Friday, December 30, 2011
Awesome Word (Or Phrase) of the Unspecified Random Time Period
Zenzizenzizenzic: Noun: An obsolete term for the 8th power of a number, or the square of a square squared. The zenzizenzizenzic of 2, for instance, is 16. Now obsolete except as a curiosity, zenzizenzizenzic also has the most z's of any word in the Oxford English Dictionary. I ran across this word in the third Emily the Strange book, Dark Times, and, having verified that it is really a word, am sharing it with you. Enjoy!
Saturday, December 10, 2011
A Local Habitation
By Seanan McGuire
An October Daye Novel
After a shattering fifteen years, mostly spent as a fish, Toby's life is slowly staring to reassemble itself--she's got a PI licence in the mortal world, friends , and most importantly, she is not dead. However, that last one may change, and quickly. When her liege lord Sylvester Torquill, Duke of Shadowed Hills sends her to check up on his niece, it wasn't supposed to be overly dangerous. January O'Leary is the countess of Tamed Lightening in Fremont, and hasn't been in touch with Sylvester for a while, which is unusual. Sylvester wants Toby to check on her and make sure its all right. It isn't supposed to take more than a few days, and she is to take Quentin, the Daoine Sidhe page from Shadowed Hills, so he can get some experience. However, as we all know, nothing is that simple with Toby
When Toby gets there she finds an odd place, even by Faerie standards. She also finds blocked phones, dead Faeries, and lots of secrets. The most worrying thing, even besides the killer stalking Tamed Lightening, is that when the victims die, the night haunts don't take the bodies and switch them with human-seeming replacements. (For why this is so bad, check the Glossary for a description of the night haunts and their habits.) Now Toby must find the killer, hopefully before whoever or whatever it is kills her, Quentin, Connor, Tybalt or anyone else.
Well, once again, I loved, absolutely loved this book. I always appreciate novel forms of faeries and critters, and A Local Habitation did not disappoint. I had never heard of some of these creatures and concepts before. Seanan McGuire has created a wonderful sequel to Rosemary and Rue, with all of its predecessor's dark charm and gripping writing. I have read this entire series so far and am waiting with bated breath for the next one. If you don't like murder mysteries or dark worlds, this book may not be for you. However, if you don't mind a little violence, dark humor, and some creepy characters, this series can be funny, enthralling, and absolutely addictive.
An October Daye Novel
After a shattering fifteen years, mostly spent as a fish, Toby's life is slowly staring to reassemble itself--she's got a PI licence in the mortal world, friends , and most importantly, she is not dead. However, that last one may change, and quickly. When her liege lord Sylvester Torquill, Duke of Shadowed Hills sends her to check up on his niece, it wasn't supposed to be overly dangerous. January O'Leary is the countess of Tamed Lightening in Fremont, and hasn't been in touch with Sylvester for a while, which is unusual. Sylvester wants Toby to check on her and make sure its all right. It isn't supposed to take more than a few days, and she is to take Quentin, the Daoine Sidhe page from Shadowed Hills, so he can get some experience. However, as we all know, nothing is that simple with Toby
When Toby gets there she finds an odd place, even by Faerie standards. She also finds blocked phones, dead Faeries, and lots of secrets. The most worrying thing, even besides the killer stalking Tamed Lightening, is that when the victims die, the night haunts don't take the bodies and switch them with human-seeming replacements. (For why this is so bad, check the Glossary for a description of the night haunts and their habits.) Now Toby must find the killer, hopefully before whoever or whatever it is kills her, Quentin, Connor, Tybalt or anyone else.
