My review of "Awakened Mage" by Karen Miller
What can I say about this book that I haven't already said about "Innocent Mage"? The story plods along at the same frustrating pace. The characters carry out the roles that have been etched in stone for them from the second chapter. Any novelty in the setting has worn off after the first book leaving only a grudging desire to reach the end to carry you on with the same inexorable plot-line that varies not one inch from the expected. If there is any interesting and unique part to this story it is the saviour-based religion that springs up around Barl the historic mage that created the paradise that is the kingdom of Lur. Oh well I guess I should have seen this coming, but I always like to finish the novels that I start.
Oh and a word about the climax. The final battle that has been alluded to throughout both very long books is a short affair and taking in to account all the hype that lead up to the battle, It was disappointing.
Monday, December 29, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Sick Weekend
On Friday morning I came down with food poisoning. I think it was the Hawaiian barbecue that I had on Thursday night. I woke at about 5:30am Friday morning with the strong need to vomit. This started a day full of digestive failures, abdominal pain and widespread discomfort. I called my mother for a little support and she brought me some food and got me in touch with a doctor. I will spare the gory details but I called out sick from work and spent the day in bed. Sunday was spent between naps and the bathroom. Finally today I made it out of the apartment. I didn't go far but it felt good to cross the threshold of my apartment where I had been sequestered for 2 days. Even now I am not finished being ill, and I have spent an entire weekend recovering from the damned food I ate on Thursday. I look foreward to a Monday and Tuesday full of work.
This has been a tough winter and Its only half over.
This has been a tough winter and Its only half over.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Meetings and Findings
We had a company meeting yesterday and the boss went over everyone's role in the company. He got my current role right, but its not where I want to be. I am in the position of being the takeover supervisor. A co-worker gets the install started and I am expected to take over. The problem that arises is that I sometimes miss the beginning of the install because I am finishing another project. So I wind up coming in and finishing something that has been started without me. I don't really like the way my co-worker manages things and now I have to take over a mess and get it done in budget and in time when I don't know what the budget and deadline are.
Sigh. At least its a challenge.
On another note I found the knife my brother got me. Now I just have to find that ring
Sigh. At least its a challenge.
On another note I found the knife my brother got me. Now I just have to find that ring
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Losses
Lately I have been losing a few things, important things with personal value.
I have lost the knife that my brother gave me before he started boot camp. I believe it came out of my pocket under a desk somewhere at work, so It is probably just a matter of time before find it again. I am upset because I have had that knife for almost 7 years and It was a gift from my brother.
I have lost the silver ouroboros ring that my father's wife had made for me. I was at a restaurant called Captain Crab and I took off my ring and watch to keep them from getting all crab juiced up. I put the watch band through the ring and put them both in my pocket. I haven't seen them since then. I designed the ring myself, and passed off the drawings. It was made from my design and the drawings and the ring were returned to me afterward. It is truly one-of-a-kind, and it was gift. It has a high personal value. I am very upset that I lost this ring. I really don't know what to do. I want that ring, and its not the same if I try to have it made again. Damn
Other things of much lesser value that are currently missing are my running watch (a timex) and my backup knife that must have fallen out of my pocket when I sprained my ankle and fell to the ground. I feel that this may be my winter for losing things.
I have lost the knife that my brother gave me before he started boot camp. I believe it came out of my pocket under a desk somewhere at work, so It is probably just a matter of time before find it again. I am upset because I have had that knife for almost 7 years and It was a gift from my brother.
I have lost the silver ouroboros ring that my father's wife had made for me. I was at a restaurant called Captain Crab and I took off my ring and watch to keep them from getting all crab juiced up. I put the watch band through the ring and put them both in my pocket. I haven't seen them since then. I designed the ring myself, and passed off the drawings. It was made from my design and the drawings and the ring were returned to me afterward. It is truly one-of-a-kind, and it was gift. It has a high personal value. I am very upset that I lost this ring. I really don't know what to do. I want that ring, and its not the same if I try to have it made again. Damn
Other things of much lesser value that are currently missing are my running watch (a timex) and my backup knife that must have fallen out of my pocket when I sprained my ankle and fell to the ground. I feel that this may be my winter for losing things.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Punisher
I watched the new punisher movie today. Now I know you are already saying "Why would you do such a thing!" Well, I was with friends and it was a social thing so that's my excuse.
