The Fire's Stone (spoilers)

The Fire's Stone by Tanya Huff

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I really liked the ideas in this book, but I the reason it's not getting a higher star is more because of execution. It's still a good read, but I found the quick changes in POV to be a bit jarring and it took my brain right out of the story. I'd then have to get right back into it, and it affected the natural flow.
The characters were very likable, especially Darvish. I felt a little cheated that there wasn't at least a kiss between him and Aaron, but it's pretty obvious that there would be off-camera, so I guess I can't complain too much. I found that the end came up quickly, and there wasn't as much time dealing with the Chancellor being the villain as there could have been. It was pretty obvious that he'd be culprit for stealing the stone, but I would have liked some more insight to his reasoning and how it came about.



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Hero

Hero by Perry Moore

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I ended up pounding through this book in a day, which isn't much because it's a pretty easy read. I found it quite enjoyable - having the mix of a coming-of-age gay teenage boy story mixed with the overarcing campiness of a Golden Age comic story. I loved it, but I do have a few quibbles, and that's why it's not getting five stars. First, there were things I wanted explained further or fleshed out more that weren't. Particularly the history between Thom's dad and Justice. I wanted to know more about why Justice finally snapped and wound up mind-controlling his entire team. Thom's mother and where she'd been for so many years also left me with questions.

I also wanted more interaction between Goran and Thom. That stuff was amazing and really very sweet, but there wasn't enough of it. I wanted to learn more about Goran, but what propelled me through the story was hoping to find more scenes with Thom and Dark Hero (I mean, it was very obvious right from the start that Goran was Dark Hero, but I don't fault the narrative for that, because it was meant for a younger audience. And also because it's got its foot in the Golden Age era, where that stuff was also really transparent). The two prior quibbles are understandable because the book's from Thom's perspective, so he's not privy to this kind of information, but with the Goran and Thom interactions - there could have been a lot more.

None of this really takes away from the story as a whole, though. It just probably would have been even better if it had a few more pages.



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The Marbury Lens

The Marbury Lens by Andrew Smith

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I debated between three and four stars for this one. I loved the idea, and I always do love the idea of hell-worlds. It had a very Silent Hill-esque feeling, where it was a punishment for something done in this world, or a punishment self-imposed on the main character because of the trauma he went through, and his ability to try and ignore that it happened. I liked that it was debatable whether or not Marbury was real, or if he'd invented the whole thing in a method of escapism. I didn't care for the ending that much, because I liked it when it was all in Jack's head much better. I still liked the open-endedness of it, about which of their worlds was real, though. The reason I'm giving this book lesser stars, when the premise alone and the quality of the writing should have made me give it five, was that it had a level of homophobia that, while I understood it because that's how teenage boys talk unfortunately, it also left me uncomfortable.



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Website

I've gotten questions about my website. Yes it's down. I hit a really bad financial spell, and couldn't afford to keep it going. I've been posting chapters of Operation: Mariposa on fanfiction.net, though. I may try eventually to post some of my older fics (My Orphanage is also up there).

I honestly don't know if I'll put the website back up, or if it will go up under something different once I get back on my feet financially.

Game Of Thrones

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


I decided to read this after I'd finished the first season of Game of Thrones on HBO because I didn't want to cloud my judgment for either one by intermingling my first experience with the world. I was surprised at how close the adaptation was, give or take aging details. I liked how it split the narrative between some of the main characters, but that's also where I found my biggest gripe - spending time with characters I didn't care as much about. Each Sansa chapter made me want to rip my eyes out, and made her a more hated character to me than even Joffrey (though the chapter at the end where she wanted to kill him still gives me a big grin, especially when I was picturing the actress doing that evil "Stanley Kubrick" face as she tried to advance on Joff to push him to his death. Now I have the dilemma of wanting to find out what happens in Clash of Kings, or waiting until after the season of the show is aired, like I did this time around. Arya and Dany remain favourites, as does Varys. For some reason, I just love how slippery he is.



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Silk Sweater

So I've been working on a silk sweater for nearly two years, and I'm finally nearing completion. I'm a pretty fast knitter, so this is extra, extra slow for a snail, and astronomical for me. But with school and work, I just haven't had the time or drive for knitting, or for any of my other many, many hobbies, either. They say hobbies can be helpful when trying to break drug and alcohol addictions, and even stave off the behavior because it distracts the mind and gives focus. So, what happens when you have too many hobbies? Knitting, reading, writing, doll collecting, sewing doll clothes, video games, jigsaw puzzles. Sheesh.

Also, last Harry Potter film tomorrow. End of an era.

Why is it so hard for me to keep up a blog? Maybe I think that my life really doesn't have anything interesting enough in it to put in a blog. But then I look at some other blogs that are simply about people washing their dog *shrug* I don't have a dog, but I do have a cat who hates to be washed. I've probably read 60 books since I posted the review for Frostbite way back in November. I've graduated from school and now have a full-time job, and I'm working on a new project.