Well, once again, I loved, absolutely loved this book. I always appreciate novel forms of faeries and critters, and A Local Habitation did not disappoint. I had never heard of some of these creatures and concepts before. Seanan McGuire has created a wonderful sequel to Rosemary and Rue, with all of its predecessor's dark charm and gripping writing. I have read this entire series so far and am waiting with bated breath for the next one. If you don't like murder mysteries or dark worlds, this book may not be for you. However, if you don't mind a little violence, dark humor, and some creepy characters, this series can be funny, enthralling, and absolutely addictive.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Awesome Word (Or Phrase) of the Unspecified Random Time Period
A Base Canard: Noun: An unfounded or baseless rumour or story, generally derogatory in nature. For instance: "A vampire? Me? That is but a base canard!" Not a phrase you run into very often, but it is fun, isnt it? *smug*
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Awesome Word (Or Phrase) of the Unspecified Random Time Period
Velocipede: Noun: A velocipede is any human-powered land vehicle with one or more wheels. A bicycle is the most common velocipede nowadays, but unicycles, tricycles, quadricycles--most cycles in fact--are velocipedes, as well as scooters and monowheels. A possible sentance containing the word is "Shall I escort you to your velocipede?"
Friday, November 4, 2011
Going Postal
By Terry Pratchett
A Novel of Discworld
The Post Office of Ankh Morpork is in disrepair, no one uses it, and it's Post Master Generals keep dying. And don't ask about the New Pie. They don't like to talk about it. Bergholt Stuttley (Bloody Stupid) Johnson was involved, which if you know anything about Ankh Morpork, should tell you quite a bit. Anyway, things went very bad, until the Post Office was where you put letters if you never wanted to see them again. Lord Vetinari wished to restore it to its former glory, make it useful again. And so, he appointed the best sort of man for any government job. A convicted criminal.
Now, Moist Von Lipwig ( Yes, that is his name. It is pronounced Lip Vick, and Moist is a perfectly common name in Uberwald) has never killed anyone, or even physically hurt anyone. All he ever did was trick people who though they were tricking him, and forge a few papers. His motto is "Never look back, you never know who might be catching up." He was a very successful conman until the police caught him, and sentenced him to be hanged. Which he was. He then woke up with a choice between honest employment, and the option of actually having the execution be SUCCESSFUL, if a bit late. He ran for it and was dragged back by a golem (huge clay man, literally fiery eyes, NEVER stops, EVER). So now he is the Post Master. And between all that buisness with the clacks, and the men on the roof, and the letters talking to him, and the secret organisation of postmen, and Moist's runaway mouth, adrenaline addiction, and instinct for conning people... well, things could get interesting. Oh, and the girl.
Well, Terry Pratchett has done it again! Yet another book, yet another few hours straight of hysterical laughter, yet another set of fantastic characters and caricatured reality. This book goes straight to the top of my reread list again and again, and again and again I love it. The mad genius of humor has brought forth another fabulous creation, and if I don't wind up reading it until I have large sections memorized, it won't be for lack of trying.
A Novel of Discworld
The Post Office of Ankh Morpork is in disrepair, no one uses it, and it's Post Master Generals keep dying. And don't ask about the New Pie. They don't like to talk about it. Bergholt Stuttley (Bloody Stupid) Johnson was involved, which if you know anything about Ankh Morpork, should tell you quite a bit. Anyway, things went very bad, until the Post Office was where you put letters if you never wanted to see them again. Lord Vetinari wished to restore it to its former glory, make it useful again. And so, he appointed the best sort of man for any government job. A convicted criminal.
Now, Moist Von Lipwig ( Yes, that is his name. It is pronounced Lip Vick, and Moist is a perfectly common name in Uberwald) has never killed anyone, or even physically hurt anyone. All he ever did was trick people who though they were tricking him, and forge a few papers. His motto is "Never look back, you never know who might be catching up." He was a very successful conman until the police caught him, and sentenced him to be hanged. Which he was. He then woke up with a choice between honest employment, and the option of actually having the execution be SUCCESSFUL, if a bit late. He ran for it and was dragged back by a golem (huge clay man, literally fiery eyes, NEVER stops, EVER). So now he is the Post Master. And between all that buisness with the clacks, and the men on the roof, and the letters talking to him, and the secret organisation of postmen, and Moist's runaway mouth, adrenaline addiction, and instinct for conning people... well, things could get interesting. Oh, and the girl.
