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Always quirky, sometimes sweet speculative fiction

Category: Raves, Reviews and Rants (Page 5 of 7)

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Australian Spec-fic Authors Challenge – April Round-Up

May 16, 2013 / / 0 Comments

You know when you could swear you already did something and then you find out you actually didn’t do it after all? Like replying to a person via email, or following something up, or – I don’t know, maybe WRITING AN ARTICLE YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DO DAYS AGO!

The Pericles CommissionNormally I do my round up on the first of the month for the Aussie spec-fic author challenge and the next day I do my goals round up, so when I did my goals first instead of second my silly brain told me I had done the Aussie author challenge. Since I only open my computer if I really need to just in case it never turns on again(duct-taped together remember) I didn’t check my site until now. Aggh!

Well, better late than never.

In April I read Gary Corby’s The Pericles Commission. The book touts itself as a Hellenic mystery. Crime sleuthing in ancient Athens? You had me at hello.

I’ve actually been following Gary’s blog for months now and have been meaning to read his books the whole time, but just never managed to get around to it. That’s my favourite thing about the challenge, it gives me an excuse to do things I’ve been meaning to.

There is some seriously cool information woven in through the narrative about life and law back in 461BC and many of the characters are actual historical figures. Who knew that purses were not commonly carried back then, instead you kept your coins in your mouth (how you’d haggle around the coins in your mouth I’m not sure and, urg, germs).

I adore the character of Diotima (really? Me, liking a strong female character? You’d never guess it ;p ) and the narrative journey was great fun, at no point was I ever certain I knew the killer and there were plenty of great twists to.

If you like crime, or historical fiction this is a great book, double down on that if you like them both! You can read my Goodreads review for more of my opinions.

0068_RHABurnBrightFULL07.inddFor my May book I’m reading Marianne de Pierres’ The Night Creatures Trilogy, starting with Burn Bright. It’s a very different YA series in a dark fantastic world of never-ending parties. I’m enjoying it so far, but it is competing for my free time with Fire Emblem on 3DS and Persona 4 Arena on PS3 – some seriously tough competition.

The Importance Of Not Stunting Imagination Under Peer Pressure

April 10, 2013 / / 4 Comments

I wrote this post today inspired by catching up with an old friend on the weekend with whom I used to have the grandest adventures.

Me up a tree in my school uniform, because that was 50% of my school life.

Me up a tree in my school uniform, because that was 50% of my school life.

I grew up with a great attitude. In primary school I was a tom boy, and just didn’t care about much but climbing trees, playing soccer and reading. I loved to climb camphor laurels and mango trees and read up in the branches until I was too sore to sit up there any longer. I had a patch in early high school where I was teased(who hasn’t?), but then it clicked in my head that I didn’t actually care about those twits who called me names and I did as I pleased.

I’m so grateful for that, because it means I have never stunted my imagination. My best friend and I would run about our forests (we each lived on farms which had plenty of forest and swamp and creeks in them) and have adventures. Yes, like little kids. We quested for treasure, fled from monsters (that were actually pets just chasing us for affection), had sword fights and hunted the Tuckean Swamp monster late at night.

I will never deny those things. OK, by some people’s view 17 is a little old to be hunting a monster on the back of your friend’s farm, but you know what? I never stifled my imagination. I let myself play. I let myself believe. I let myself live without letting peer pressure change who I was and wanted to be.

And this is who I am today.

I hope I can pass this on to my son.

Australian Spec-fic Authors Challenge – March Round-Up

April 2, 2013 / / 0 Comments

The Wild GirlMy March author for the Aussie Spec-fic authors challenge was Kate Forsyth. I read her latest book ‘The Wild Girl’ because I was lucky enough to win a copy from Kate’s blog, she even signed it(gotta love that elite reader feeling you get when you read a signed copy).

The Wild Girl is the story of Dortchen Wild, the girl who lived next door to the Grimm Brothers (yes those Grimm brothers) and told them many of their most beloved stories – even encouraging them when they considered giving up – all in the name of love. But don’t go into this novel expecting perfect flowering romance, this is as story with darker realities to it. You can read my review on Goodreads here.

The historical details are magnificent, everything from herbal lore and daily life to the exciting and terrifying times of the Napoleanic wars. Everything has been researched thoroughly and dripped into the book in a fashion where you learn so much without being info-dumped to death.

