Deathstalker issues
Well, I finally – finally! – found Deathstalker War, the third in the series, which it took me absolutely ages to find. I read it… and then realised that I did not, as previously thought, have the fourth. More frustrations, but thankfully this one was infinitely easier to find.
The Back Story: I read Deathstalker ages ago, maybe 18 months or something. I loved it, but I couldn’t find the second, Deathstalker Rebellion, for ages. Then I found it – and about 3 others in the series, which I figured I ought to get too – but couldn’t find the third. I tried the usual places… and then realised that I hadn’t been to Minotaur, because the only other time I had dared got there I nearly cried and had to tear myself away from the place before I lost all my money. Anyway, I braved that most dangerous of places, and it was there – hurrah! So I got it, and read it. Then the above saga happened.
Regular Programme: Anyway, I was reading another book when I found the fourth (which doesn’t usually stop me, but it was really good; I’llpost about it later when I remember the author’s name), soI get to start it this weekend – a long weekend – yippee! Much excitement. And I noticed, when I was at Reader’s Feast buying said fourth book, that there is another Deathstalker book, which I don’t have, that is still in large paperback! So I wonder if he is still pushing them out… he’ll have to run out of steam, though, just from what I’ve sneaked on the backs of the books I haven’t got up to yet (yes, I actually bought books I hadn’t read the blurb of; you can’t read the blurb of a story two books removed from where you’re up to, it’s immoral!)
Movies of the last few weeks
Hmm, do you get the feeling I really haven’t blogged here in a while, and have a lot to say as a consequence?
I watched a little bit of Batman and Robin the other night. It just made me feel contemptuous. It didn’t even manage to be camp. Urgh.
Collateral was… well, a bit weird. A bit motion-sickness-inducing, actually, what with all the hand-held camera, let’s-make-it-feel-as-if-you’re-there action. An interesting storyline – a fascinating one in a lot of ways, actually – and Tom Cruise really was quite good; so was Jamie Foxx.
Finally saw Pitch Black, having seen The Chronicles of Riddick at the movies. To be honest, it must have been Vin himself pushing for the sequel, because the original really was nothing special except for his character, who I really quite liked. About the most interesting thing was that half the cast were Australian; probably it was filmed here. Oh, the lighting for the surface of the planet was also quite cool – might have been a result of a low budget, too, though.
Murder at 1600 was really nothing much to write about. Wesley was entertaining. I think the most interesting thing was them making him a Civil War buff, with his battle sets, and then it being incorporated into the film. That, and the fact that the next day I found out my Yr12 history teacher is also into doing those sorts of things, but possibly even more extremely.
Revisionism
We went to B’s place the other day to watch some movies, and decided on the Star Wars trilogy. J was muttering and complaining for most of the first, something about revisionism because in the remastered versions Greedo shoots first, in the Mos Eisley sequence with Han… (are we sad?). I don’t see what the problem is, but J has some very strong thoughts on the matter. I am often a fan of revisionism; it can lead to some very interesting history, and is at least convenient for pointing out that our interpretation of past events can never be static. However. I must say that there was, in fact, a piece of revisionism that really, really annoyed me. At the end of Return of the Jedi – after everything is just fine – and the ghosts turn up… they have Hayden $%@^ Christensen appearing! Not the original Darth/Anakin! Really, really upsetting.
Mars Attacks
Of course I’ve seen this before; I’m watching it right now to prepare for Film Studies. Very funny. I like it. Students might not get all the funny bits, though, since I’m sure most/all won’t have seen all that many old scifi movies such as this movie is based on. I’m sure there are lots of sly gags that I don’t get, because I haven’t seen the right movie.
Which reminds me: I don’t know how many times I’ve seen Independence Day, but I don’t remember ever noticing the start-up screen message and sound when Jeff Goldblum’s character, David, opens his laptop: “Good morning, Dave.” HA HA HA. I had to stop myself from laughing out loud in class since I didn’t think the kids would think it was that funny.
Books
Well.
I read and finished Garth Nix’s Mister Monday, and I’m excited because there will be 6 more in this series and that’s really, really cool. I am really looking forward to reading the rest.
Then, I had to choose something to read next. I had yet to find Rise of Endymion, about which I was very cranky; so I started The Gutenberg Revolution, by John Mann, which J bought me ages ago. I’ve read the introduction. Then I got restless, so I started The Ill-Made Mute by Cecilia Dart-Thornton. Interesting: a number of people have told me it’s crap, then another friend told me she really enjoyed it… so it really will be interesting to see what I think of it. I’ve read the first chapter and a half. And then…I went into the city tonight with Kate because she was involved in a reading night with her CAE class. So, I thought I’d check out Readers’ Feast in the off-chance that they might have it; no. So I bought Ilium, also by Simmons, instead to make me feel better. Then Kate had a brilliant idea: go to the CAE library! And because I have a library card with Yarra-Melbourne libraries, I can borrow there. And they did have it! Hurrah! So excited.
