The Magicians Guild

I have started reading the Magicians Guild. It is the first book of the Black Magician trilogy. In the beginning of the story it doesn't really give you any background; you are just thrown into a scene and you are slowly introduced to characters as they arrive in the story. I thought this was a nice approach but it did lead to some confusion at time. I would find myself going back a few paragraphs or even a few pages to try and get the characters sorted out. I kept feeling like I needed to reread; like I had missed something. I would also get confused whenever the writer would switch from one story line in one paragraph and then jump to another one in the very next paragraph. Sometimes when this happened I wouldn't realize it and would get confused about which characters I was currently reading about. The way it was written reminded me of a film. For example in a movie a cut to a different time line would be completely normal. You don't need any cluse or dividers because you see it visually. The idea of dropping the reader into the story without any background also reminded me of a film. Just last week I went and saw the new James Bond movie and that is exactly how it started out. It just dropped the viewer into an action scene without any background and let you find your way as you go. Even though I did get a bit confused a times I really found myself sucked into the story. So far there are no boring parts to this story. It has basically been non stop action the entire time. Because it doesn't really take time to explain everything and lets you just discover things as you go, it feels very fast paced and keeps my attention quite easily.

I am Legend

This weekend I listened to the I am Legend Audiobook. I saw the movie adaptation whenever it came out and I really enjoyed it. After reading the book however I do believe the original written version was far better. It was definitely far more creepy. The scene where Neville has just buried his wife and then she shows up pawing at the front door was one of my favorites. It is rare that a book can work up my anticipation scare me as much or more than film can. I liked that in the book Neville is not a scientist previous to the breakout as he was in the movie. He is self taught from going to the library and conducting his own experiments. The biggest difference and the part that really made the book so much better than the movie was the ending. I'm usually a sucker for happy endings, and while the movie ending wasn't completely sunshine and rainbows it didn't compare to the book ending. It completely twisted from what I was expecting. Neville had been killing all of the living vampires that he could during the day, knowing/thinking that they would eventually become the full on living dead vampire. And while Neville is doing this you don't have any problem with it; it makes perfect sense to you. Then in the end it turns everything around on you. These living vampire have found a way to keep from dying and have been starting a new civilization. Neville has actually become the monster. He is no longer the normal but the weird. And he has been slaughtering these people in their sleep who have been trying to start a new civilization.

The Hobbit

I remember when I was probably about five my older brother tried reading The Hobbit to me but I was to young to understand anything. I remember he spent about an hour trying to explain how hobbits lived in the side of hills and I just couldn't grasp the idea of a round door with a door knob in the middle. This summer my dad bought me a copy at a used book store and this second attempt has been much more successful than the last. I have seen all of the Lord of the Rings movies but never read any of the books. It is interesting to see Tolkien's style of writing and the mood that he develops in his stories; and then contrast that with the how his style is portrayed in film. I really enjoyed the fact that Tolkien was literally created a world for his stories. In the front of the copy I have is a map of the land where the stories take place. Every time a location was mentioned in the book I found myself flipping to the map to see what they were talking about. As a Graphic Design major I've learned to always look for ways to engage the user. This going back and forth between the book and map almost seems like a really early/simple version of an interactive feature. Maybe even a pre pre pre pre courser to video games. I am only about half way through the book so far but I will definitely be finishing it before I go to see the movie version that will be coming out soon. I believe that it will be really interesting to contrast the two. Hopefully it will not be disappointing.

Space Opera: In class writing assignment

David is a 17 year old kid on the planet Kahooi. He is just finishing up his basic schooling and wants to join the voyage space academy as soon as he turns 18. This is unlikly however because his father is expecting him to take on more responsibility in the "family business." His family is a sort of mafia. They control most of the crime and illegal activities on Kahooi. David is very upset by the fact that he will not be allowed to join the voyage space academy and decides to go visit the neighboring planet Potar with his friends (who are also a part of the mafia) to blow off some steam. David is not supposed to visit Potar because it is the home of a rivalry mafia family that would certainly kill David if they realized he was on their territory. He goes to a party being held by the rivalry family on a space yacht ship. This is a costume party (some sort of weird mask technology that actually changes your facial appearance). He meets a girl there and she turns out to be the daughter of the rival family's leader. David ends up kissing her that night and they are of course in love. They continue seeing each other despite the deadly rivalry between their families. At this point in time that the story is set in there are actually businesses who will kill people who want to commit suicide but don't want to do it themselves. Kari fakes her death so that she will be able to be with David. You know the rest....