My own self

A tough call. It's obviously Order of the Stick, but which book? The choice is between OotPCs, which I *know* is an excellent book, and SoD, which I haven't read, which I assume is a better book, but where I also risk that you spoil the entire book.

If you can post about it without spoiling everything for those of us who haven't read it yet, I say Start of Darkness. Can you do that?

I think so.

Your wish is hereby granted, milord.

Ole writes:

Wallace and Gromit is good fun, yes?


Yes?

It was alright. I suppose.


Anyway, seeing as this actually worked, I just decided, the contest is on again! Wohoo! First person to comment here (after this one) decides!

tyblazitar writes:

Just for the sake of having some power over someone else, I suggest you watch the Dungeon & Dragons-movie. Sounds geeky enough.

It's not about watching, it's about reviewing. I've already watched and read all of this.

And alright.

Oh, what the heck - it seemed to work, so: it's on again. First person to comment.

OotS

Bah, I just wrote one! Sigh. As the master wishes.

Aaand it's on - again.

Updated list of choices:


Comic books:
Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra

Book:
Legends of the Riftwar: Jimmy the Hand

Movies:
1492: Conquest of Paradise
Josie and the Pussycats
Julius Caesar
The Terminal
Waitress
Wallace & Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit

The Terminal!

Because I like it.

(btw, why 'Waitress'?)

Sure thing! Hopefully I'll write it today, but you might have to end up waiting a day or two. It'll come for sure, though.

(Because I saw it?)

Yay!

(Yeah, but why did you see it? )

Ah. Because it had Nathan Fillion in one of the lead roles, had a decent trailer, and Sarah asked me nicely.

That makes sense (I kinda figured it was Whedon-related), but it also makes me horribly curious.

You'll have to write two reviews now

Well, I have to admit, I probably would never have watched it if I hadn't been asked. But she linked me the trailer some months before it showed in cinemas, and it was decent. Then she bought the DVD while we were out shopping together, and so it seemed natural to watch it that evening. It's not really my kind of movie, but for choice of genre and angle, not for lack of quality.


And I suppose I should save what else I might find I have to say for the review, or I'll just copy-past this comment... Won't promise anything about when that one shows up, though. Could be quick, could be slow.

And it's on yet again, people.

Comic books:
Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra

Books:
Legends of the Riftwar: Jimmy the Hand
Odd and the Frost-Giants

Movies:
1492: Conquest of Paradise
Josie and the Pussycats
Julius Caesar
Waitress
Wallace & Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Odd and the Frost-Giants!

Because it's by the almighty Neil Gaiman! Bow down in his glory, puny human!

(alternatively "Waitress" if you don't feel like reading).

I knew you'd say that... ;D


And you seem to misunderstand this list. It's about my reviewing things I HAVE read or seen, not about things I'm going to. So I've already read anything on this list.

Yeah, got it

Hmm... I gotta crank out some book reviews soon. Damn you, comics! You're stealing all my reading time!

That's how it begins. Then, three years later, you're watching TV more than you're reading comics, and you long for the days when it was just books ou were missing out on.

I'm not overly concerned about it. I knew April & May were going to be a dry patch on my schedule for a long list of reasons:
1. No new books from any major favourite author of mine (except Bakker, though he doesn't get published till the 29th of May)
2. I've been travelling, which will break my rythm. It always does.
3. I've been working more than usual to pay for said travels and other expenses.
4. School work. I actually have to do a lot of school work around this time (the only time I actually feel like school is work).

June looks promising though. Erikson, Harkaway, Y: The Last Man's last tpb...

Goodness, Erikson! I was in such a good steem there for a while, and now it's suddenly two weeks since I read in "Bonehunters" again. O.o

If it makes you feel better, "Toll the Hounds" doesn't get published till the very end of the month

That'll be an all-nighter if I ever saw one. Erikson has said that there is going to be an EPIC showdown between Kruppe and Iskaral Pust.

I fear for the space-time continuum when I reach that scene.

How does that help one fig when I've not read "The Lees of Laughter's End" OR "Reaper's Gale" yet either? Heck, I'm not even going to be up to date by the time the Crimson Guard is released!

Yes, I feel for you. Poor Loki haven't read four of what will probably be my favourite books.

Bah!

Done and done. And thus it's on again.

Since no one else wanted to wish anything in particular, I could always be interested in reading a review of "Jimmy the Hand". You know, if it wasn't overly spoilerish and commented in some way if the protagonist/titular character was similar to Locke Lamora, seeing as I've heard Lynch is a big fan of that book.

I'm also kind of tempted to google "Josie and the Pussycats" to see whether you watched a movie about slutty pop stars (or if it's an animated children's movie, which is the more believable, though less entertaining, alternative of the two).

Really? Lynch is a fan of that book? Strikes me as odd. I mean, the CHARACTER is the archetype ninety percent of Lynch's cast is based off of, and I could well see Lynch liking both him and books he's been a central player in, but that particular book... I don't know, struck me as a league beneath Lynch. Still, not bad by any means. It's a while since I read it now, but I think I'd be able to push out a review.


"Josie and the Pussycats" is a movie based on some old comic book with, apparently, the same name - not that I have read it. I watched it with Sarah this Easter as it is one of her favourite movies. If you want more info than that without googling, you'll have to pick between it and Jimmy.

I'll go with Jimmy, then.

