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Apr. 8th, 2008 11:06 pmSo. The hoax IGN did, about the Legend of Zelda trailer. It was cool. There is a "making-of" video, too. I like how they mention how long it takes to get the ears on - twenty-five minutes. Huh.
There's a video here about alien planets, part of a documentary. I thought it was interesting. It's incredibly hard to find the things... recently, too recently to be here, one was discovered with methane, an organic molecule. I like to think we're not alone. I like that thought.
Also: Keladry of Mindelan is the best. Tamora Pierce is an excellent writer, you know? Excellent. She writes fantasy, and something close to High Fantasy, and it's marketed towards the young-ish set, but it's also really good. Compared to a lot of the books on the same shelves, there is a lot of sex, and death, and gritty reality-type things. But none of it looks gratuitous or forced or there only to attract the "Ooh, this stuff is forbidden!" people. It fits. It works. It's not over-the-top at all; the amount that there is is pretty much exactly as much as I'd expect.
I love her heroes. That should go without saying. How many female heroes(I'm not saying 'heroines'; I know that that's "proper", but it always seems a little insulting to me) are there who can really, truly hold their own, matching and surpassing their male counterparts without being Mary-Sue power fantasies, without being sexually objectified, without having that trite goal of looking for a big strong Man? Not many. Not many, and that is a crime and a shame. Tamora Pierce's heroes are heroes first, there isn't the qualifier "girl" in front of it. They don't cringe around, they pursue romance without being dependent on it, they are flawed but overcome these flaws.
My favorite is Keladry. Kel. Alanna, the first one, does look a lot like a Mary-Sue, although she's written better than ninety-seven percent of them. She is a purple-eyed twin, a mage, the first girl in two hundred years to reach for knighthood, she belongs to an old noble lineage, she is Goddess-touched and accompanied by a purple-eyed cat who turns out to be either a god or a constellation or both, her Goddess gave her an emberstone that lets her see magic, she has a magic sword, she's really good at fighting, offensive magic, and healing, I could go on. Don't get me wrong, I love Alanna. But she's not my favorite. She's driven by "I can and will! I'll prove myself again and again and again. And I like my King." which is good, but only goes so far.
After Alanna we have Daine. Veralidaine Sarrasi. I like her, too, but she too is special. She's a commoner and a bastard, but her father is a minor god, and she has a lot to do with other gods. She's an expert with the bow. She has extremely powerful Wild Magic - she can talk to animals and Immortals and understand their replies, she can heal them, she can go into their minds, she can turn into them, a badger god gave her a silver claw that she wears around her neck. She also cares for an infant dragon, straddling the line between a pet and a child. I love Daine, too, but her drive looks like "I love animals and must care for them - and the realm, too, I guess."
Kel. Keladry has no magic and no godly connections, unless you count the Chamber of the Ordeal. She's a good fighter, best with the glaive, lived for a time in a rough analogue of Japan, where she learned to keep emotions from her face. She is a commander. A leader. Animals seem to like her, but so do a number of people. She's normal, sort of, in a lot of ways. What I like about her is that she is the Protector of the Small, as the series title says. It - I can't articulate it that well. But she is responsible- not that either of the other two aren't, but for Keladry it's essential. If I can condense Kel's drive at all, it's "I will protect the weak from the strong; this comes before everything else." And I like that. I like it a lot. Kel, you are my favorite. I like you best.
After Kel we get Ali, Alanna's spawn. I never liked Ali, and I can't seem to puzzle out why. I hate shrinking heroines who never know what to do and always point that out at every opportunity, which doesn't show up much in Pierce's work - but I seem to hate that heroine's diametric opposite just as much. I just can't emphasize with Ali. I don't connect with her at all - I don't like her, and I can't seem to latch on to any of the others in her books either. Not like the supporting cast for the other three(Corram, Jonathan, George, Liam, Thayet; Numair, Buri, Onua, Cloud, Skysong, Brokefang, Rikash; Kel's mother, Neal, Owen, Lord Wyldon, Peachblossom, Raoul).
