Tag: fantasy

AWelkin said:

Sometimes I wonder about pieces of my life, whether I like them or not. I do mostly like my life, but I know there are things I would do differently if resources like time or money weren’t an issue. Today what I want you to consider is what your fantasy life.

NOT well, I’d get a million dollars and live on a yacht with Orlando Bloom (although there’s nothing wrong with that fantasy, that’s not the kind of thing we’re after.) Here’s what I’m talking about: what kind of changes would you make in your life, the life you have now, to improve its quality.

Shen then listed 6 things; I liked the idea, so here are my six:

  1. I’d get 7 solid hours of sleep every night. By solid, I mean none of that weak@$$ lying in bed waiting for sleep to come, but honest to God deep REM sleep.
  2. I would carry a camera with me everywhere I go and work at bringing my photography skills back up to snuff.
  3. I would be living in a nice, cozy house (with plenty of storage!) rather than my rather cramped apartment.
  4. I’d change the dresscode at work so I could wear t-shirts again.
  5. I’d take up Tai Chi or some form of martial arts to get into better shape.
  6. I’d spend an hour everyday in a sunlit room working on my drawing skills.

What’s on your six? Feel free to answer here or in your own blog.

I finished reading The Ladies of Mandrigyn last night and I have to give Ms. Hambly a bit of credit; she didn’t go with the more obvious of the 2 scenarios that I thought she was going to. In the end the book wasn’t all bad, but I definitely wouldn’t recommend anybody buy this book at the cover price; still it’s short and if you can find it for just $1-$2, then that’s probably worth it. Overall, I’ll give this book 2 out of 5 points.

I looked around the house some more and found that I did have 2 more sci-fi books from the last library book sale, huzzah! 🙂 So the next book I’m reading is an oldie, but a goodie; it’s Joe Haldeman’s Forever War. I’ve read this before –actually when I was going through my closet I found I’ve got multiple copies of it– and really enjoyed it. I’ll let you know how I feel about the book after I finish reading it again.

Though I should mention that reading Mr. Haldeman’s work has a slightly unreal feeling for me. Why? Because unlike most of the authors I read; I’ve actually met Mr. Haldeman and his wife. In my area, there is a local sci-fi club, called SFLIS that was founded in part by Mr. Haldeman back when he was attending the UofI. That group also started a sci-fi con in the area called ICON. When I moved into this area several years; I started going to ICON to meet the local geeks. After going to the con for a couple of years, I heard about it’s history and then realized 2 of the people that the con staff were always friendly with were in fact Joe & Gay Haldeman.

No, I’m not a slobbering-gooberhead fanboy but it still throws me for a bit of a loop when I meet/see the author of a book I really like. Anyhoo, I need to get back to work; so keep those pages turning.

For my next book, I’ve started reading Barbara Hambly’s The Ladies of Mandrigyn. I’m about halfway through with it and looking very forward to finishing it, as it’s really not that good (so far, it could improve but I’m not holding my breath).

Why so harsh? Well, when I read a book; I generally don’t try to analyze it. I just try to let the events in the book wash over me and absorb myself in them. As such, I allow myself to be surprised by events that occur later in the book, which if I were analyzing it would be obvious. There are several characters that have appeared in the story which are making it pretty, dang obvious that certain other events will take place later.

I realize that sounds vague, but I don’t want to include any spoilers in my reviews so you’ll just have to live with it. When I’ve finished the book; I’ll either post another review and let you know if I was right or I’ll come back to this one and add a comment.

I just finished reading Mr. McKiernan’s Silver Wolf, Black Falcon and while I found it to be an enjoyable read; it was nearly as good as some of his other books (e.g. “The Eye of the Hunter“). The characters were not fleshed out as fully as had been done in previous books and in part that it likely because this book brings an end to the Mithgar saga. Alas, the book has a certain sense to it that Mr. McKiernan was tired of writing about the Mithgar world and wanted to move onto other projects. The ending in particular feels a bit rushed, but still if you’re a fan of Mr. McKiernan’s other works, then this is a good book for you to read. Overall, I give it: 3 out of 5 points.

Next up, I’ll be returning to the Egypt of early 1900’s by reading Elizabeth Peter’s He Shall Thunder In The Sky. However, since I won’t be stuck in some stupid hotel room for a week with nothing to do; I probably won’t get through this one quite as quickly as I did the last.