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I started Empire of Ivory (fourth book in the Temeraire series) yesterday, sometime before ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yukitsu swung by to hang around and generally do nothing -- ended up reading well past 2 in the morning, and just finished it now after lunch.
Well, my first impression was that the book was pretty rushed -- this usually happens to authors who hit it big before the series is actually finished, and many of them end up harried on through writing/editing the rest by their publishers. It can't be helped, so I'm not really complaining.
Although I'm not particularly sure whether I approve of the whole "party lands in Africa and gets captured by the savages" hat trick (it always happens in books that deal with an Africa before the contemporary era, it seems), I'm still VERY impressed by Naomi Novik's craft and storytelling ability. From the moment I picked up the series, Novik has proven herself to be one of the best speculative history-fantasy writers that I have read yet, and the fourth book was no exception. Two of the most notable things she did was the plague that decimated the British dragons (and Britain's later attempt at using said plague to their advantage in the war), and the use of dragons in painting a very different picture and history for Africa. She really doesn't pull punches, and she's a good example of a writer who can skillfully balance story and research.
I'm not fond of making comparisons between books in a series, so I won't give an opinion on what book is better/worse and so. I'll just say that the fourth book was worth the buy, and I'm definitely looking forward to the fifth one.
2008 is going to be an exceptionally good year for video games, anime and books, from the looks of it. Book 5 of the Temeraire series is due, along with Persona: Trinity Soul on the anime end and Baroque, another game by Atlus. Wii users, you will be happy to note that Baroque will have a Wii version.
So anyway, yesterday was extremely fun and relaxing: Yukeh and I were supposed to go to Makati that afternoon, but her college buddies ended up canceling. We opted to stay at home instead, where I packed in a few more good hours with Devil Summoner in between plotting bits and pieces for Bloodsport. Now I have this day to rest and catch up on more of the anime episodes that I've let accumulate over the past few days. This might just be my only time to do it, because:
December 31 - Arrival of my Dave Mason, my brother Pio's childhood friend from Vancouver + Peralejo New Year's Party, in which the whole clan will be present. Again.
January 1 - Arrival of my brother Philip from Toronto, along with his family.
January 2 - Something is bound to come up, so I'm putting it here anyway.
January 3 & 4 - BAGUIO.
January 5 - Wedding.
January 6 - Hustling home, prolly tired as helland glad to miss out on the Barrion family reunion, because an occasion that bit really ought not to be annual but you didn't read that from me.
January 7 - SKUEL ONOZ.
Been posting a lot about my family as of late. It's no wonder my LJ is suddenly Googleable if people need to find us.
On another note, does anyone know whether you can get rid of that stupid Writer's Block section on your LJ interface? The retardedness of the questions is starting to get on my nerves. >_>
[EDIT @ 4:42] OMFG MACROSS FRONTIER EPISODE 1 WAS JUST SDL;GHOEIHOQGROH;SADGLHOAHB FRAKKING BEAUTIFUL. *incoherence!
yukitsu swung by to hang around and generally do nothing -- ended up reading well past 2 in the morning, and just finished it now after lunch.Well, my first impression was that the book was pretty rushed -- this usually happens to authors who hit it big before the series is actually finished, and many of them end up harried on through writing/editing the rest by their publishers. It can't be helped, so I'm not really complaining.
Although I'm not particularly sure whether I approve of the whole "party lands in Africa and gets captured by the savages" hat trick (it always happens in books that deal with an Africa before the contemporary era, it seems), I'm still VERY impressed by Naomi Novik's craft and storytelling ability. From the moment I picked up the series, Novik has proven herself to be one of the best speculative history-fantasy writers that I have read yet, and the fourth book was no exception. Two of the most notable things she did was the plague that decimated the British dragons (and Britain's later attempt at using said plague to their advantage in the war), and the use of dragons in painting a very different picture and history for Africa. She really doesn't pull punches, and she's a good example of a writer who can skillfully balance story and research.
I'm not fond of making comparisons between books in a series, so I won't give an opinion on what book is better/worse and so. I'll just say that the fourth book was worth the buy, and I'm definitely looking forward to the fifth one.
2008 is going to be an exceptionally good year for video games, anime and books, from the looks of it. Book 5 of the Temeraire series is due, along with Persona: Trinity Soul on the anime end and Baroque, another game by Atlus. Wii users, you will be happy to note that Baroque will have a Wii version.
So anyway, yesterday was extremely fun and relaxing: Yukeh and I were supposed to go to Makati that afternoon, but her college buddies ended up canceling. We opted to stay at home instead, where I packed in a few more good hours with Devil Summoner in between plotting bits and pieces for Bloodsport. Now I have this day to rest and catch up on more of the anime episodes that I've let accumulate over the past few days. This might just be my only time to do it, because:
December 31 - Arrival of my Dave Mason, my brother Pio's childhood friend from Vancouver + Peralejo New Year's Party, in which the whole clan will be present. Again.
January 1 - Arrival of my brother Philip from Toronto, along with his family.
January 2 - Something is bound to come up, so I'm putting it here anyway.
January 3 & 4 - BAGUIO.
January 5 - Wedding.
January 6 - Hustling home, prolly tired as hell
January 7 - SKUEL ONOZ.
Been posting a lot about my family as of late. It's no wonder my LJ is suddenly Googleable if people need to find us.
On another note, does anyone know whether you can get rid of that stupid Writer's Block section on your LJ interface? The retardedness of the questions is starting to get on my nerves. >_>
[EDIT @ 4:42] OMFG MACROSS FRONTIER EPISODE 1 WAS JUST SDL;GHOEIHOQGROH;SADGLHOAHB FRAKKING BEAUTIFUL. *incoherence!
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Also-- LOL. Your family (and the events related to) are so huge all the time~ ♥
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(...to my brother's godsister, Maimai!??! In Baguio---?!)
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...Holy shit, Kae. Our worlds have just collided. Again. XD
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*the sound of LifeStrings connecting*
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So how exactly are we all connected? This is vaguely amazing. o_o