Also, as an added bonus this month, Kate herself visited one of my local libraries to do a reading to promote her book. She’s a great speaker (I’ve also heard her before at last year’s Brisbane Writers Festival) and her life story is actually as interesting as some of her books – so if you ever get the chance do go listen to her. I had her sign my copy of Bitter Greens since she’d sent me The Wild Girl already signed. It was quite exciting for me as well since she guessed I was a writer and (since I’d just got the news the night before) I was able to tell her about my first short story being accepted for publication.

I’m probably starting to sound a bit fan girl-ish, but it makes some sense when you realise I was reading Forsyth and Carmody in my teens, right when I was first getting into fantasy as a genre. These are some of the writers who solidified my love of the genre and formed part of who I am as a writer today, so I figure it makes sense to be a little fan-ish.

The Pericles CommissionI’m going to be reading Gary Corby’s ‘The Pericles Commission’ for my April read. I’ve been wanting to get into Corby’s books for almost a year now, but the dreaded TBR pile of doom has been keeping me at bay. They are murder mysteries set in Athens in 461BC and I can’t wait to devour the first one.

Five Favourite Books

March 6, 2013 / / 2 Comments

Mary over at A Writer of History leveled an impressive challenge at me: to select my 5 favourite books and write about them. I’m an obsessive lover of many books and series so this was definitely a tough one – do you go with the old classics that moved me in my youth, or brand new sparkling gems? Clearly I’m not letting graphic novels of any kind onto this list because then it would be utterly impossible to limit myself to five. This was hard enough a task.

After much deliberation I selected the following:

first testFirst Test by Tamora Pierce. Really I’d like to say all Tamora Pierce’s books. I think if I ever met her in person I would turn into a quivering mush of goo incapable of human speech, but I’d still try to tell her I love all her books and think she’s awesome and she’d probably nod and smile in that ‘ok,next in-line please’ kind of way.

This series in particular is my favourite. I adored the protagonist, loved the references to a mirror culture of the Japanese one, enjoyed following a lady knight through her training in Tortall for a second time even moreso than the first.

 

howlsHowl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones. I must admit, I hadn’t read this book until I saw the Studio Ghibli rendition of the movie. Readers will be pleasantly surprised to discover that the book and movie deviate – both in wonderful ways – I consider neither a disappointment to the other. You just can’t beat the way Jones uses myth and magic in unusual ways.

 

 

 

good omensGood Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. I’d read a few Terry Pratchett in my later teen years thanks to the televisation of Soul Music and Wyrd Sisters (prior to that teenage me had been too put off by the covers to read them – though now I love the Kidby covers) but at the time I had never heard of Neil Gaiman. After this book I promptly fell in love. The book is so clever – both definitions of clever, witty and smart. And everybody loves an angel and a demon working together to avert the apocalypse. This book is also the reason I have a penchant for the word anathema.

 

 

The Wild GirlThe Wild Girl by Kate forsyth. This book is a new member of my favourites list. A beautiful blend of fairy-tales, historical romance and gritty realism interwoven with a touch of magic. Very hard to resist. I just posted my review on Goodreads for anyone interested.

 

 

 

 

 

geishaMemoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. Being the raging Japanophile that I am no one should be too surprised to see this on my list. The tale absolutely enchanted me when I first read it (though I have to confess I haven’t read it again recently). The cultural information is amazing and who doesn’t want to ‘see beyond the curtain’?

When I was in Japan I actually hunted down the bridge on which Chiyo(Sayuri) first met the Chairman, but for some crazy reason seem to have taken more photos of the view from the bridge than the bridge itself.

 

I’m supposed to tag people to list their five favourite books on their blogs, but we all know I’m too lazy for that, so anyone who wants to try this on their blog, please do – you can say I tagged you ;p

Australian Spec-fic Authors Challenge – February Round-Up

March 1, 2013 / / 1 Comment
Not the cover of the version I'm reading, but the cover of the first version i read. Kicking early 20's Kirstie for selling it to a second hand bookstore.

Not the cover of the version I’m reading, but the cover of the first version I read. Kicking early 20’s Kirstie for selling it to a second hand bookstore.

For the February portion of the Australian speculative fiction authors challenge I decided to re-read and catch-up on the more recent volumes of Isobelle Carmody’s Obernewtyn Chronicles. I had high hopes of reading most of the six volumes currently out so only one or two of the books would spill over into March. Unfortunately I read several other books as well, so only managed to finish the first three volumes. You can read my reviews thus far: Obernewtyn, The Farseekers, and Ashling.

