So Many Happy Feelings

Oh, so much to tell. Let's do this in some kind of order. (I'll add pics when I get them loaded up and if they're any good.)

Finncon was a definite success. We didn't get lost (much) on the road, I didn't wreck the car and we found free parking space in Jyväskylä. Yay for that! The con was so great, I felt at home. The first panel we participated was Introduction to Mannerpunk - I laughed so much! And I may have squealed just a little at Ellen Kushner's mentioning Scott Lynch as a male mannerpunk author. I missed the GoH speech of Ellen's, because I chose Adult Fantasy and later wished I hadn't. The Gate Theory of Young Adult Literature -panel was a disappointment so we left it early on, which gave me the opportunity to go get my Swordspoint signed. I swear, Ms Kushner was so nice and I made a total fool out of myself, speaking bad English due to my nerves and was going all fangirly. But I'm eternally thankful for the opportunity to buy the Fall of the Kings - if the authors ever stumble upon this somehow, you need to know it was equal to the best moment of my summer (of which I will tell about a little later). Thank you so much!

Sunday started much earlier than Saturday, at 10. I went to the Orwell's 1984 Here And Now -lecture and got slightly paranoid. After Big Brother it was time for the vampire panel, which I liked very much. I wish I was more confident, because I think the panelists would've been amused to hear that Stephenie Meyer is planning on writing about time-travelling mermaids next. (The discussion led to speculation of what might be the next big thing - one of the panelists expressed interest in Näkkis.) Then there was the Bimbo Panel, which made me roar with laughter. The theme was dirtying all the childhood favourites from Disney to My Little Pony to Star Trek. I think that affected both me and my friend quite a lot, for the next couple of days were spent pointing out everything twisted in stuff meant innocent.
Ellen Kushner's reading was just the perfect thing. She read from Swordspoint (having read Thomas the Rhymer at length the day before) and then the Man With the Knives. She had grown men in tears after that one, and I was so close to crying myself.
After the reading I met up with my friend again, and ran into my high school art teacher. We talked for a while, until it was time for me to go hear the vampire book tips. I got interested in a couple of books, so it wasn't all wasted time.
The last panel I participated was Dreaming of Reality with Cheryl Morgan, Ellen Kushner and Pat Cadigan. It was a riot and I swore to find Ms Cadigan's books somehwere, she was so funny! It also came up that Ms Kushner would like to see a film made out of Swordspoint, and that she felt Ben Wishaw (Keats from Bright Star) would be a good Richard. Now, I think Privilege of the Sword would make a better movie, and I'm not all too sure about Wishaw as Richard, but I would definitely go and see the movie.

Our arrival back our summer house about four hours after we left the con was grand - windows down, Elvis blaring. We had a great time, and discovered that Disney is good music for driving.

We came back to Helsinki on Monday night. On Tuesday happened what we'd been dreading - the results from the University arrived. But fortunately, this became the thing in my summer rivalled only by the delightful writers of the Fall of the Kings - I got in.
I'll start my studies on English Philology in September in the University of Helsinki. I'm so excited!

But this is turning into quite a long update. I probably forgot something, but I'll just tell about it in another post if it was important. The bottom line is that it was a great con and that my July has been awesome. I hope it stays that way.

<3: Wilzo

Short Booky Update

I got through Privilege of the Sword in three days. I was slightly surprised I got so into it. At times it felt like a teenage harlequin, and that was a lot of fun. My only problem with the main character, Katherine, was that she was around 15 years of age, so I found her a little naive and silly. Fortunately she matures through the story.

I suck at summaries, but let's give it a try: Katherine Talbert, a country girl, is invited to the city by her uncle the Mad Duke. The uncle intends her to learn the art of wielding a sword. Katherine meets new people, of whom few are what they seem. Tension, masks, drama and the voes of teenage girls in need of husbands. Like Austen combined with swashbuckling.

Anyway, I was very happy with the book. It is apparently number two in the Riverside-series (someone correct me if my understanding has failed me), but I don't think reading the books in order is necessary, at least I didn't have any trouble understanding things.

Something happened with this book I wasn't suspecting. I don't usually start planning a Hollywood casting for books, because no one ever looks like I think the character should, but this time it just came to me like *snaps fingers* THAT. So here goes:

the Mad Duke - Daniel Day-Lewis
Lord Ferris - Alan Rickman
Lydia Fitz-Levi - Jennifer Love-Hewitt
Alcuin - Orlando Bloom

...The last one is half a joke. xD I think I had one more suggestion, but it's in my notes somewhere and I don't feel like digging it up as I just tidied my room up. (With this book, a piece of paper and a pen is a good idea. There are so many names that pop up when you least expect them, and it's a bitch trying to remember who the hell they were and why it is so scandalous all of a sudden. I'm usually good with names, but I think the pace in which I read was too quick for them to sink in.)

Wow, that has to be the longest bit I've written about a book in years! o_O Shows just how much I enjoyed and analyzed it, I suppose. Anywho, I recommend it warmly, though maybe not for people under 13 or something.

Now I'm going to start getting ready - it's graduation day, and I've got two parties to attend to and later a gig of my friend's band Eternal Struggle. Fun music! :D

I'll be back later. I'm continuing with Red Seas Under Red Skies, which I started during the Lynch-hype about two posts ago. It's such a great book. <3

~Wilzo

PS: Ah, so this is the third Riverside book. My apologies.