Well, Terry Pratchett has done it again! Yet another book, yet another few hours straight of hysterical laughter, yet another set of fantastic characters and caricatured reality. This book goes straight to the top of my reread list again and again, and again and again I love it. The mad genius of humor has brought forth another fabulous creation, and if I don't wind up reading it until I have large sections memorized, it won't be for lack of trying.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Awesome Word (Or Phrase) of the Unspecified Random Time Period
Gallimaufry: Noun: A "gallimaufry" is either a confused jumble or medley of things or a hash made from minced or diced meats. I have no idea where I first heard this, as it is not a word in much common use. I find this to be a great pity, as it is an extremely awesome word!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
The Girl In the Steel Corset
By Kady Cross
The Steampunk Chronicles
The Girl: Finley Jayne outwardly seems a purely ordinary Victorian serving girl, apart from her beauty. What no one knows, however, is that she has a dark side--a split personality that enables her to knock out a man with one punch. A punch, or, in the case of the cruel, boorish son of her latest employer, a kick.
The Duke: Griffin King is the exeedingly rich, rather eccentric young Duke of Greythorne. His parents had discovered the Organites, tiny creatures able to exactly mimic the body's cellular behavior. Griffin takes Finley in after he runs her over as she is running from her employers' house after defending herself from their son. His friends protest, correctly believing her dangerous, but inncorrectly assuming her dangerous to their friend and themselves.
The Genius: Emily O'Brien is an amazingly talented inventor and mechanic, although unrecognised by the world at large. She lives in Greythorne House and in the course of the story creates a terrifing and beautiful mechanical cat, the fantastical corset mentioned in the title, and saves the lives of Sam and Griffin both.
The Mechanical Man: Sam Morgan was attacked and almost killed by an automaton gone berserk. Emily Saved him, but in the proscess replaced his heart, right arm, and parts of his shoulder and legs with metal and Organite. Sam now fears machines and sometimes almost hates Emily for what she did.
The Mechanist: A criminal mastermind who uses automatons, the Mechanist was behind the attack on Sam as well as several other crimes. He is currently carrying out a terrifying plot against Griffin and his band of strays, as well as stealing several objects relating the the Queen.
Will Griff and his friends survive the coming battles, and can Finley come to terms with her dark side before someone gets hurt or she loses her new friends? Read the book and find out.
I recently got into steampunk, and I must say I love it! Robots and airships and corsets, oh my! The Girl in the Steel Corset is a wonderful example of the genre, and the writing, plot, and characters are fantastic! A wonderfully shadowy London is revealed within, gleaming with rivets and steel. I love this book, I really do, and am waiting eagerly and rather hyperactively for the sequel. There WILL be a sequel, I must believe, or I shall be quite put out.
The Steampunk Chronicles
The Girl: Finley Jayne outwardly seems a purely ordinary Victorian serving girl, apart from her beauty. What no one knows, however, is that she has a dark side--a split personality that enables her to knock out a man with one punch. A punch, or, in the case of the cruel, boorish son of her latest employer, a kick.
The Duke: Griffin King is the exeedingly rich, rather eccentric young Duke of Greythorne. His parents had discovered the Organites, tiny creatures able to exactly mimic the body's cellular behavior. Griffin takes Finley in after he runs her over as she is running from her employers' house after defending herself from their son. His friends protest, correctly believing her dangerous, but inncorrectly assuming her dangerous to their friend and themselves.
The Genius: Emily O'Brien is an amazingly talented inventor and mechanic, although unrecognised by the world at large. She lives in Greythorne House and in the course of the story creates a terrifing and beautiful mechanical cat, the fantastical corset mentioned in the title, and saves the lives of Sam and Griffin both.
The Mechanical Man: Sam Morgan was attacked and almost killed by an automaton gone berserk. Emily Saved him, but in the proscess replaced his heart, right arm, and parts of his shoulder and legs with metal and Organite. Sam now fears machines and sometimes almost hates Emily for what she did.
The Mechanist: A criminal mastermind who uses automatons, the Mechanist was behind the attack on Sam as well as several other crimes. He is currently carrying out a terrifying plot against Griffin and his band of strays, as well as stealing several objects relating the the Queen.