The Obernewtyn Chronicles focuses on Elspeth Gordie, a Talented Misfit with a great destiny – to prevent the world from suffering a second apocalypse. First she has more to do though, like saving other Talents and guiding them to the one safe place in the Land for them, Obernewtyn, as well as keeping Obernewtyn safe for the tyrannical Council, fanatical Herders and more.

Destiny is constantly dragging Elspeth all over the Land and she soon learns she is involved in more than the one prophecy she originally knew of.

I’ve loved these books for years, since reading them as a teenager. Elspeth is a wonderful character, but an enigma to someone like me who is so open and quick-to trust. The traumas of her orphan childhood have led her to find it hard to accept Obernewtyn as her home, and over the three volumes I’ve read so far she has yo-yoed between accepting she will leave forever and elation at finally returning. Similarly she struggles with friendships and blossoming love. At her core however she is still a character who will fight and risk her life even for total strangers, acts she repeatedly enacts.

I’m looking forward to finishing what is out of the series and am keeping my ear to the ground for a confirmed release date on the seventh and final installment (supposedly September this year, lets hope it is!).

The Wild GirlAs for next month’s read (which I’ve cheekily started this month already since I received an ARC) I’ll be reading Kate Forsyth’s The Wild Girl, which is a story about Dortchen Wild, the girl who grew up next door to the Grimm Brothers and who told them many of their stories.

Review: Ni No Kuni PS3

February 28, 2013 / / 3 Comments

Ni-No-Kuni-LogoSince Ni No Kuni has been greedily gobbling up all my time (or more accurately I haven’t had the resilience to do much but play it in my spare time) I thought I should probably review it so at least I’m writing something. I’ll break my review down to the basic concerns most people have about games: graphics, combat system, storyline, post-game and replayability.

Artwork for Ding Dong Dell - the first town you visit in the new world.

Artwork for Ding Dong Dell – the first town you visit in the new world.

Graphics: I suppose for some people cell shaded graphics are not cool, but for fans of JRPGs and Studio Ghibli in particular the graphics of this game are brilliant. You feel like you are playing a Studio Ghibli movie (which is their goal and they certainly achieved it). Then again, in a world where Minecraft is epically popular you’d think graphics are less of a concern.

The beauty and imagination of the world, the appearance of the many towns, fields and dungeons you visit is something even a casual gamer is sure to notice. You really will feel as if you are traveling across an entire world during the course of your adventure.

Combat system: The combat system is fairly simple to use once you progress to the point where you have a familiar.

To simplify this, familiars are like Pokemon, lots of different fantasy creatures that fight on your behalf, can perform a set number of moves and you can eventually capture more as you fight them. That might sound like an insult, but I love Pokemon so please don’t read it as such. There are also many deviations from Pokemon, the capture method is more difficult and random for starters.

The glorious world of Ni No Kuni

The glorious world of Ni No Kuni

Not only does Oliver (the character you play as) have three familiars, but as team members join your party they too have familiars. You can switch control between your team mates as you please to use their own spells and abilities or those of their familiars, or you can just set tactics for the team. Tactics can be changed easily by which ever character you’re controlling in battle.

One frustrating thing with the battle system that started to irritate me more and more as I progressed through the game was the fact that when ANYONE (not just your opponent) used a special move unless the spell or special move you had just cast was at a certain point it was cancelled. Not just that, but you still lost the MP for the move and had to wait before you could reuse the spell/move as if you had successfully done it. This happens even when your team mates do special moves and it got to a point where in anything but boss battles I was giving tactics to not use abilities. This is my only issue with the combat system.

Storyline: Non-spoiler – Wonderful, sweet, heart breaking, at first glance may come off with a childish sheen, but upon deeper inspection is a great deal more.

concept art

concept art

Spoiler-tastic (do not read unless you have at least fought the Shadar boss). From the beginning we learn Oliver’s quest is driven more from a desire to revive his mother than to save the world. You might think me cold-hearted when I say this, but I didn’t want his mum to be resurrected. Certain deaths should be final (I’m not totally against all returns to life, just as long as they are handled well) and this death felt like it should be final. I put my faith in Studio Ghibli to not let me down and they did not. I was wondering how they would handle the Alicia/Oliver’s mother’s resurrection and they employed an inspired twist that was both not predictable and very clever.

I also adored how both the villains of Shadar and The White Witch were handled, not mindless villains but people who suffered intense despair and loneliness.

</spoilers>

Want to fly around a fantasy world on the back of a dragon? Yes please!

Want to fly around a fantasy world on the back of a dragon? Yes please!

