we went out old friend.” I shook my head. Lester was a friend no more, and I had a job to get on with.

I shouldered my pack and walked out my door. It didn’t matter that Lester and his friends would wake there. I had long since gotten rid of anything that could be used against me or my Queen.

                                                       

I watched Bella approach the two guards in my scrying bowl. They stiffened as she approached, but she held out the coin I had given her. They eyed it, and were confused, understandably, but since the coin was also spelled to burn the hand that held it unless I had given it to the holder willingly, they did not question her.

Into my baby’s rooms she went. The crown princess was awake, giggling at the magical bubbles her nurse maid had left floating above her to keep her happy.

Bella approached her, and immediately started crooning a Lullaby. She mixed in with it a soothing magic that had Ariel asleep within minutes.

I watched her open her pack and take out clothes and a cloth that common Mothers might use to dress their little ones.

She took Ariel’s fine silks off her, and replaced them with the ones she had brought. The blanket was magic. As soon as my babe was swaddled in it, she disappeared.

I could only tell where she was from the curve Bella’s arms made as she lifted her.

I let tears fall as she neatly put away the clothes my baby had been wearing, and cried out right when she made an illusion to go where my babe had been. It looked just like my Ariel as she was when she was sleeping. It would be hours before someone noticed her missing.

I wanted to run screaming from my rooms “Child thief!!” It was not fair, seeing as I had asked Bella to do this for me, but I didn’t want my baby to grow up not knowing me. Only the knowledge that I could not protect her stopped me.

I watched Bella leave the rooms with the invisible Ariel in her arms. I knew that I could not have chosen a better guardian and Mother for my child.

New directions in Life. Ski, Books, or other work.

Ok, so this post isn't a story or a review.
Just, me.

It's been a year since I finished High School. Over a year, really.
I don't wont to go to Uni, that much I'm sure of.

As for what I want to do with my life, well, I know I want to do something with books.
That's one reason I started this Blog. It would be great if I could do something to do with that, but there isn't much in the way of jobs in that area.
'round the beginning of this year, my Mother got fed up with my doing almost nothing but eat and read, and she told me to get a job, or go to Uni.

So I began looking for jobs.

This was around the beginning of April.

Right before that though,(in February) I had tried to start a book club in order to find people here in Malaysia who love reading as much as I do.
It didn't go well. A few people expressed interest, but did not come.

I sent out applications to Ski resorts in New Zealand to begin with. Living in Malaysia, I have had as much of Summer as I want, and I loved to ski as a kid.
I would love the chance to do it again. I also considered going on a Ski instructor course. That would be the experience of a life time as far as I'm concerned.
But it is very expensive, even without considering how much getting my own ski gear and feeding myself for 10 weeks with no income.
I could get out a lone, but I'd really rather not do that unless I had no other choice what so ever.
Plus, you know, I haven't skied since I was 12. I think. 13 at most.
Even that wasn't any professional stuff.
So I decided to do that maybe next year, once I've had the chance to save some money and hopefully done some more skiing practice in the mean time.

But the question arose, what if I didn't manage to get a job in a Ski resort? There were hundreds, or for the bigger places thousands, of applicants every year to get a job at the ski resorts and not half that many positions.
What was I to do? Sit on my but until the Northern half of the world went into winter and try them? It would be even harder for me to get work there, because I'd need a permit.
My goal of going getting an instructor qualification seemed suddenly to be so so far away.

Maybe if I got normal seasonal work for a few months I could at least save some money, then I could tackle the problem of getting work up north for their winter when that time got here. That problem would be there weather I got work in a NZ ski resort or not. I thought, one bridge at a time.
So I also sent in some applications for seasonal work.

Here is where that reading club comes in. ( I know that it must of seemed really random earlier, when I mentioned for no apparent reason a book club that didn't go anywhere.) Over the past week, and especially the last two days, I have suddenly run into a whole lot of people who love the idea of a book club.
I was all for trying that again. I hadn't heard back from any of the people that I'd sent an application to, except for one rejection, and after all, the direction of books is where I really want to go in life.