I've read nearly all the entries on Lynch's livejournal from when it was active (it's not been updated in a half year's time or so), and I seem to recall him recommending a lot of books that aren't generally considered masterpieces. I do believe he liked this particular one for the character, that much is true, but I also seem to remember him citing Feist as a major influence.

And, you know, you can still like "poor" books and write great ones yourself

Feist seems to have a weakness for characters similar to Lynch's, that much is true. One of his series do at times seem almost like a James Bond/Count of Monte Christo-crossover taking place in a fantasy-world...

They're far from poor. And Feist writes great ones occasionally. This just isn't one of the great ones. It's still pretty okay.

Feist seems to have a weakness for characters similar to Lynch's, that much is true. One of his series do at times seem almost like a James Bond/Count of Monte Christo-crossover taking place in a fantasy-world...

They're far from poor. And Feist writes great ones occasionally. This just isn't one of the great ones. It's still pretty okay.

It's probably the other way around

I've always been meaning to check out the Riftwar trilogy, what with it being a classic and all that jazz, but I have just never gotten around to it. Now I just think "Great. Another farm boy turns über-wizard or somesuch. Haven't seen THAT before." and move quietly on to less obviously clichéd fantasy books...

Will get around to it some day, though. I have the paperback somewhere.

The Riftwar isn't that awesome (though, frankly, the first two books are pretty good), really, but it's kind of the backdrop for all other stories he tells in that universe, and several of them are quite good, especially the Serpentwar Saga.

Feist's stuff can basically be explained like this:
The Riftwar-trilogy
The Serpentwar-saga (five books)
The Darkwar-trilogy
The (upcoming) Demonwar Saga and Chaoswar Saga.

In-between or even during these, then, which are kind of the "main events" of his universe, there are other books, some written with other authors and some he's written alone. Some of them are books bridging one major "event" with another or setting the stage for such an event (like two related books (both also readable as stand-alones) where one epilogues the Riftwar and the second prologues the Serpentwar, or the "Conclave of Shadows"-trilogy which leads into the Darkwar-event), others are simply series or standalones about smaller-scale stories focusing on times, places or characters touched upon in the "main" books.

I've often compared Feist to a craftsman-writer instead of an artist-one, and I largely stand by that. He's the kind of author who can churn out book after book after book and never really disappoint - but who also rarely write things feeling truly inspired. It's ages since I read any of his major stuff, but if memory serves, The Serpentwar Saga is my favourite of his stuff. If you do end up reading it, give me a hint, and I'll tell you about one or two good titles you would do smart to pick up and read as an appetizer. (Though it's by no means necessary). If you end up starting with the Riftwar instead, there's nothing to it, as that's the chronologically earliest stuff he's set in his world(s) as well as the chronologically earliest stuff he's written in it/them.

It's pretty far down the list, so I won't be picking anything up until I get a hankering for something that's... really epic and not _bad_ as a lot of those series are. Thanks for the advice, though.

I don't know if this is true, but I read somewhere that Feist has already planned out the events in all his books and have just been "typing them up" these last couple of years. That would certainly explain the lack of inventiveness...

Honestly, Feist's, to me, main strength is that he writes all his stories in the same universe but with different plotlines, characters and even geographical focuses. Thus everything seems, you know, richer and deeper than each part of the whole does on its own. The intertextuality of his stories, if you know what I mean. It's pretty awesome when a seventy year old minor background character dawns on you being one of your favourite main characters as a seventeen-year-old in another story, and suddenly all that guy does is Interesting. That kind of thing.

And here we go, once more with feeling:


Comic books:
Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra

Tv-shows:
Hornblower
Lost - season 4
The Tudors - season 2

Movies:
Amadeus
1492: Conquest of Paradise
Josie and the Pussycats
Julius Caesar
Wallace & Gromit and the Curse of the Were-Rabbit

*Resists sudden urge to make an inappropriate and poor pun*

A "Hornblower" would sit well with me, thank you.

I'm kind of hoping you'll hold off the "Lost" review till after I'm done with the show myself. We could compare notes

Well, since I watched the season spread out while it was aired, a lot of it's old in my memory already... but I can try waiting a week or two.

Hornblower will be coming up shortly - within the week at the latest.

Yeah, definitely wait a week before doing Lost, let the season finish airing here first.

Wait, Lost is airing in Norway?

Holy crap, people, it's on again.

The list you can choose from:

TV-shows:
Scrubs - season 7
BSG - season 4 (pt1)
You Wish

Comic books:
Angel: After the Fall #9
Buffy 8x12-15: Wolves at the Gate
Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra

Movies:
Amadeus
1492: Conquest of Paradise
Get Smart
Titan A.E.
Josie and the Pussycats
Julius Caesar

You Wish

Damned, too late in the day. You'll have to wait till tomorrow, then.

And again, for Monday's post:

TV-shows:
Scrubs - season 7
BSG - season 4 (pt1)

Comic books:
Angel: After the Fall #9
Buffy 8x12-15: Wolves at the Gate
Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra

Movies:
1492: Conquest of Paradise
Get Smart
Titan A.E.
Josie and the Pussycats
Julius Caesar

Ultimate Daredevil and Elektra!

GIMME!

*laughs* Alright. It's been a good month since I read it, but I'll manage to whip out a post methinks. On Monday, mind you.

Er... raincheck 'til Wednesday? (And since you apparently hadn't grasped the Ultimate-regular-continuity-difference, if you'd rather have a review of something else, you'll have a day and a half to let me know)