Tonight's Revenge and a shameless request for book recs.

[shadowkat]

Tonight's Revenge was interesting...more so than last week's. It is definitely building and Em-Amanda is beginning to lose control over the proceedings, as is Victoria Grayson. Other players have entered the game, including the Talented Mr. Tyler, as Nolan has so adeptly titled him, and the SWF (Single White Female psycho case) Carrie. The road to Revenge is a rocky one indeed.



* Am rather impressed with Gabriel Mann's Nolan. He grows on you. And there's so many layers. Sending him off to handle Tyler, may not have been E-Amanda's best idea.
But he did volunteer. Tonight he figures out that Tyler pieced together Lydia's speech outting the Grayson's frame of David Clark, E-Amanda's father, for the terrorist money-laundering scheme to protect their own necks. He calls E-Amanda, and apparently this does not fit in with her scheme. Or theirs. E-Amanda tells him to invest in Grayson's company, via Tyler. And to work Tyler at the party - with the end goal of acquiring the speech. He does, but they have a teasing flirtation, and he is clearly intrigued by the Talented Mr. Tyler. Meanwhile Ash is pissed that Tyler is having a fling with Nolan, even if it's just a hustle. Tyler calls Ash on it - and says when are you going to enter the game and become a player?

*Ash decides to do it - in this episode, and tells Victoria that she took the job with Victoria in part because of E-Amanda, her so-called friend. Turns out E-Amanda is right not to trust Ash. And keep her at arms length. The only people who know E-Amanda's secrets are Nolan, the real Emily Thorne, the Warden, and Satsoi (who pops up - wondered when they'd send the mentor - which is also a character in The Counte of Monte Cristo). I don't think Ash will be much of a problem. The real Emily Thorne, aka Carrie, aka Amanda Clark...on the other hand.

*Okay how can E-Amanda be in love with Jack? It was too long ago. I'm confused on the romantic bit. I get how she might be falling for Daniel...although Daniel doesn't quite register for me, a bit of a cypher. That's the problem with Jack and Daniel, they are highly undeveloped characters, very good looking, but feel like eye-candy at the moment. It's hard for me to care that much about either. Both feel sort of cliche. The show is unevenly written in that respect. Jack, Daniel and Declan don't quite work. Everyone else does and everyone else has an agenda. The one's who don't...are a bit one-dimensional and somewhat boring. This is a problem and what keeps Revenge from being as good a drama as The Good Wife, although it's not fair to compare the two - totally different genres. And the difficulty I'm pointing out in Revenge is actually common in the soap serial.

*I have no idea where this thing is going. I think that either Tyler or Carrie/Amanda will end killing Daniel. Carrie makes the most sense, because that would explain why Jack is busy trying to cover it up. The question is why? I can see why Tyler would, but why would Carrie/Amanda? Carrie has decided to go by Amanda Clark now - and take over Amanda Clark's life fully - this in a way provides E-Amanda with the perfect cover. No one will figure who she really is now. OTOH...if they look too deeply into C-Amanda...they might. It's not hard.

*Lydia has played Victoria well, and has managed to shack up with Conrad again. I really don't want Conrad and Lydia to ride off into the sunset. I'm more sympathetic towards Victoria than those two. Victoria is a fun villain. She and E-Manada are quite good in this. Equally matched.

* Charlotte has also played her mother...letting her mother believe she's broken up with Declan and that she's forgiven Mom. Bright. Just wish I didn't agree with Victoria regarding Declan - he is a whiny waste of space, I'm sorry, but there it is.
But she'd have been better off, leaving it alone, and letting that story play itself out.

Interesting episode, no clue where it will go.



* I need a brainless romance...that hits my kinks. Been eyeing Harlequin's on Kindle.
These aren't my mother's Harlequin's or Grandmother's. When did Harlequin's get so risque? Not that I mind or anything, just wondering. Any recommendations would be helpful. (I like tough women and sardonic sensitive guys - examples: Aeryn Sun/John Crichton, Doctor Who/River Song, Buffy/Spike, Olivia/Peter, Cordelia/Xander, Lilah/Wesely, Angel/Darla, Caroline/Tyler, Kalinda/Carey, Diane/Gary Cole, Damon/Rosemarie. Women like Sookie, Bella, Elena and guys like Stefan, Bill, Edward turn me off.) Kinks? Smart woman, smart guy - competitors. I adore banter. Recs? Highly appreciated.

