Flight into Fantasy

First of all, if I didn’t mention before, Fallofrain is way cool in person, and I would love to hang with her again. I am also sad I missed hanging out with Emily and Belinda. This must be remedied soonish.

What struck me (and I know this is deranged of me, but still) was the number of kids at my area bookstore. It seems I’ve been inurred to HP wank coming from grown ass adults, so it was a nice sense of perspective to realize that the target audience is significantly younger than most of those wanking.

Anyway, I got a version of the book this morning from a friend who is a bookshare member and have been immersed in HP all day.

• The tone of this book is definitely starting out pretty dark. I like it, and it’s kind of interesting to see how JKR’s style has changed.

• Although I think she’s not so good at the foreshadowing. I’m fairly certain I know who betrayed Harry and the gang at the Dursleys.
• Dudley Dursley redeemed himself. That’s kind of nifty.
• We get to meet Luna’s father. I love him.
• I also love Aunt Muriel.
• JKR does do some lovely rivetting action scenes, although I do get a bit irked with her plot contrivances.
• Chapter 19 must have really pissed off the Harmonians.
• After a certain point, I kept wanting to substitute the word ‘wang’ for the word ‘wand’ every time it appeared. Because I am twelve like that.
• “knocking the shrieking goblins aside
  like skittles”… Best! simile! ever!

• I think Hermione’s Bag of Holding is possibly the lamest plot device ever.
• On the other hand, Aberforth Dumbledore is snarky and awesome.
• Y halo thar, Exposition Fairy. Haven’t seen you in at least two chapters.
• Oh, Neville! I am going to love you even more than I already do, aren’t I? Oh, yes, yes I totally am.
• Answering a riddle to get into Ravenclaw is kind of cool. Although it’s weird to think of Ravenclaw as not containing a well-stocked bar (thank you Hogwarts Hocus)
• Percy’s reunion with his family? Well played.
• The book’s gone about how I expected it would, even without reading spoilers. But that being said, I love Rowling’s final chapters.
• Fred’s death? I have to stop reading for a moment. “the ghost of his last laugh still etched upon his face”. *sobs and flails*
• How will Snape’s astral wives communicate with him now that he is dead?
• Remus and Tonks’ deaths are weirdly anticlimactic.
• I have to say, Arianna Dumbledore totally sounds like the name of a bad Mary Sue in fanfic. I am comforted by the fact that at least she is not called Arianna Dumbledore Snape Malfoy Potter Voldemort.
• Kid!Snape is kind of adorable, too.
• Awww, I have seen the light. Snape/Lily OTP!
• Y halo thar, exposition fairy! I see you’ve brought a friend, Deux Ex Machina.
• Dumbledore, you really are a jackass.
• Have I mentioned I <3 Neville?
• Yaxley is a funny name.
• Oh great. Hello, exposition fairy again.
• Oh great. The Harry is not really dead and still gets this book’s explanation from Dumbledore. This means I’m nearly done.
• He had to get all the information and the hallows at the right time? How conveeeeeeenient!
• I respect Narcissa Malfoy. Don’t much like her, but it’s nice that she cares about her whiny git of a kid and isn’t a complete sycophantic blowhard like, oh, say, her husband.
• I may have to kick Miles Vorkosigan out of the coveted spot of fictional boyfriend and put Neville there instead.
• I was wondering when Buckbeak would show up. There he is!
• Why did the cavalry show up now? Where was it several chapters ago?
• Still, I think the house elves joining the fray led by Kreacher is really awesome.
• “NOT MY DAUGHTER, YOU BITCH!” Yes! Yes, Molly, you go, girl!
• I snicker every time I read deathstick. I think once the DH furor dies down, I may have to list “deathstick” as an interest.
• And I am the only HP fan on the Internets so far who actually liked the epilogue. It was totally a fanservice, but it made me awww.

  Aaaand that’s the book, kids. I enjoyed today’s Potter emersion, and I will enjoy reading the wank tomorrow. I liked the book, but don’t know how I’d rate it. Probably a B+ because it was engaging and wonderful in parts, and definitely not meh, but still… not my favorite of the series.