Post Game: Post game is full of ‘golden’ versions of familiars to catch, extra tasks with great bonuses (which also reveal a lot of back story to the world which is interesting to know), supped-up bosses to re-battle, a new ultimate boss and plenty to do. I’m currently playing post-game now. You can also go to the Casino and unlock all the animated scenes of the game for relatively little in-game cost.

Re-playability: Personally, for time-strapped me, I probably wouldn’t play it again anytime soon. There’s no alternate endings and no option to play ‘new game+’ that I could see. However if I had a time turner or some such wonderful device I would definitely go back for more.

Trophies: There are no tricky trophies where you have to do a certain thing at a certain time early in the game that you can miss and be frustrated about. Very grateful for that. All the trophies are achievable, but several require a high level of time and patience. Platinuming the game is not impossible, but I imagine will take 80+ hours of game play.

Overall: A very fun game, not so complex you couldn’t let a child play, but with enough depth to the story it isn’t tedious for an adult. I strongly recommend this for RPG fans and anyone who loves Studio Ghibli. Also contains zombies at one point, who doesn’t love zombies ;p

Not good for productivity when in the house of a writer.

The extra-packed limited edition I bought.

Australian Spec-Fic Authors Challenge – January Round-up

January 27, 2013 / / 4 Comments
Some of the most gorgeous cover art I've ever seen, Rowena Cory Daniells' Besieged

Some of the most gorgeous cover art I’ve ever seen, Rowena Cory Daniells’ Besieged

As you probably know I challenged myself (and my readers) to read at least one Australian speculative fiction author for each month of this year.

I started January with Rowena Cory Daniells and her trilogy “The Outcast Chronicles”. You can read my reviews of the books individually on Goodreads (Besieged, Exile, and Sanctuary).

I found the books to be riveting fantasy that starts off more about political intrigue but that quickly becomes a dramatic fight for survival for two whole races. With a massive cast of characters who you love, love to hate and can’t wait to see what happens to next, you might be daunted thinking there’s too many characters to easily follow along, but I assure you, Daniells makes her characters memorable and distinctly individual.

More sexy cover art from Daniells' amazing fantasy series "The Outcast Chronicles".

More sexy cover art from Daniells’ amazing fantasy series “The Outcast Chronicles”.

The Outcast Chronicles as a series is quite gritty. Prepare to lose a few favourite characters in tragic circumstances. Usually I prefer a few less deaths in my fantasy when I’m reading, but I was not as against it as I would have thought when reading this series. It seemed to bother me more in the second book than the other two, perhaps because one of my favourites was a casualty of Daniells’ ruthless plotting. The benefit of being so vicious with your characters is that the reader will genuinely have no idea who will survive and who won’t, which cranks the tension up to 11 and makes these books serious page turners. Please note: I do not mean the deaths are excessive or incongruous to the story, they make perfect sense and are very realistic in context, I only meant I am accustomed to reading slightly gentler fare.

I’m eager to get my hands on her other series “King Rolen’s Kin”, but finances and time mean that will be a bit later on. If I’m lucky I might read them for a later month of the challenge but there’s so many Australian speculative fiction books I’m looking forward to I don’t know how I’ll fit them all in.

Not the cover of the version I'm reading, but the cover of the first version i read. Kicking early 20's Kirstie for selling it to a second hand bookstore.

Not the cover of the version I’m reading, but the cover of the first version I read. Kicking early 20’s Kirstie for selling it to a second hand bookstore.

For February I’m looking to Isobelle Carmody’s Obernewtyn Chronicles. I’ve read the first three before in my teen years, but haven’t caught up (though I have been buying the books upon release recently). In fact you can blame Carmody for the fact I became a fantasy author because prior to reading her books I wrote horror and slice-of-life even though I was reading David Eddings, Terry Brooks and Robert Jordan already. Hearing she wrote Obernewtyn in high school changed my life and was possibly the moment I realised I wanted to write for a living (it’s the earliest time I remember thinking that even though I wrote and told a lot of stories before this point in my life).

Are you already challenging yourself? If not, join the challenge here or on our Goodreads group. If spec-fic isn’t your cup of tea why not challenge a friend?

And happy Australia Day everyone(both for the actual day yesterday and the public holiday tomorrow).

HP Lovecraft Distracts Me From A Productive Day

January 25, 2013 / / 0 Comments
Me wearing my HP Lovecraft shirt, because I'm not at all nerdy or obsessed.

Me wearing my HP Lovecraft shirt, because I’m not at all nerdy or obsessed.

