My first term at the University started in September, and I'm much in love with the whole business. People are great, courses are great, everything is great! There's lectures, parties, random other events... Christmas Party is coming up in a couple of weeks and then a table party with roleplaying theme. I'm going to be Karthani bondsmage from Locke Lamora, yay! :D
Mooovies. I'm trying to remember what I've seen... Toy Story 3 was superb, I laughed myself silly and squealed at the familiar toys. Seriously, it's the animation of the year! Despicable Me is also great, though I would've enjoyed it more if I had seen it before Toy Story. I'm going to see RED today, so about that later on. Hopefully.
Wicked came to Finland this fall, and I went to see it with a friend. I've read the book, and I do prefer it to the musical, but either or is fine, I guess. They spoiled Fiyero for me though, he was much better in the book, but the again the song Dancing Through Life is so delicious that I forgive them. And I knew Antti Lang would be the perfect Boq! I was delighted by his performance!
What else? I've been reading coupious amounts - two last Harry Potters, Dangerous Liaisons, Shadow's Son, Privilege of the Sword again, and last night finished House of Many Ways. I could say a few words about Shadow's Son:
It's Jon Sprunk's first novel, published this year. Quite frankly, it wasn't very good. It had potential, yes, but it was like Sprunk had just tried to make it look like a great, well-thought-out world without really doing the work. The place, it's history and the characters did little to convince me, and I was very quickly confused with all the names and titles and occupations. I started to enjoy myself around page 135, which happened to be about the middle of the book. That's okay though, I know it takes time to introduce the people and the setting to the reader, and he got me almost liking the main character Caim, but towards the end I was just extremely fed up with the guy and the female lead Josey. I'm not saying you shouldn't read it - by all means do that, particularly if you're younger than me. I think I would've loved it if I was still 15, but now it seemed a little childish. I don't know what Sprunk's target group is, as a YA book that probably works. It can also be that because it's a Gollanzc book, I expected something closer to Locke Lamora in quality and was disappointed because of that.
That turned out longer than I wanted, and I didn't even summarise the plot. O_O Oh well.
I'm not waiting to get my orders from the library, Deerskin by Robin McKinley and Sorcery and Cecilia by Patricia Wrede and Caroline Stevermer. The latter is fantasy of manners, and I'm very determined to find more books in that sub-genre. I'm on the hunt for such books as Through A Brazen Mirror, Tooth and Claw, the Serpent's Egg and so on. Also, Ellen Kushner told in her blog about Kathe Koja's latest book, Under the Poppy, and I'm simply dying to read it.
That's it for now, I think. I'm gonna head of to the movies to drool Karl Urban and then come home via the library. Hopefully my books arrive today, because I have nothing to read. (Except for school stuff, of course. I've got exams coming in a few weeks, and I haven't even opened A Student's Guide to English Grammar....)
With much love,
Wil