Will Griff and his friends survive the coming battles, and can Finley come to terms with her dark side before someone gets hurt or she loses her new friends? Read the book and find out.
I recently got into steampunk, and I must say I love it! Robots and airships and corsets, oh my! The Girl in the Steel Corset is a wonderful example of the genre, and the writing, plot, and characters are fantastic! A wonderfully shadowy London is revealed within, gleaming with rivets and steel. I love this book, I really do, and am waiting eagerly and rather hyperactively for the sequel. There WILL be a sequel, I must believe, or I shall be quite put out.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
The Color of Magic
By Terry Pratchett
A Novel Of Discworld
Ankh-Morpork has just recieved its first tourist--Twoflower from the Agatean Empire--and the notoriously inept wizard Rincewind has volunteered to be his guide. Well, sort of volunteered, in the sense that he could, if he so chose, leave Twoflower to his fate, and he is not going to get paid for being his guide. He could leave the tourist, that is, if Rincewind wanted to die, as Lord Vetinari made perfectly clear. Now, Rincewind is not a wise wizard, nor powerful, nor brave. What he is, is so cowardly that he can survive almost anything, and he also has one of the Great Spells hanging out in his brain, causing him to be unable to learn any other spell and to be expelled from the Unseen University. So he is really the perfect guide for Twoflower. For, as Rincewind put it, "if complete and utter chaos were lightning, then [Twoflower would] be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor shouting [uncomplimentary things about the gods]." After a misunderstanding in which Twoflower accidentally causes all of Ankh-Morpork to be burnt down, the tourist and his reluctant guide set off across the Disc, narrowly escaping dragons, Bel-Shamharoth*, trolls, and falling off the edge of the Disc. Of course, they do get--oops, can't tell you that, it would spoil the story. Go read it and find out for yourself.
Technically the first book in the Discworld series, The Color of Magic won't really give you any information on Discworld that you wouldn't get from starting with any other book in the series, so it really doesn't matter which you read first. Anyway, I loved (of course) this book! It is over-the-top funny, and just generally awesome! Terry Pratchett, as always, seems unable to write a single paragraph that doesn't poke fun at the world in general, and humanity in specific. The Discworld is a beautifully realised world with fantastic characters and well satirized cliches.Love it, read it, tell other people to read it, re-read it, repeat!
*Also known as the Soul Render, the Sender of Eight, and "the flip side of the coin of which Good and Evil are but one side." Whatever it (he?) is, it has too many tentacles for comfort.
A Novel Of Discworld
Ankh-Morpork has just recieved its first tourist--Twoflower from the Agatean Empire--and the notoriously inept wizard Rincewind has volunteered to be his guide. Well, sort of volunteered, in the sense that he could, if he so chose, leave Twoflower to his fate, and he is not going to get paid for being his guide. He could leave the tourist, that is, if Rincewind wanted to die, as Lord Vetinari made perfectly clear. Now, Rincewind is not a wise wizard, nor powerful, nor brave. What he is, is so cowardly that he can survive almost anything, and he also has one of the Great Spells hanging out in his brain, causing him to be unable to learn any other spell and to be expelled from the Unseen University. So he is really the perfect guide for Twoflower. For, as Rincewind put it, "if complete and utter chaos were lightning, then [Twoflower would] be the sort to stand on a hilltop in a thunderstorm wearing wet copper armor shouting [uncomplimentary things about the gods]." After a misunderstanding in which Twoflower accidentally causes all of Ankh-Morpork to be burnt down, the tourist and his reluctant guide set off across the Disc, narrowly escaping dragons, Bel-Shamharoth*, trolls, and falling off the edge of the Disc. Of course, they do get--oops, can't tell you that, it would spoil the story. Go read it and find out for yourself.
Technically the first book in the Discworld series, The Color of Magic won't really give you any information on Discworld that you wouldn't get from starting with any other book in the series, so it really doesn't matter which you read first. Anyway, I loved (of course) this book! It is over-the-top funny, and just generally awesome! Terry Pratchett, as always, seems unable to write a single paragraph that doesn't poke fun at the world in general, and humanity in specific. The Discworld is a beautifully realised world with fantastic characters and well satirized cliches.Love it, read it, tell other people to read it, re-read it, repeat!
