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1. How I Met Your Mother's ending was...lame. I didn't like the final episode and have found this season to be rather...uninspired. More sad than funny.
Not helped by the fact that I have never liked Ted very much and was rooting for Robyn and Barney, who I found entertaining together.
Wasn't spoiled, yet figured it out halfway through.
Found the whole episode to be rather depressing, particularly for a comedy.
Dear writers - stop thinking up twists.
2. Wednesday Reading Meme
* What I just finished reading?
Magic Bites by Illona Andrews
Not a bad debut. Took a while to get into...but about three-four chapters in, it took off and was hard to put down. Reminded me a lot of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, actually. More along that style than Harrison or LK Hamilton. Feels more Raymond Chandleresque, or urban noir fantasy, with a tough as nails hero, and snark in great supply. Less emphasis on romance.
It has all the ingredients of the urban fantasy trope:
* badass/kickass protagonist who is also a bit of a loner, with serious Daddy issues, not to mention authority issues. Rebelling against the establishment or a group. (Here it's the Order of Merciful Magic...).
* She's broke and doing this to pay the rent, although keeps ending up doing pro bono work because its' the right thing to do aka - reluctant hero
* post-apocalyptic world - dark, nasty, and on the brink of ruin.
* City or urban area, although she does have a place in the country - so that's different
* Romantic love interests are...fatals or untrustworthy, with the exception of the main squeeze, who is honorable, but also part of the establishment she's rebelling against.
* Young sidekicks - that the heroine is reluctantly tasked with helping
* protagonist is uber-powerful, but has barely taped into it - and sort of hiding out, because if the wrong people figure it out - everyone will want a piece of her
This one distinguishes itself from the others - in five ways:
1. Emphasis on Greek and Russian mythology and folklore. Obtaining most of its monsters from that realm. May be the first time that I've seen a upir as a monster. (One of the writer's is Russian and clearly interested in mythology and folklore).
2. Religious references are pagan - or Hindu. Not Judeo-Christian.
3. Heroine/Hero doesn't jump in and out of bed with every lovely she meets. Focuses on building one romantic relationship throughout. This may be due to the husband/wife writing dynamic. Also, in this case, reminiscent of Jim Butcher.
4. Vampires are described as blood-crazed humanoid insects with no minds, unless a human necromancer is piloting them and guiding their movements. Rather scary actually.
5. Military strategy and weapons are explained in detail and rather logical. Most logical plotting that I've seen to date in urban fantasy. (possibly due to one of the writers being an ex-army sgt?)
The story is about a mercenary/loner named Kate Daniels, who lives in Post-Apocalyptic Georgia. Humanity pushed the pendulum of technology too far, and magic came back with a vengeance, after previously pushing the pendulum of magic too far in the Iron Age...with tech coming back with a vengeance. Now magic comes in tsunamis...changing elderly aunts into harpies, infecting folks with a Lyc-V virus - which turns you into a shapechanger (werecat, werewolf, etc), destroying skyscrapers, and killing all electronics...then it shifts back to technology, where magic goes to sleep and tech works. Lights come on etc. Rather innovative idea and a good commentary on a world shifting out of balance. Daniels' guardian and mentor is mysteriously killed, and determined to investigate - she forms an alliance with her guardian's organization, the Order of Merciful...(I can never remember the last word - People? Magic?) And has to get the aid of The Pack (a paramilitary group of Shapeshifters/shapechangers) and the People (a group of necromancers and necro-magic users, whom she despises). Along the way she builds some interesting relationships, dates a shallow plastic surgeon who is obsessed with the Lyc-V virus, and almost gets herself killed.
Overall, a fun read. Or fun enough to inspire me to read the next two books in the series: Magic Burns and Magic Strikes.
* What I'm reading now?
Magic Burns by Illona Andrews - book 2 in the Kate Daniels series, almost finished. Sort of ripping through this series. It's better than the first novel.
Focuses on Celtic rituals, and the Goddess mythos in Irish and Asiatic Folklore.
Also has various Russian phrases interspersed with-in it - the heroine's father was Russian. Did make one error regarding Celtic reference texts...The Mabinoghen is not just about King Arthur. Actually he barely appears in it. I know, I actually read some of the original text at the National Library in Wales back in the 1980s.
But it's a minor thing, so I handwaved it. Doubt many people know that anyhow.
Kate is a kickass heroine. And the romance is less central than the folklore and mythology. Plus this series has actually found something new to say about vampires - I didn't think that was possible. They remind me of zombies, except sort of puppet zombies created through a pathogen that necromancers inject into a willing human. As well as something new to say about weres or shapeshifters. Kudos.
*What I'm reading next?
Magic Strikes (book 3 in the series).
While these writers (husband and wife team) are rather innovative in other ways, not so much with titles. They suck at titles. Which is interesting because other urban fantasy writers who create great and innovative titles...aren't that innovative with the world building, plotting and character development. There's a moral in there somewhere...possibly, don't tell a book by its title?