Most recently we have Rebekah Cooper, ancestor to George Cooper, husband of Alanna. I'm still waiting. I like her, I like that she has some responsibility. But only one book has come out so far. I'm holding off my opinion for a while.
There's a video here about alien planets, part of a documentary. I thought it was interesting. It's incredibly hard to find the things... recently, too recently to be here, one was discovered with methane, an organic molecule. I like to think we're not alone. I like that thought.
Also: Keladry of Mindelan is the best. Tamora Pierce is an excellent writer, you know? Excellent. She writes fantasy, and something close to High Fantasy, and it's marketed towards the young-ish set, but it's also really good. Compared to a lot of the books on the same shelves, there is a lot of sex, and death, and gritty reality-type things. But none of it looks gratuitous or forced or there only to attract the "Ooh, this stuff is forbidden!" people. It fits. It works. It's not over-the-top at all; the amount that there is is pretty much exactly as much as I'd expect.
I love her heroes. That should go without saying. How many female heroes(I'm not saying 'heroines'; I know that that's "proper", but it always seems a little insulting to me) are there who can really, truly hold their own, matching and surpassing their male counterparts without being Mary-Sue power fantasies, without being sexually objectified, without having that trite goal of looking for a big strong Man? Not many. Not many, and that is a crime and a shame. Tamora Pierce's heroes are heroes first, there isn't the qualifier "girl" in front of it. They don't cringe around, they pursue romance without being dependent on it, they are flawed but overcome these flaws.
My favorite is Keladry. Kel. Alanna, the first one, does look a lot like a Mary-Sue, although she's written better than ninety-seven percent of them. She is a purple-eyed twin, a mage, the first girl in two hundred years to reach for knighthood, she belongs to an old noble lineage, she is Goddess-touched and accompanied by a purple-eyed cat who turns out to be either a god or a constellation or both, her Goddess gave her an emberstone that lets her see magic, she has a magic sword, she's really good at fighting, offensive magic, and healing, I could go on. Don't get me wrong, I love Alanna. But she's not my favorite. She's driven by "I can and will! I'll prove myself again and again and again. And I like my King." which is good, but only goes so far.
After Alanna we have Daine. Veralidaine Sarrasi. I like her, too, but she too is special. She's a commoner and a bastard, but her father is a minor god, and she has a lot to do with other gods. She's an expert with the bow. She has extremely powerful Wild Magic - she can talk to animals and Immortals and understand their replies, she can heal them, she can go into their minds, she can turn into them, a badger god gave her a silver claw that she wears around her neck. She also cares for an infant dragon, straddling the line between a pet and a child. I love Daine, too, but her drive looks like "I love animals and must care for them - and the realm, too, I guess."
Kel. Keladry has no magic and no godly connections, unless you count the Chamber of the Ordeal. She's a good fighter, best with the glaive, lived for a time in a rough analogue of Japan, where she learned to keep emotions from her face. She is a commander. A leader. Animals seem to like her, but so do a number of people. She's normal, sort of, in a lot of ways. What I like about her is that she is the Protector of the Small, as the series title says. It - I can't articulate it that well. But she is responsible- not that either of the other two aren't, but for Keladry it's essential. If I can condense Kel's drive at all, it's "I will protect the weak from the strong; this comes before everything else." And I like that. I like it a lot. Kel, you are my favorite. I like you best.
After Kel we get Ali, Alanna's spawn. I never liked Ali, and I can't seem to puzzle out why. I hate shrinking heroines who never know what to do and always point that out at every opportunity, which doesn't show up much in Pierce's work - but I seem to hate that heroine's diametric opposite just as much. I just can't emphasize with Ali. I don't connect with her at all - I don't like her, and I can't seem to latch on to any of the others in her books either. Not like the supporting cast for the other three(Corram, Jonathan, George, Liam, Thayet; Numair, Buri, Onua, Cloud, Skysong, Brokefang, Rikash; Kel's mother, Neal, Owen, Lord Wyldon, Peachblossom, Raoul).
Most recently we have Rebekah Cooper, ancestor to George Cooper, husband of Alanna. I'm still waiting. I like her, I like that she has some responsibility. But only one book has come out so far. I'm holding off my opinion for a while.