Any good books? Any page-turners? Like The Hunger Games? Something not too taxing on the brain? I'm going to try The Marriage Plot, but I have my doubts. And I'm tired of horror and violence - I think George RR Martin's Feast of Crows is doing me in. That book is incredibly grim. And oddly? I'm not enjoying being in Jamie's head that much this round. Too whiny. Him and Cersei. Ugh. My favorites are Asha, Sansa (yes, I'm surprised too), Arianne (the Princess of Dorne), and Ayra. Sam's is just painfully depressing. Brienne's ditto. Don't get me wrong - Martin writes beautifully and very well, he has a mastery of the language (you'd hope he would considering he's only been writing for 40 years, possibly more). And he is a good story teller. Has amazing characters. And his world is so real, it sticks between your teeth or to your teeth like gum. But.

Here's the thing about writing?

Outside of the basics, it's all pretty subjective. I mean, I can say Breaking Bad is expertly written, it is. I saw the first season and about five episodes into the second. But I hate the story and the characters, so I don't really care. Same deal with the award winning novel "Atonement" or "House of Sand and Fog" or Edith Wharton's Ethan From (I hated Ethan From, not a fan of Edith Wharton). While I admit, freely admit that there are tv shows and books that are unevenly written or sloppily written ...which I love to pieces, because I love the story - I remember adoring Anne McCaffrey's Dragon Riders of Pern series (haven't read it in 20 years, but I read them to death as a kid) and I loved Elizabeth Peters Vicky Bliss mysteries (with the exception of the final novel which is truly awful - stop at Night Train to Memphis, do not go beyond that book, you will thank me later) or Katherine Neville's A Calculated Risk. (All these books are unevenly written and have problems, but I enjoyed them). I also love great literature - such as Pride and Prejudice or James Joyce's Dubliner's. And right now? Adoring Once Upon A Time - and yes, I realize it's sloppy in places, but I so don't care. It's hitting my kinks hard. Same deal with
Ringer - it's fun. OR True Blood - which is like crack. And I really adore the television series Game of Thrones...in some ways far more than the books. For some reason the tv series is not as grim as the books and more humorous. I like it better than the critically acclaimed fair..which frankly puts me to sleep at times.

It's a story I want to inhale and memorize and repeat in my head. While say a tale that is brilliantly written like Atonement or Ethan Fromm - I want to exorcise from my skull or I find my eyes drooping during and my attention wandering. That's where the subjective part comes into play, I think. And I think it explains why some stories, which are admittedly poorly written are incredibly popular, while others which are brilliantly written aren't. It's not always about the writing - it's well, about the story, the characters (archetypal or otherwise), and the plot. Stephen King once said that the story was the most important thing in writing fiction, nothing else mattered. Story and characters. Writing was merely a way of communicating it. If a story hits us where we live, it doesn't matter how well written it is...does it? Sure the writing and how it is conveyed does help, but often love isn't rational. It can't be explained. We just love it is all.

Comments

[fenchurche.livejournal.com]

So, it's nothing like Hunger Games, but the book I've been recommending to anyone who asks for the last few years is Alcatraz versus the Evil Librarians (http://www.amazon.com/Alcatraz-Versus-Evil-Librarians/dp/0439925525/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322112752&sr=8-1) by Brandon Sanderson. Also, sadly, not available on Kindle... but well worth reading, as are the sequels.

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had a similar with feast. It's not that it's bad, it's just that the uglyness is grating and I think I understood it after the first ten violent deaths/rapes.

I'm so emerged in NaNo that I have not read anything this month, so I'm a bit at a loss for recs. Last book that turned into a real page turner for me was the Temeraire series by Naomi Novic (the odd numbered ones, the even ones have lengths for some reason).

My other rec would be the Vorkosigan books by Lois McMaster Bujold. But yu probably already know those. They are far better known in the US than here.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had a similar with feast. It's not that it's bad, it's just that the uglyness is grating and I think I understood it after the first ten violent deaths/rapes.

And it's not like we necessarily see some of them, so much as they are referred to...but, about 50% of the way through, I feel bludgeoned by the grimness. I want a break.

And I really miss Tyrion's sense of humor. I'm also starting to miss Jamie's...he's become nicer, and as result whiny, the sardonic wit is almost gone.

Hope NaNo is going well.

I've read some of Bujold...but she's not fitting my mood right now.
Too detailed. I want more dialogue, less description. ;-) Really craving a brainless, cotton-candy, pulpy read.

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

Yep, it's simply too bleak. Dance is a bit better again in that respect, mainly because Tyrion is in it again.

Nano is going well but insanely time consuming and of course next week we will move into a new building with work, so it will be hard to finish on time.

I do like the story though. I think I can edit it into something really worth reading afterwards.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

The story is the most important thing - I think. If you like the story, the writing will come.

I've heard Dance is better than Feast, in part because it's a little less grim, and we have more of Tyrion and Dany and the dragons.

There's a lot of wandering around in Feast - moving the characters from point A-B and building up to Cersei's downfall. You were right by the way about Cersei - she's incredibly dumb in this book. Up until this point, the character seemed somewhat intelligent, here, she's bat-shit crazy with power or the hunger for it, that she is making one dumb mistake after another, some feel a bit contrived and
completely unrealistic.