Not helped by the fact that I have never liked Ted very much and was rooting for Robyn and Barney, who I found entertaining together.
Wasn't spoiled, yet figured it out halfway through.
Found the whole episode to be rather depressing, particularly for a comedy.
Dear writers - stop thinking up twists.
2. Wednesday Reading Meme
* What I just finished reading?
Magic Bites by Illona Andrews
Not a bad debut. Took a while to get into...but about three-four chapters in, it took off and was hard to put down. Reminded me a lot of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, actually. More along that style than Harrison or LK Hamilton. Feels more Raymond Chandleresque, or urban noir fantasy, with a tough as nails hero, and snark in great supply. Less emphasis on romance.
It has all the ingredients of the urban fantasy trope:
* badass/kickass protagonist who is also a bit of a loner, with serious Daddy issues, not to mention authority issues. Rebelling against the establishment or a group. (Here it's the Order of Merciful Magic...).
* She's broke and doing this to pay the rent, although keeps ending up doing pro bono work because its' the right thing to do aka - reluctant hero
* post-apocalyptic world - dark, nasty, and on the brink of ruin.
* City or urban area, although she does have a place in the country - so that's different
* Romantic love interests are...fatals or untrustworthy, with the exception of the main squeeze, who is honorable, but also part of the establishment she's rebelling against.
* Young sidekicks - that the heroine is reluctantly tasked with helping
* protagonist is uber-powerful, but has barely taped into it - and sort of hiding out, because if the wrong people figure it out - everyone will want a piece of her
This one distinguishes itself from the others - in five ways:
1. Emphasis on Greek and Russian mythology and folklore. Obtaining most of its monsters from that realm. May be the first time that I've seen a upir as a monster. (One of the writer's is Russian and clearly interested in mythology and folklore).
2. Religious references are pagan - or Hindu. Not Judeo-Christian.
3. Heroine/Hero doesn't jump in and out of bed with every lovely she meets. Focuses on building one romantic relationship throughout. This may be due to the husband/wife writing dynamic. Also, in this case, reminiscent of Jim Butcher.
4. Vampires are described as blood-crazed humanoid insects with no minds, unless a human necromancer is piloting them and guiding their movements. Rather scary actually.
5. Military strategy and weapons are explained in detail and rather logical. Most logical plotting that I've seen to date in urban fantasy. (possibly due to one of the writers being an ex-army sgt?)
The story is about a mercenary/loner named Kate Daniels, who lives in Post-Apocalyptic Georgia. Humanity pushed the pendulum of technology too far, and magic came back with a vengeance, after previously pushing the pendulum of magic too far in the Iron Age...with tech coming back with a vengeance. Now magic comes in tsunamis...changing elderly aunts into harpies, infecting folks with a Lyc-V virus - which turns you into a shapechanger (werecat, werewolf, etc), destroying skyscrapers, and killing all electronics...then it shifts back to technology, where magic goes to sleep and tech works. Lights come on etc. Rather innovative idea and a good commentary on a world shifting out of balance. Daniels' guardian and mentor is mysteriously killed, and determined to investigate - she forms an alliance with her guardian's organization, the Order of Merciful...(I can never remember the last word - People? Magic?) And has to get the aid of The Pack (a paramilitary group of Shapeshifters/shapechangers) and the People (a group of necromancers and necro-magic users, whom she despises). Along the way she builds some interesting relationships, dates a shallow plastic surgeon who is obsessed with the Lyc-V virus, and almost gets herself killed.
Overall, a fun read. Or fun enough to inspire me to read the next two books in the series: Magic Burns and Magic Strikes.
* What I'm reading now?
Magic Burns by Illona Andrews - book 2 in the Kate Daniels series, almost finished. Sort of ripping through this series. It's better than the first novel.
Focuses on Celtic rituals, and the Goddess mythos in Irish and Asiatic Folklore.
Also has various Russian phrases interspersed with-in it - the heroine's father was Russian. Did make one error regarding Celtic reference texts...The Mabinoghen is not just about King Arthur. Actually he barely appears in it. I know, I actually read some of the original text at the National Library in Wales back in the 1980s.
But it's a minor thing, so I handwaved it. Doubt many people know that anyhow.
Kate is a kickass heroine. And the romance is less central than the folklore and mythology. Plus this series has actually found something new to say about vampires - I didn't think that was possible. They remind me of zombies, except sort of puppet zombies created through a pathogen that necromancers inject into a willing human. As well as something new to say about weres or shapeshifters. Kudos.
*What I'm reading next?
Magic Strikes (book 3 in the series).
While these writers (husband and wife team) are rather innovative in other ways, not so much with titles. They suck at titles. Which is interesting because other urban fantasy writers who create great and innovative titles...aren't that innovative with the world building, plotting and character development. There's a moral in there somewhere...possibly, don't tell a book by its title?