When you go to a comic book move you expect a certain level of unreality, and when you see a punisher movie you have to know what the franchise has in store for you. So with that in mind I was still disappointed.
There was a constant juicy violent gore. Bullets flew and heads exploded. That is to be expected and even acceptable here, The Punisher was a hardcore and driven to revenge to the exclusion of all other things. The big problem is the other characters. While the punisher is a two dimensional gun charged revenge factory, the supporting characters are all caricatures of tired stereotypes. The main villain who somehow manages to survive being blended with broken glass is a wacky and plucky stitched up criminal mastermind. And his brother James LBJ AKA Looney Bin Jim who is a kind of Hannibal Lecter if he were also prone to bouts of childish glee and jumping around on stuff.
I would go over the weakness in the plot but lets not beat this dead horse
When you go to a comic book move you expect a certain level of unreality, and when you see a punisher movie you have to know what the franchise has in store for you. So with that in mind I was still disappointed.
There was a constant juicy violent gore. Bullets flew and heads exploded. That is to be expected and even acceptable here, The Punisher was a hardcore and driven to revenge to the exclusion of all other things. The big problem is the other characters. While the punisher is a two dimensional gun charged revenge factory, the supporting characters are all caricatures of tired stereotypes. The main villain who somehow manages to survive being blended with broken glass is a wacky and plucky stitched up criminal mastermind. And his brother James LBJ AKA Looney Bin Jim who is a kind of Hannibal Lecter if he were also prone to bouts of childish glee and jumping around on stuff.
I would go over the weakness in the plot but lets not beat this dead horse
Monday, December 8, 2008
Innocent Mage
I just finished a book called "Innocent Mage" by Karen Miller. I am a bit put off at the ending, however. It is the first half of a two part series. This is particularly maddening as it is one continuous story that is published in two volumes. Now I am stuck with a cliffhanger that I won't see the other side of until I buy the other book, "Awakened Mage." Well on with the review.
The story is set in the fantasy land of Lur. The kingdom of Lur is peopled with two races, the olken and the doranen. The Doranen are the nobility, a blond haired fair race with the command of powerful magic, and the olken are the commoners, with dark hair and no magic. The main character is Asher of Resthaven, a rude and forthright olken, harsh almost to the point of unlikeability. And it follows his trip to the capital city of Dorana to seek his fortune. I found the characters interesting and fairly realistic, but unbending and static despite their depth. The story has some Prophecy Ex Machina, that I dislike (except of course for self-fulfilling prophecy which I find delicious) and some generous flexibility given to the friendships of adverse personalities.
The world seems an over-simplified construction with idyllic society and utopian government, but this is somewhat explained by the fact that the kingdom was created to be a utopia by Barl their ancestor-deity.
Will I read the other half? Yeah I have to. The supporting characters refer to Asher (behind his back) as the innocent mage, and hint that he is the only hope for Lur, and I find it so strange considering he is a magickless olken that I must find out. Oh well Its a decent book despite my nit-picking
The story is set in the fantasy land of Lur. The kingdom of Lur is peopled with two races, the olken and the doranen. The Doranen are the nobility, a blond haired fair race with the command of powerful magic, and the olken are the commoners, with dark hair and no magic. The main character is Asher of Resthaven, a rude and forthright olken, harsh almost to the point of unlikeability. And it follows his trip to the capital city of Dorana to seek his fortune. I found the characters interesting and fairly realistic, but unbending and static despite their depth. The story has some Prophecy Ex Machina, that I dislike (except of course for self-fulfilling prophecy which I find delicious) and some generous flexibility given to the friendships of adverse personalities.
The world seems an over-simplified construction with idyllic society and utopian government, but this is somewhat explained by the fact that the kingdom was created to be a utopia by Barl their ancestor-deity.
Will I read the other half? Yeah I have to. The supporting characters refer to Asher (behind his back) as the innocent mage, and hint that he is the only hope for Lur, and I find it so strange considering he is a magickless olken that I must find out. Oh well Its a decent book despite my nit-picking
Ubuntu
The new computer is up and running. This is my first post from the new thing. I still need a case, but as you can guess I have a new keyboard. I picked up a standard Dell keyboard from work. It is serviceable but nowhere near as groovy as the ergonomic keyboard that I had planned on using. I am now starting down the path of making the various things work on the damned thing. It seems that Hulu.com hates Linux and is blocking their content, but we shall see. This is a grand experiment and we will all see how far I carry it before I break down and jump back to whatever the current windows OS is.
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