Also..far too introspective, too much navel gazing without much happening. At the moment my favorite characters are Asha, Ayra, and
Sansa/Alayne because they are more pro-active and less into the navel gazing.

Work is getting in the way of my creative writing. I didn't try Nano because I don't have the time with work and other commitments.

[flake-sake.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Cersei is really...ugh. Her actions are so blind and with her it does not really get much better the next book. Problem is that once the evil characters get their well deserved punishment, you really don't want to see it any more.


But yes, Dance is better, because of Tyrion mainly. It's also good to have Dany back, but her chapters drag at times. You will see.

For me it's the first year, where I can really focus on NaNo and don't ahve to think all the time, that I should really write my thesis. Work is eating me up, but at the moment it is not sooo stressfull that I can't leave it where it belongs at the end of the day and go home.

I hope I can do something with the story once it is finished (and massivly edited). I would maybe like to put it on one of those ebook-self-publish sites but I don't really know which to chose.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

I think with Cersei - Martin is trying to drive home the point that she craves the power her father had, to be her father, to be her father's heir and son and can't because she is female. But he makes this point in the last book and within the first two chapters in her
point of view, after that - it becomes overkill. Her jealousy of Jamie, her hatred of Tyrion - for still being above her in her father's estimation, because he's male. After a while...it is just whiny and mildly offensive, although...he does do a good counterpoint with Asha, Alayne, Arya and Arianna. (Interesting they all start with an A.)

I'm still trying to figure out what to do with my story...its finished and massively edited but alas, I'm not happy with the last ten chapters. The ending of mine needs fixing. It's off. But I can't seem to find the energy to do it.

There a ton of ebooks...with e-readers...no problem getting readers.

[empresspatti.livejournal.com]

For a sweet romance - Major Pettigrew's Last Stand was fun.

[liliaeth]

I don't know if you've ever heard of a writer called Thea Beckman. I'm sure there must have been at least some of her books translated in English.

She wrote a lot of historical novels intended for teenagers, but they're good for adults as well.

My favorites of her are 'Kruistocht in spijkerbroek' aka 'Crusade in jeans' (which is about a kid who uses a time machine to go back in time to see a knight tournament, only something goes wrong, and he ends up I think about a century late and in the wrong place*g*, as a result he ends up traveling along with the children's crusade and helping them survive along the road using 20th century knowledge.

Or Hasse Simonsdocther, but I'm not sure if that one was ever translated in English. About a young girl who runs away from home, dresses herself as a boy and joins a group of mercenaries. Also set in the middle ages.

Either way, whatever you can find of her in English would be awesome.

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

I think the thing that keeps Revenge on a level below the Good Wife isn't so much disparity in character development. Even the best shows have characters that aren't as well drawn or actors and plotlines that don't work out as well as they could (see Scott Porter in TGW).

The Good Wife week, after week, keeps the characters' stakes rooted in a bigger picture of the world they inhabit. Revenge sometimes does this - the actions of these rich investment firms do affect other people (hello financial crisis) but the show largely stays away from bigger picture commentary and sticks to personal stories.

I think both shows can tell very gripping stories - but Good Wife hits on deeper levels.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Interesting...I was thinking the other day how the Good Wife differed from legal/criminal procedurals..it doesn't just do thematic stories about the system, but it delves into personal stories. The Good Wife is just as much about Alicia's journey, as it is in the bigger world around her. It's found a way to strike a balance between the two.

Revenge...is less ambitious and tends to be more focused on the inter-personal relationships of its characters.

Actually that may in part be it? We really don't know what Nolan or Conrad do. I'm guessing Conrad is investment banking and Nolan is technology. But we don't watch them work. Work is not the focus here. The focus is on the interpersonal relationships and emotion.
Ringer is much the same way - we aren't really told what these people do for a living, we don't watch Emily do her charity gigs or Siobet. While in The Good Wife - we see Alicia handle court cases.
The focus is on the work environment, with the interpersonal secondary.

In some respects, I prefer that - what the Good Wife does. Mostly because there's not all that much you can say about interpersonal relationships...yeah, yeah, Lydia is having an affair with Conrad, and Victoria slept with David...but what interests me? Is Emily's plot to bring them down for what they did to her father - which was "business" related.

OTOH - if you focus solely on the work environment, it becomes little more than monster of the week. The work-place isn't that interesting either.

The Good Wife strikes a perfect balance between the two. Revenge comes close...with the Revenge plot, but it still focuses far too much on the romantic elements (and this is coming from someone who admittedly loves romance) to be as good as The Good Wife. And I think procedurals often err on the other side of the divide, focusing too much on the case of the week or the workplace.