I finished reading <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">Industrial Magic</a> this week.
It wasn't my usual fare, but it wasn't bad. Probably not good enough to hunt down more of the series, but not bad. Honestly, the title is what got me. If I'd actually read the back cover, I probably wouldn't have bought the book at all. I categorize this type of book as, basically, "chick lit fantasy romance". But, again, that being said, it still wasn't as bad as some of the stuff out there. For instance, I liked it better than <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">Obsidian Butterfly</a>, which I couldn't even read past the first two chapters. When I read trashy fiction, I don't want to read endless conversations with the main character's old boyfriends, or potential boyfriends, or whatever. I want action. Plain and simple. I want something to be happening. I want plot based on events going on, not semi-romantic thoughts and feelings. In that regard, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">Industrial Magic</a> delivered.
The basic plot is that a killer is stalking the heads of semi-secret magical Cabals, who are the sorcerous rivals of the more feminine, and witch-run, Covens and must be stopped. (So, yes, this really could have been a simple murder mystery without the magic, but, well, I guess that wouldn't be as fun or sell as well.) The main character is a witch, Paige Winterbourne, who used to run a big Coven, but, in an earlier book, lost that position. Her love interest is Lucas Cortez, heir to the Cortez Cabal, but who is a crusading lawyer that fights the Cabals. It's that connection that gets them drawn into the plot. They're trying to find, and stop, the killer. And, to avoid spoilers, I'll stop describing the plot there.
There's magic all over the book, but, mainly, as a prop. Light spells being used instead of a handy pocket flashlight. Binding spells instead of a stun gun. Necromantic conversations instead of a CSI-type crime lab. Everything they used magic for could have been replaced with modern technology fairly easily without impacting the story. Except for one point when they "cross over" to the realms of death. Other than that, everything else could have been avoided by simply planning ahead. In other words, it was a wasted metaphor.
The other thing that bothered me was the Cabals. Sure, they were obviously some kind of metaphor for corporate America and/or organized crime, but at no time was the source of the Cortez Cabal's fabulous wealth ever explained. They just were really organized and had a lot of money. Period. Ignore the writer behind the curtain. Frankly, I thought that was a shame. It could have been a really neat sub-plot. And, with the title, it was what I was hoping to see more about! Ah, well, at least I can still write my own take on that without worrying about repeating something that's already been done.
All in all, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">Industrial Magic</a> was a decent book, but not great. If you can find it at a discount book store, it's worth getting.
<a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">How to Be a Villain: Evil Laughs, Secret Lairs, Master Plans, and More!!!</a>
Yes, this is a real book. No, it is not serious. However, if you're designing a villain, it's not a bad place to start. No, seriously! Here in one book are the collected cliches of bad guys. Everything from talking when you should be shooting to the "Rube Goldberg" killing machine. You name the tragic mistake that any and all James Bond villains have made and it's in this book somewhere. So, in a humorous way, it's a guidebook for what NOT to do when creating your literary villain. In fact, part of the book is a warning to up-and-coming super villains on what to watch out for in heroes and the big mistakes that the "average" villain makes that costs them their victory.
Brought to you via <a target="_blank" href="http://www.langmaker.com">LangMaker.com</a>
I love LangMaker, both the program and the site. One of the reasons I dig the site is for all the great links it brings me. For instance, one of my freakish obsessions, er, "passions", is linguistics in fantasy and science-fiction. So, of course, when I saw that the fine folks at LangMaker.com had posted a link to <a target="_blank" href="http://tenser.typepad.com/tenser_said_the_tensor/linguistics_in_sf/inde…, said the Tenso: Linguistics in SF</a>, I got all excited. And, I was not dissapointed. The topics are varied, but always interesting and, of course, about language, linguistics and science-fiction.
Very cool.
<strike>TSR</strike>, er, sorry Wizards of the Coast has a new "educational" campaign.
Now, they've recruited librarians to the cause. No, really, they have a new program called "<a target="_blank" href="http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/library">Afternoon Adventures with Dungeons and Dragons</a>". It's a program designed to give librarians free materials to learn and teach kids D&D after school and then to use that as a jumping off point to more literary adventures.
Actually, it's not a bad deal. As far as I'm concerned, anything that gets more kids interested in reading or even just going to the library after school is not half bad. I know my own reading and love of the written word was very much fueled by the same things that drove my attraction to D&D. Even today, though I haven't played in years, I have the new, "Third Edition" rules on my shelf. Of course, I have other, much more obscure games, too, but D&D was pretty much the start of it all for me. (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.fantasist.net/dragonquest.shtml">DragonQuest</a> almost was, but that's another story...)
Anyway, it was a great story to read and brought back all kinds of fond memories. So, in a sad, middle-aged, nostalgic sort of way, it's the perfect fun link for a Friday.
(And, yes, this is also appearing on <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ryumaou.com/hoffman/netgeek/">my other blog</a>.)
Today is Edgar Rice Burroughs' birthday!
