This is a special disclaimer, even as disclaimers go.
I got to hear this book as read by the author. It’s a fantastic way to experience a book. You get all the tidbits, almost like a “DVD commentary” for the work. IF you have a chance to hear a reading, go do that.
That aside, what about the book you say?
The start of the book is startling in it’s clarity. The question in my mind as it was being read was, “when did this happen to you?”. It was that kind of clear and shocking. Really, really strong start. Once you’re in ~ you’re going along for the whole journey.
What bothered me about it? It took me a while to really get to the heart of what it was that bugged me. I finally figured it out. This story put me in a mindset similar to the story of “Mazes and Monsters”. I will say that’s strong writing BUT that’s also something that came up again and again during the dark ages of my youth and the Satanic panic of the 80s. It’s a totally unfair thing for the author, but that’s where it stuck in and suffered (in my mind at least) for it.
For you? Oh, for you ~ go out and buy this book. It’s a fun ride!
In my author bio one of the things I list is that I am an old school gamer. Along with being an artist (loose, but relatively true). Those two things actually collide in the crafting and miniature painting realm. Because I’m not busy enough.
In all seriousness, Dungeons and Dragons has been a love of mine for a very long time. I play when I can. I world build, I run games, create adventures and… once upon a time I painted miniatures and built terrain to play on. It’s a fantastic creative outlet and doubles up as something to add to my game sessions. It’s also fantastic practice for other kinds of art. the miniatures have always inspired flights of imagination for me.
I’ve started getting back into this. When I was painting miniatures before it was a deeply solitary thing. I found a few others locally that were painting as well, but we never connected really. I didn’t reach an extreme level with my painting, but some of them were pretty nice. I even started trying to build my own layouts and sculpt some things on my own.
The module with the monster description in it!Modeling clay and glitter (because glitter = magic, right?)
I hope to add these projects to the blog here as part of my art. Plans, progress and all the stuff that I do when I’m not actively working on a writing project. I gave a moment of consideration to making this some kind of video compilation, but I am not a video editor. I am at heart an analog kind of guy. I believe that writing and pictures will do what I want to convey the process of the art I create. So – I’ll share progress here as the work takes shape.
I have a list of projects (shocking, I know) and (even more shocking) I have a plan for a major project. I have a diorama that I want to create as a gift to a dear friend. It’s going to be a massive learning curve for me. Hopefully you’ll enjoy the ride.
I jumped back into things today. Not some massive art project or novel length writing, just something simple. I had this box laying around from when I got a new set of headphones. I didn’t want to just throw it away. It’s a hard board and has magnets as the closure. It’s quite nice for simple packaging. I decided that I would spray paint over the product information and use this excellent sturdy box as a backdrop for taking individual pictures of my miniatures work. It works ~ that’s what the mud men are standing on / in. Easy peasy for a first project, right?
First lesson – wear your painting gear even if “it’s just a quick little thing” and avoid ruining a shirt.
Second lesson – look at the weather report. Your paint will run if you have to move it / hang it up before it’s dry because it starts to rain (spray painting is not an indoor sport).
It really is a cool box. I’m totally NOT a hoarder… totally.
In the end, I mostly succeeded. I have a painted box to use as a back drop and a single, starting project under my belt.
This post was originally published in Watch The Skies fanzine – August 2020
Great artwork for the apocalypse!
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts.
I will admit that hearing a statistics type description for this show might make it sound unappealing. It’s an animation with a Y-7 rating, meaning it’s generally aimed at an audience of ten year old kids. That does not tell the story at all.
Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts is a Dreamworks production that currently has two seasons on Netflix. It is the story of Kipo and her adventures in a post apocalyptic world. Humans do not dominate here as they did some two hundred years ago – they are now the bottom of the food chain and have moved into underground ‘burrows’ to survive. On the surface of the world mutations have created outlandishly over-sized plant life and many powerful ‘mute’ factions. If you want to survive in the world you’ve got to stay on your toes. You’ll need to deal with all manner of mutes roaming around and staking out territory. The world is a dangerous place for humans.