1. Do you like your given name?
Eh, it’s all right. It’s unique, which I appreciate.
2. If you could change your name, would you? To what?
No, not really. I haven’t found anything that is actually, well, more me than my given name.
3. If you had children, what would you name them? If you already have children, how
did you choose their names?
No kids, but if I did… well, I like the name Melissa for a girl, and I like the name Jonah for a boy. But this will probably never happen sooo…
4. While we're on the subject of names, what's the story behind your LJ user ID?
I’m not sure what the process was behind me picking bardsong, although I do like folk music, and I think of myself as a storyteller. I think that’s about it.
5. Will you be reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows?
Heh. Yes. But not for a while, probably, because as I said in my last post, the audio version is too pricey even for me, but someone I know is going to send me the copy that makes it onto Bookshare, so I’ll probably get it soon.
6. Do you think Harry will survive?
I would be surprised if he didn’t.
7. What about Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix? Will you watch it?
Maybe. I haven’t been keeping up with the movies.
8. What was the last book you read?
The last book I finished, although I haven’t reviewed it, was Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway. At the moment I am trying to conquer the pile of books I’ve left half-finished, and may yet succeed as I’m nearly done with another.
9. What is your favorite book?
That changes on a daily, sometimes minutely, basis.
10. What is your favorite movie?
I don’t watch enough of them to ever be able to answer this well.
11. Do you have an all-time favorite character from either a book or a movie?
This changes with my whims, too. Brienne of Tarth and Miles Vorkosigan are fighting for that honor now.
12. What draws you to a particular book or movie character?
When I can identify with how they’re feeling. I mean, I know I am not the world’s ugliest woman trying to compete in a man’s world, but I identify with Brienne’s struggle for acceptance. And Miles has to overcome disabilities as well, and does so admirably.
13. All right, let’s switch to music. What is your favorite style?
I like folky stuff. The lines blur as to what I like within that broad category.
14. What is your favorite band/group/ensemble?
Lately it’s been Allison Krauss and Union Station.
15. What is your favorite CD?
No. Don’t think I have an all-time favorite CD. I have tons that I love and that get heavy rotation when I’m in the mood.
16. Do you have an all-time favorite song?
No.
17. Do you eat your fruits and vegetables?
Yes.
18. What is your favorite food?
Anything that is bad for me.
19. What is your native language?
English.
20. What other languages have you studied or do you speak?
Spanish and French. Though not for a long time. In fact, the Spanish phrase I tend to use more often than not, and then only for the laughs, is “Donde estan las revistas pornografias?”

21. Do you like to travel?
Yes, absolutely!
22. Have you traveled outside the country of your birth?
No, sadly.
23. Have you ever traveled somewhere you thought you'd love and hated it?
Yes.
24. Please share your worst travel story.
A Greyhound trip from Kansas to New York state. I think we were between Columbus and Cleveland, and the bus was full, and I was sitting next to a young mother and baby and her obnoxious husband, who made his wife sit next to me because he didn't want to.
25. Are you having a good day?
Yes.

God, I love the reactions already to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. By which I mean, I’ve been doing a lot of snickering over possible spoilers.

There are actually people dismayed at the fact that Voldemort may not survive to the end of the book.

What kind of crack are people smoking, and where do I get some? I mean, this is a children’s book. It would surprise the hell out of me if JKR decided Voldemort was going to live after all. Hell, I’d probably be thoroughly disappointed.

Oh, well… the spewing, self-righteous rage
of the HP fen will be glorious to behold.

Title: Dark Lover
Author: J. R. Ward
Genre: paranormal romance
Grade: A

Plot: The vampire society is in danger from a group of really evil, soulless creeps called the Lessers. In order to deal with this problem, there is a group of uber-alpha men called the Black Dagger Brotherhood. These men are over the top, both in their fighting abilities and in the things that have happened to them.

When Darius, a former member of the Brotherhood approaches Wrath, the last purebred vampire ever, to ask him to help his daughter Beth go through her vampiric transition, Wrath blows him off, and soon Darius is dead. So Wrath, figuring he owes Darius, seeks out Beth, and, well, this is paranormal romance, so they are attracted.

The Good: I really loved this book. I’m a fairly cynical reader, as anyone who has paid attention knows. A lot of this book ought to have had me rolling my eyes, starting with the names and the fact that the men are all uber-alpha and dominate. (The misspelling is deliberate there, BTW.) Plus… vampires, man! The paranormal romance needs more vampire books about like I need a bunch of holes drilled in my various body parts. But everything worked. Ward’s storytelling is captivating, and I just couldn’t set this book down for other stuff on my massive pile of books I’d like to finish before the end of the Bush administration. I loved Wrath, our hero, and Beth, the heroine, while not as well-drawn, certainly kicked ass. The secondary characters all had personalities apart from, “Look at meee! I am sequel-bait.”

The Bad: There were a few cliches that did cross my mind. There really wasn’t much to the bad guys except that they are omgsoevil!!!11 And the names–Wrath, Rhage, Zsadist, Phury and Tohrment–all took some getting used to.

Final Thoughts: Loved this book. Will definitely be reading the rest of the series.

If you could rename yourself in real life, what would you choose, and why?

It’s funny this should be the question. Because tonight I was just thinking that I should start calling myself Zshahnnohn in hommage to the Black Dagger Brotherhood books.

I know I’ve mentioned my love for the first book in this series before, but it only grows. I love that the Black Dagger vampires do not always get along with each other, and they occasionally have exchanges like this:

Brother 1: “Zsadist, you need to try not to kill the whores next time, k?”

Zsadist: “What whores?”

Brother 1: “The ones that are totally winding up everywhere dead.”

Zsadist: “Oh. Them. It wasn’t me, I swear.”

Brother 2: “Uh-huh, suuuure.”

Also the gay subtext is strong. I love that.

Lately I’ve been reading Dave Barry because, well, he’s awesome, and also because I’ve been reading him before I go to sleep. I can’t read fiction at night because invariably I’ll get caught up in the book and then, whoa, it’s 4 A.M. already.

Anyway, no proper book reviews, but I have finished Dave Barry’s Greatest Hits and Dave Barry Slept Here which I recommend highly because Dave Barry is hillarious.

Researchers Dream of Humanizing Androids

This makes the SF geek in me quite excited!