Rants and raves of a great and soon-to-be famous author
I've decided that Blogger doesn't quite have enough functionality for me and have moved the the Movable Type platform. I can do more things with Movable type, like change the order in which my archives appear, allow for scrolling through the individual posts, categorize my entries, and a lot more. So, please, change your favorites, and if you link to me, change the link location. The new location is: http://www.bastique.com/blog
To my friend Joey. This entry is a book review, come back tomorrow.
To everyone else. I started on Elfstones of Shannara right after I finished Sword. The thing that struck me most about Sword was the question, “Why are there no women in this story!” Apparently Terry Brooks heard that question later on, and he mentioned that his first attempt at a sequel was sent back by his editor, with one of the concerns being, "Needs a strong, central, female character."
Elfstones has a strong female character, and although Amberle Eledissil rarely enjoys the point of view in the book, she certainly is central to the story. Very central. The storyline is rather as enjoyable as Sword, and yet altogether different, bringing a radically different enemy to the land of Shannara: Demons who had been trapped beyond a "Forbidding" wall since long before the time of man, were starting to break through as a result of the dying of the magic that created the "Forbidding." Amberle must bring a seed of the magic to germination and is accompanied by Wil Ohlmsford, the grandson of our hero in Sword, Shea.
The writing has dramatically improved since Sword, although I was so intrigued by Brooks' imagination in Sword that I easily overlooked the book's deficiencies. Since I waited a couple of days before posting this, I'm already more than halfway through the third book, Wishsong of Shannara.
Brooks has me hooked.
To get the books:
Amazon links are here: The Elfstones of Shannara, and The Sword of Shannara Trilogy.
I was at a meeting tonight wherein someone mentioned that they didn’t quite do all the goals they set out last year on New Year’s but they had accomplished a few of them.
On the morning of December 31, 2004, my office space was filled with piles of paper, scattered objects, and worse; mildew from the air conditioning unit, food stains, paper stuck to the floor, and minor bodily fluids left by my poor cat Joplin (See My Poor Cat). It was the one part of the house I couldn’t bear to face and caused me to feel nothing but dread every time I thought about cleaning it.
But by last night, I had cleaned it up entirely. I didn’t want to carry that clutter into the New Year with me. Instead I carried a sense of empowerment, and my self-confidence is strong enough to risk listing a set of goals for the year 2005.