Here is where the twist comes in.
I woke up this morning to an e-mail from one of the seasonal work places saying they want more information, such as when I'll next be in their area.
Hopeful sign?
Maybe. But now the question is, do I want to go and do seasonal work, or do I want to pursue the reading and writing part of my life.
Seasonal work would mean that I get to save some money, and maybe do the ski course next year, but if I go now, I might be giving up the chance to create some friends that are interested in the kind of thing that I am interested in.

So which way do I go?

The one thing that is clear is that I need to work on this blog allot more. I shall make it a rule from now on. I must not pick up a new book until I have spoken of it on here.

I am reading 'The Fellowship of the Ring' right now. (For those of you who live with your head stuffed under a pillow, that's the 1st book in 'Lord of the Rings'. And if you're still lost after I say that, then I say "Congratulations! Your time machine works brilliantly. Welcome to the 21st century.) So I should be doing a post on that in 2 ~ 3 days at most.

Sincerely, if perhaps not articulately,
Saaski

My Pack of Furry Fire Balls

One day, a Tuesday.
I was walking my dog. A nice little Chiwawa, one of those long haired ones with hair all orange and black that look like they're on fire when they run.
It's so cute!

I wanted to have more little fiery Chiwawa's, but they were too expensive.
I pondered this while I walked along. Doing creative calculating in my head to try and justify taking a detour down to the pet shop. No luck.
But this didn't depress me as much as it might have. I had my little Molly, and it was a bright and sunny day. Good for walking. By now we were coming around to the end of our walk, and we were in sight of my house.
I loved my house. It was pink with aqua blue windows, an aqua blue door, with a girl standing on the aqua blue porch.

... A girl standing on my aqua blue porch?
She had a brown box in one hand and her other on my little pink knocker. Interesting, I thought. She doesn't look like she's working for the post office. Besides, now I'm a bit closer, I can see that box has big holes along the top rim. Not the kind of box you receive in the mail.
And then it barked. The box, or what was in sided it, barked with the unmistakable sound of a puppy! I eyed the box.
The girl also turned to look at the content of the box, and noticed me coming through my little aqua blue gate in my pink fence, Chiwawa at my heels.
Her big green eyes lit up. "Ms. Pray?" she asks.
"Can I help you?" I asked back, polite little smile on my too thin for most peoples taste lips.
"I hope so," she nodded "My dad thinks it's immoral to make money off of other living beings, but we can't keep 'em so we were hoping you could take 'em." She held out the box.
"I'm sorry?" I asked, closing the gate behind Molly. "I'm not sure I understand."
"Oh, right. Sorry. I'm Nancy's niece." She named my best friend. "And when our dogs had puppies, but we couldn't keep 'em, she said you'd probably love having them. Since you've been wanting more for a while and so on." She paused, then said "We'll give 'em to you for nothing." She held the box toward me temptingly.


I peered in.
Four little balls of orange and black fire peered back inquiringly. One of them yipped at me. I fell in love.
"your sure?" I asked, breathless lungs barely giving me enough air to say the words.
"We can't keep 'em." The girl repeated. "We got eight already."
I was holding the box, though I didn't remember taking it. I heard myself mumble some pleasantries though I wasn't paying attention.

I crouched down so that Molly could look inside with me. "Look Molly, new friends." I said.
Molly sniffed the little ones in the box, then looked at me as if to say, Well alright, but I'm not looking after them for you.

"I'm so glad you're taking 'em." The girl said, "If you didn't, I don't know what we would've done."
"Thankyou so much." I said, looking up at her.
"No problems." She pushed her hands away from her body as if to push my thanks away. "I'll see you around then." And then she was gone, vaulting over my fence and away before I could think what else to say.

I shook my head at Molly in amazement. "We're going to have to call Nancy and find out just how she managed not to mention this." I told her.

Then I carefully carried the brown box though my purple living room into my white kitchen, where I promptly got out some dog food.
I wasn't certain of when they'd last eaten, and I'd rather they be a little too full, then a little too hungry on their first day at my house.