So I’m reading that.
Simmons and others
Just finished Simmons’ Endymion, and I really did nearly cry because I have yet to find The Rise of Endymion and I’m feeling a bit desperate for some closure, thanks to the tantilising nature of this one. Doesn’t matter that I have almost a zillion books to go on with; they’re not the one I want.
I’ve got some books from school to read. One is for the English faculty – Mister Monday, by Garth Nix – to see if it’s fit to be a set text. The others were in a box in the staffroom yesterday for holiday reading, not sure why – whether they’re new (although some weren’t), or the librarians just make up boxes for teachers’ delectation. One is The Pirate Queen, by Alan Gold, which looks like a lot of fun – Elizabethan, not sure if it really is based on fact or not – the blurb says “Through the daring of her piracy Grace nearly bankrupted the English treasury; she caused nothing but trouble for Elizabeth I.” The other book I grabbed is The Ill-Made Mute, which I have largely heard poor reports of but I want to make up my own mind. Bold move, I know.
I wanna be like Dan
OK, so it doesn’t rhyme, but it does tell you that Dan Simmonds is my latest literary hero. I read Endymion early this year, having got it second hand and not realising – because it was not made clear on the front or the back – that this was a “500 or so years in the future of [other series]” type book. It wasn’t completely necessary to have read the first – I muddled along quite well – but it would have made life a bit easier. And also not meant that as I read the first two, Hyperion and Hyperion Falling, that I had these weird deja vu things happening (which, if you know the book, is quite a funny little in-joke). Nonetheless… I read what was effectively the third book; almost cried when I finished it because it was so beautiful, because there were two before and one after to read, and because the second-hand bookshop had none of them. I got the first two at Borders a little while ago, and I just finished the second… it is magnificent… I actually don’t think they’re quite as good as the third, but maybe that’s my rose-tinted nostalgia; I’m going to read it again soon anyway, before I read the fourth and because it will make so much more sense now.
Anyway. Highly recommended. I comes under fantasy/scifi, but is not tech-heavy (a few weird concepts, but they’re not vital to understanding), and personally I don’t think the story itself is all that fantastic, in the genre sense of the word.
Fed Square and its books
I have been looking forward to going to the Fed Square book market on a Saturday ever since I found out about it, a couple of months ago. I was imaging heaps of different booksellers, at least some selling things cut-price… I was a bit disappointed. There were less than ten booksellers. Admittedly a number did have cheap books, but they were mostly second-hand (which is still fine). I did buy four books, but three of those were from the stall set up by Andrew’s Books, which I go to in Lygon St all the time anyway. Sigh.
I got: Unnatural Fire, by Fidelis Morgan (cool name), which I started reading on the tram although I haven’t even finished Genghis Khan yet (thanks to also reading Lantia on the tram home after I bought it); it seems like a Restoration version of I, Claudia, which is just fine with me – female protagonist/detective, etc.
Limbo, by Andy Secombe; not sure whether this will turn out to be a waste of time or not.
The Stone of Heaven (Unearthing the Secret History of Imperial Green Jade), by Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark, which looks really cool.
On Histories and Stories, by AS Byatt, because I think I should get into more lit crit and I’ve heard of Byatt and she seems cool.
Science Fiction
Currently reading a critique of SF as a genre, from the New Cultural Idiom series. It’s quite interesting; the first chapter is an attempt at a definition of SF, and a survey of others’ definitions. I’m in the chapter on the history of the genre at the moment, and looking forward to the chapters on race, gender, and technology. It reminds me again that as a female I am quite an unusual reader of SF. It also talks about a lot of SF I’ve never heard of, let alone read, which is exciting if a little daunting – there’s quite a bit here I would like to try and find. I really appreciate a book like this that takes SF – perhaps the epitome, in some minds, of popular or pulp fiction – and treats it as a serious subject, worthy of analysis, and not just in terms of what it ‘lacks’. I got sick of this during a subject at uni called Popular Fiction, which often felt like a comparison between ‘literature’, which has ‘blah’, and ‘popular fiction’, which has not. It is always salutory to remember that Shakespeare was written for mass consumption, and the theatre was looked upon as a rather vulgar form of entertainment.
Anyway. Enough rant. SF is a valid form of fiction and says some fascinating things about the society that produces it. And it’s fun to read.
Randomly Yours, Alex 