Spook Country

Just finished Spook Country by William Gibson. He's one of my favorite authors but the way he writes is so full and different, that my brain has to be unscrambled after reading one of his books.

Spook country is set in present day, and technically isn't science fiction, but there is plenty of gadgetry and new ideas that the science fiction buff won't mind.

William Gibson likes to weave together different story lines that don't make sense on their own unless you also read the story lines of other characters, but with Spook Country he takes this to the extreme and you don't really know what the book is about until the last chapter. And then you realize that the name of the book gave it away, and you want to smack yourself on the forehead for not figuring it out sooner. But this doesn't make it boring or less enjoyable since the way he puts sentences together is like savoring dollops of cool.

Breaking Dawn

I finished Breaking Dawn by Stephanie Meyer which I think was the best book of the series. But that's probably because I'm a man.

All the females I know who are reading it don't seem to like it. (And some are finding it hard to finish.) My mom likened it to Lord of the Rings as in that it became more of an adventure story and less of a romance story. And I think she's right.

Edward who is the heart throb, takes a backseat as Bella becomes more than human. And since most females were reading the story for the fantasy of falling in love with Edward, it's understandable that they would lose interest. But as a man it makes me not so ashamed of mentioning that I read it. (Of course this is all in my head since I don't know why I would feel ashamed. Okay, it's the romance thing... Geesh!)

Also, like the rest of the series it has some flaws. The biggest one is turning Bella into a Mary Sue. I would have liked it if after Bella became a vampire some sort of fault or something from her human life would have carried over. At least she could have felt fear at trying to drive fast, or had some sort of problem wrapping her head around her new life, or even had a clumsy moment.

And it would have been cool to have her get her motorcycle back. A vampiress on a bike would've been awesome! You missed an opportunity on that one Mrs. Meyer.

Human-centric

I just read a really cool story called Clockwork Chickadee by Mary Robinette Kowal, and I realized something about myself.

I'm human-centric.

Everything I write about, draw, or paint is on a human level. My characters are human. Their problems are human. I paint humans. I draw humans. And even if there isn't a human in it, everything is still based on a human artifact.

I wonder if it is a good or bad thing. I wonder if it means my imagination is limited. I wonder if there's something that I'm missing.

And I read stories like this and wish I had written something as cool. And wonder if I will ever have a view point like hers.

Does anyone else ever encounter people with different ways of seeing things and just wish you could share that same vision?

Videos

I posted both videos below over 2 weeks ago. And they finally show up now. Youtube's posting feature was either broken or just sucks. But I'm glad the videos showed up finally.

The Andriods Dream

The Android's Dream by John Scalzi is one of the weirdest books I've ever read. Let's just say the Earth's fate depends on a blue sheep, and I won't ruin the first chapter for you, but it's even weirder.

Habanera

Dan Dos Santos Warbreaker Cover Illustration

Dan Dos Santos paints like a madman. Watching this almost makes me want to stop writing and start painting again. Almost.