ERB, as he is often known by fans, was born in Chicago in 1875. He is probably most famous as the creator of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, which is a series of stories about an English nobleman who was abandoned in the African jungle during infancy and brought up by apes. His first Tarzan story appeared in 1912, and Burroughs followed it with the novel <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">Tarzan of the Apes</a> in1914. He is also the author of <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">A Princess of Mars</a>, which is the first book in a series about a US Cavalry officer transported "mystically" to Mars, as well as, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">Pellucidar</a>, about a savage world hidden beneath our own, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">The Pirates of Venus</a>, about space pirates on Venus. Not to mention his lesser known works, including <a target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=fantasistnet%26link_code…; title="View product details at Amazon">The Mad King</a> and many others.
For many of us, ERB was our first introduction to science-fiction and fantasy. He was a real writer, by which I mean he churned out novels and stories at a furious rate for one reason onlyL to support his family. He is, in many ways, one of my heroes.
So, Happy Birthday, Mr. Burroughs, wherever you are.
It's a cool kid's book!
And, a website called <a target="_blank" href="http://gheehappy.com/">Gheehappy.com</a>. The illustrations are really simple and cute, just like you'd expect from a kid's book, but it's also a neat, compact description of the traditional Hindu pantheon. Okay, sure, it's simplistic, but, still it gets the message accross, eh? And, it *is* cute. Nice and harmless and safe to show the kids, even the illustration of Kali, Goddess of Death is cute.
Hey, what the heck, it's a pretty painless way to show your kids a different belief system.
Or, a reactor in every pot.
Well, maybe not quite, but at least they're getting closer, according to <a target="_blank" href="http://news.uns.purdue.edu/html4ever/2005/050712.Xu.fusion.html">this article at Purdue University News on-line</a>. Researchers at Purdue University have recently established supporting evidence that earlier findings by other scientists, who designed an inexpensive "tabletop" device that uses sound waves to produce nuclear fusion reactions, are, in fact valid. They've been working on this for over two years and have finally reproduced good results with their small, deuterium-powered reactor.
According to the article, "development of a low-cost thermonuclear fusion generator would offer the potential for a new, relatively safe and low-polluting energy source. ... A cubic kilometer of seawater would contain enough heavy hydrogen to provide a thousand years' worth of power for the United States. Such a technology also could result in a new class of low-cost, compact detectors for security applications that use neutrons to probe the contents of suitcases; devices for research that use neutrons to analyze the molecular structures of materials; machines that cheaply manufacture new synthetic materials and efficiently produce tritium, which is used for numerous applications ranging from medical imaging to watch dials; and a new technique to study various phenomena in cosmology, including the workings of neutron stars and black holes."
Wow. I guess all those science-fiction writers were closer to reality than we ever thought, eh? I wonder how long it will be before we have transporters or "stepping disks" ala Larry Niven?
<i>That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die.</i>
Ah, if only Lovecraft could live on in that eternal life beyond death. But, alas, he cannot and we have only his tremendous body of work to keep us company. Never the less, knowing that it is his birthday, I feel compeled to mention it.
Also, the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.vancouvergamingguild.com/">Vancouver Gaming Guild</a> is celebrating H. P. Lovecraft's birthday with a convention! So, if you're in the area, why not check it out?
Freaky.
While I don't reccomend fishing for giant catfish with a basketball lure, it does seem to work. At least, if <a target="_blank" href="http://www.techimo.com/forum/t137704.html">the pictures posted at this link</a> are any indication. I know people have a hard time believeing me, but I met a guy who was a diver in Illinois who talked about these giant, mean catfish in the Mississippi. Apparently, all the nice, warm, waste water from power plants and what not pouring into various dammed parts of the river can produce catfish up to six feet in length. That is a GIANT catfish! And, as a rule, these suckers hide in the muddy, murky bottom just waiting for a tasty morsel to swim by. According to this guy, they seem to like the taste of diver. He described to me how he had to beat one off his arm with a small log because it was trying to pull him under a submerged tree where it lived.
Holy shades of the X-Files!
There are many ways to test one's constructed language.
There's the infamous <a target="_blank" href="http://www.langmaker.com/babelintro.htm">Babel Text</a>, as suggested by Jeffery Henning. There are other religious texts that might be used, like the Lord's Prayer or the Sermon on the Mount. There's translating a "folk tale". I've even seen the suggestion put forward to translate dinner menus, street signs, and adverstisments. I, myself, have suggested that, perhaps, <a href="http://www.fantasist.net/conlang.shtml">creating a phrasebook</a> might be the thing. All of these methods should highlight any flaw or under-developed section of your conlang. When translating, we find holes and errors and things we simply haven't thought through yet. But, another "test" occurred to me yesterday...
I was talking to my dog in German, telling her "Du bist ein gutes Hund! Du bist ein hübsch Hund!" and watched her get all happy and wiggly. Then, it hit me. "Can you talk to your dog in your conlang?" Of course, it works for any pet, but you get the idea. So, from now on, if I work on a constructed language, I must be able to talk to my dog in it, or it's just not good enough.
Harumph!