*Also known as the Soul Render, the Sender of Eight, and "the flip side of the coin of which Good and Evil are but one side." Whatever it (he?) is, it has too many tentacles for comfort.
Monday, August 22, 2011
Awesome Word (Or Phrase) of the Unspecified Random Time Period
Luscious: Adjective: Luscious means: pleasurable to the senses or mind; rich; or luxurious. So you could say... She bit into the luscious peach, the room was lusciously furnished, or her writing style was rich with luscious descriptions. I generally get a mental image of biting into a perfectly ripe, juicy peach when hearing or using this word. This is one of those words that doesn't get used enough in casual conversation. Why not try it out?
Friday, August 19, 2011
High Wizardry
By Diane Duane
Book Three of the Young Wizards Series
Nita's younger sister Dairine just found out that wizardry exists, and that her sister is a wizard. Star Wars addict that she is, Dairine is thrilled, and she wants wizardry. Then Nita's family gets a new computer, and Dairine discovers that it has some unusual software. The computer is a Manual, and Dairine is a wizard. Not only a wizard, but a wizard more powerful than Nita and Kit together. And all that power attracts attention. Dairine gets herself halfway across the galaxy before anyone realizes she's gone, and attracts the Lone Power's attention. She gives Its minions the slip and finds a planet light years away from the known universe to hide out until she figures out the computer better. The planet she finds turns out to be basically a giant computer chip, and sentient. It plugs into Dairine's computer, and she gives it everything Spot--the computer- has got, including the wizardry. The planet then produces the mobiles with Dairines help; small robot like creatures linked to the Motherboard--the planet--and eachother. THIS is the reason for Dairine's power. Wizardry is not random. powerful wizards appear when needed, and now Dairine must face off against the Lone Power, aiding in the mobiles Choice. Nita and Kit meanwhile, have found her missing, and with Peach, the local Senior wizards' psychic macaw have set off to find her. Can they find her before the Lone Power destroys the mobiles--and Dairine?
I have been meaning to do this post for a while now, but somehow never got around to it. High Wizardry is my favorite book in an absolutely wonderful series. Amazing characters and world, facinating plot, brilliant writing, Diane Duane's Young Wizard series is a must read for any fantasy lover. LOVE IT! I know I tend to gush in these reviews, but truly, this book is that good. They all are! Anyway, read the series, and READ THE BOOK!
Book Three of the Young Wizards Series
Nita's younger sister Dairine just found out that wizardry exists, and that her sister is a wizard. Star Wars addict that she is, Dairine is thrilled, and she wants wizardry. Then Nita's family gets a new computer, and Dairine discovers that it has some unusual software. The computer is a Manual, and Dairine is a wizard. Not only a wizard, but a wizard more powerful than Nita and Kit together. And all that power attracts attention. Dairine gets herself halfway across the galaxy before anyone realizes she's gone, and attracts the Lone Power's attention. She gives Its minions the slip and finds a planet light years away from the known universe to hide out until she figures out the computer better. The planet she finds turns out to be basically a giant computer chip, and sentient. It plugs into Dairine's computer, and she gives it everything Spot--the computer- has got, including the wizardry. The planet then produces the mobiles with Dairines help; small robot like creatures linked to the Motherboard--the planet--and eachother. THIS is the reason for Dairine's power. Wizardry is not random. powerful wizards appear when needed, and now Dairine must face off against the Lone Power, aiding in the mobiles Choice. Nita and Kit meanwhile, have found her missing, and with Peach, the local Senior wizards' psychic macaw have set off to find her. Can they find her before the Lone Power destroys the mobiles--and Dairine?
I have been meaning to do this post for a while now, but somehow never got around to it. High Wizardry is my favorite book in an absolutely wonderful series. Amazing characters and world, facinating plot, brilliant writing, Diane Duane's Young Wizard series is a must read for any fantasy lover. LOVE IT! I know I tend to gush in these reviews, but truly, this book is that good. They all are! Anyway, read the series, and READ THE BOOK!
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