I switched on the TV today with the intention to listen to music through the PS3 while I did some editing. The TV had other plans and switched onto a normal TV channel first rather than straight to the HDMI input the PS3 runs through. Normally this is annoying because then I search for ten minutes looking for where Xander hid the TV remote, but today it was a blessing because on the channel the TV was on was a documentary about HP Lovecraft.

I didn’t know it was about Lovecraft immediately. At first I stopped my search for the remote because there was a familiar face on the screen.

“Wait a sec, that guy looks a hell of a lot like Neil Gaiman.” I say to myself, then look properly. Yep, that’s either Neil Gaiman – one of my idols – or his evil twin. I sit down to listen to what Neil has to say (because I always listen to what Neil has to say) and realise he’s talking about Lovecraft.

Then the show cuts to Guillermo Del Toro talking about Lovecraft. I throw any thoughts of working on editing “Short Circuit” on the back burner and proceed to sit down and watch the show, occasionally facebooking how excited I am (because I’m sad like that I guess).

The documentary was Lovecraft: Fear of The Unknown and it was great to hear such amazing writers talking about stories I loved and a few I haven’t read yet (got to get my hands on “The Dunwich Horror”).

It might seem odd for someone generally not into horror to be a fan of HP Lovecraft, but there’s something magnetic about his writing.

I think reading Lovecraft it was made me so fond of chimeric beasts. If you’ve ever read his description of Cthulu then you can see why so many of even the everyday creatures that populate the world of my latest novel (working title Keys, Clocks, Quests) are chimeric in nature. Some are cute, others just odd and of course some horrific. I dream of having the talent to be able to sketch their images straight out of my brain.

Neil also mentioned a story he wrote in the Cthulu-verse, “Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar” which I now HAVE to track down because how can I not want a combination of Lovecraft and Gaiman?

I also need to get a hold of the whole documentary since I came in about halfway through.

Oh to be wealthy enough to just buy all of this stuff now.

Now added to wishlist:

 

Is there an unusual author you’re driven to distraction by? Whose writing is magnetic for you? Are you completely horrified by my crazy outburst of fangirl full-frontal nerdity(I’m surprised I’ve kept it hidden this long)?

Brisbane Supanova 2012

November 12, 2012 / / 2 Comments

Xander knows no fear

I didn’t write a word yesterday. No blog posts, no comments on blogs, no emails, and definitely no work on my novel. For shame! And why? Well, between work and then rushing home to pack up the family and get us to Supanova I didn’t have the time.

You probably remember my last post lamenting being unable to attend, well T-J’s wonderful aunt Trish heard we were both upset about not attending so offered to cover our entry fee.

We were so happy to go, but the real challenge would be not resorting to credit cards to buy a stack of loot. Miraculously we resisted. We had a lot of fun, even when T-J was stuck in line waiting for the signatures from the Futurama voice actors Xander and I had plenty of fun checking out a life size Dalek and a Tardis and dancing to the Rockband promo songs at closing time.

They changed the buildings within the RNA Showgrounds they were using, which gave them more space (or at least the illusion thereof) but also caused a little confusion. On the map they provide at the door they needed to label the specific buildings a little clearer in my opinion, but we figured it out quick enough. I saw some old friends that I only ever seem to catch up with during Supanova (hi Jazz and Sly)and my ‘my little Ponyta’ shirt seemed to be a hit(everyone loves a good mash-up).

I’m not certain if it was the later time or the extra space of the buildings, but we had a lot less trouble navigating the pram around. As always there was so much loot I wanted, but limited finances kept my cool Wonder Woman bag empty. Of course the cosplayers were magnificent, my favourites being the 60s TV version Batman, Robin and Batgirl and the original series cylon.

I miss volunteering for the convention, but I really love attending with my family.

Xander had a blast, and mummy and daddy had a good time too – without resorting to credit cards (of dooooooooom).

Geek Out With Your Freak Out – Brisbane Supanova 2012

November 10, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Supanova is on this weekend in Brisbane and for the very first time since the convention came to Queensland I am not attending. 🙁

Stupid lack of finances. I hope everyone else has a lot of fun and shares their photos, videos and stories with me. I’ll be super jealous, but it might cheer me up somewhat.

On the plus side, I hit the 30,000 word mark in my NaNoWriMo project last night – woohoo! I never realised I could write this fast. Because I forgot to update my word count on the right days the last few times my word count graph looks a little odd, but who cares. I’ve been forgetting the bestiary with my updates here, but does anyone care?

Please link me to pictures and stories of this Supanova!

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