Kipo’s adventure begins when she finds herself suddenly outside of her burrow. She begins to wander the surface world and has to deal with a knowledge loving wolf pack, timber cats that love pancakes, giant two headed flamingos, mod frogs, scooter skunks, deathstalkers and of course a giant six armed monkey. That really just scratches the surface of the weird. Kipo is also musically inclined. There are a number of episodes that contain songs, musical inspirations for characters and (yes, sadly) even Karaoke. Eventually Kipo teams up with a number of other surface folks to help her along her journey as she attempts to find her way back home.
This show is light, fun and relentlessly positive. Each episode clocks in under a half an hour so it’s also a great show to squeeze in when you might not otherwise get to sit and watch something. It is genuinely the sort of show that feels like a perfect fit for the current times. Grab some popcorn and turn this show on when you want to smile!
Most thought it was rage. Some thought it was pure spite and malice.
He was coming. He would not stop.
They tried the physical to no avail. They called in all the wizards they could find. They cast, the chanted, they threw magic. There was fire. There was acid, there was stone. There was anything and everything until pure chaos was the result.
He would not stop.
They cajoled, they pleaded. They wailed and moaned.
He would not stop. He could not stop. It was not rage or spite or malice at all. It was love and it drove him onward.
As with so many of Mr. Butcher’s books, I read this very quickly. I think I was actually finished within the first day or two after buying it.
It’s been a long wait to get here. I jumped in and went along for the ride with Harry. I kind of expected things to fit a certain mold that I could see for him. He’d be trying to have a regular day, something would go wrong. Harry would say something that wouldn’t sit right with someone or something powerful. He’d then doggedly keep pushing forward while finding no help and no resources while stretching himself nearly to the end of all his resources…
And we sort of got that? And then.
And then the author did something that any truly excellent author will do – sets your expectations out on their collective ears and does something that makes you say, “Oh, wow… did not expect that”. I will not spoil any of the plot points here. If you’re on board with Harry at book 16 you’re on for the whole ride.
Go, read this. Then wait with the rest of us for September and the next book so we can find out what happens!
I finished this book a few weeks ago and have held off on writing the review. I wanted to see how much of this story stuck with me as opposed to how much would simply fade. I have to say that a fair amount of the detail has faded, but the general ideas of the story have stayed.
I got the general gist of the whole plot as soon as I read the letter at the very start of the book. I think there was some disappointment at that, but the story concept felt vaguely familiar to me. A massive shift in social power structure and what that does to society in general is an excellent science fiction theme. Knowing that at the start should not detract from the story itself.
The story of the women involved and how their lives entwined was gripping. These were very real and relatable characters. You could sense that you might know somebody like them… and that ultimately was the point.
I would definitely feel confident recommending this book.
There are days when it’s a real struggle to get words on the page. Sometimes just writing a short, easy statement can help with that. Some days is doesn’t help at all. Sometimes the stress of life puts a real, genuine damper on the production of words.
Most days I will tell people that I eat stress for breakfast then head out to take on the day. Most days.
Last week really pushed the needle on the stress meter. There was simply a ton of things that went pear shaped – not just for me, but for family and super close friends. Losses of jobs, medical diagnoses, calls from the consulate regarding a certain family members ability to get a visa, court dates, project deadlines, last minute school arrangements… It was an awful lot. I’d say I need a vacation, but that doesn’t help a whole lot these days either. The pandemic has made things so much more challenging across the board.
Long, deep, soulful sigh ~ insert here.
I’m back at the keys and clacking away. I’ve got a deadline tomorrow that I can’t miss for work and a deadline I can’t miss tomorrow for the kiddo. Work should be easy. Writing an essay about what I’ve learned as a parent as part of my daughter’s journey in martial arts? That’s going to be a challenge.
