Lion of Ireland (1981) Morgan Llywelyn

Lion of Ireland recounts the story of Brian Boru, one of the greatest kings of Ireland. He sought to unite all the small kingdoms and dispose of the petty rivalries that allowed the Norsemen to repeatedly plunder Irish cities.

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Sometimes I wish I carried a camera with me all the time.

I love to people watch–there are so many different things to see, from badly dressed college students, to elderly couples, to parents arguing with their kids. Sometimes it’s amusing, sometimes it’s depressing, but most of the time it’s just fascinating. You’ll catch a small glimpse into someone’s life that may or may not be representative of who they are.

Sometimes just glancing in the rearview mirror shows me a curious vignette.
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The comments on a thread over at Making Light have got me thinking about reading. The post was initially about people who don’t get fantasy, but what struck me was a passing comment on how people read:

For some of us, the irony and the metaphor and the assorted not-story bits are what we enjoy chewing on…Speaking solely for myself, the story element, no matter how cracking, rarely satisfies.

This completely boggles my mind–the idea of reading for anything besides the story.

When I read, for the most part, it is to become absorbed in the story. I may notice historical details, which I find interesting, but metaphor? That reminds me of the English literature classes that I thought I would like, but instead always found disappointing. I don’t care what different parts of the story stand for. I care what the characters do and what happens to them–usually to the point that I have trouble putting down the book and doing something else.

I read for the way that the books make me feel.

When I look over at my bookshelves, I can pick out my favorite fantasy books at a glance: Sean Russell’s The Initiate Brother, Guy Gavriel Kay’s Sarantine Mosaic, Steven Brust’s Viscount of Adrilankha, David Edding’s Belgariad, Ellen Kushner’s Swordspoint, Lian Hearn’s Tales of the Otori… and what all these books have in common is that I love the stories they tell, I love the way the stories make me feel what the characters feel, I love the characters.

That people would read fantasy for some other reason is astounding to me–I cannot wrap my mind around the idea. Sure I read non-fiction to learn–I enjoy learning. But fiction is an escape. I may wonder whether the details in a piece of historical fiction are correct or not, but that just makes me want to read more about the subject. (How do I love Google–let me count the ways.)

Is this reading fiction as a mataphor common? Do a lot of people do this? Why do they do this? Doesn’t it get in the way of enjoying a book?

Weird.

For a limited time only, authors are auctioning off an opportunity to appear in an upcoming book.

As much as I enjoyed Neil Gaiman’s offer:

“My next novel will be called THE GRAVEYARD BOOK. It’s a children’s novel, and will be published, er, when it’s published. Maybe in 2007 or failing that, 2008. It will have lots of gravestones in it. Your name, or the name of someone you love (who won’t mind) can be on a gravestone.”

When you can bid:
September 15-25

I liked Stephen King’s the best:

“One (and only one) character name in a novel called CELL, which is now in work and which will appear in either 2006 or 2007. Buyer should be aware that CELL is a violent piece of work, which comes complete with zombies set in motion by bad cell phone signals that destroy the human brain. Like cheap whiskey, it’s very nasty and extremely satisfying. Character can be male or female, but a buyer who wants to die must in this case be female. In any case, I’ll require physical description of auction winner, including any nickname (can be made up, I don’t give a rip).”

When you can bid:
September 8-18

Go while you have the chance!

The Iron Tower Trilogy: The Dark Tide (1984), Shadows of Doom (1984), The Darkest Day (1984)

The Iron Tower Trilogy tells the tale of the Winter War, Mordru’s final attempt to gain control of Mithgar and bring Gryphon back into the world.

The story is told from the point of view of Tipperton Underbank, whose journals were the basis for the tale. (I love the fact that Dennis McKiernan has “sources” for these stories, and sometimes goes into detail about the scholarship of those sources.) Tip has joined the Thornwalkers, a group whose job is to guard the Bosky from intruders–initially wolves, but it’s quickly learned that Vulgs have invaded the thorn ring and are attacking lone families.

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So several years ago I read the Sandman series of comic books, and absolutely loved them. Erin tried to introduce me to some other series, and for the most part I found the books okay, but I didn’t enjoy them nearly as much as Sandman.

So why do I care? Why am I interested in comics/graphic novels? Well, for one thing that’s a whole lotta books I haven’t read.

I started thinking about this partially because of a post over at Smart Bitches Who Love Trashy Novels that was a response to someone trashing women’s reading. Fantasy, romance, and comic books all fall into the category of books that people don’t respect. But after some thought, I don’t understand why.

Speaking only for fantasy–because that’s what I read–it does actually address lots of issues. The same types of issues that were addressed in the past by my favorites, folk tales and folk lore.

The series I’m reading now, Dennis L. McKiernan’s Mithgar series, covers at all kinds of topics, from environmentalism to overpopulation to the nature of free will. Even Piers Anthony, who frustrates me to no end, wrote an entire book looking at the nature of death, which was part of a series looking at death, fate, war, nature, time, evil, and good.

Just because it’s telling a story doesn’t mean it won’t make you think. After all, that is what folktales were supposed to do. Teach you a lesson while entertaining you.

So I’m curious about these books that seem like something I would like. After all, how different are superheroes from the Gods and Goddesses of Greece and Rome? Aren’t they just our modern mythology?

Of course, it may end up being like Science Fiction. I like a handful of titles (Ender’s Game, Becoming Human), but for the most part I just don’t like to read science fiction. It just doesn’t do anything for me. And it may turn out that comics are the same way. But I feel like I should give them a try first.

So, any recommendations?

I loved Sandman, as well as Neil’s comics about Death. I liked the first League of Extrodinary Gentleman, really disliked the second. I thought that Kingdom Come was okay, but felt like I was missing something (which would be, of course, the backstory of all the damned characters, yes?), I liked the first few books of The Books of Magic but was seriously annoyed by the end. (I kept wondering, “Where the hell did that come from? Why doesn’t this make any sense?”)

And that’s it.

Results for the 2005 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest are out!

My personal favorite was:

“The night resembled nothing so much as the nose of a giant Labrador in excellent health: cold, black, and wet.”

Devery Doleman
Brooklyn, NY

(If you don’t know, the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is an “international literary parody contest, [that] honors the memory (if not the reputation) of Victorian novelist Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton (1803-1873).)

ADDENDUM the First:
Also: The Lyttle Lytton Contest

The Eye of the Hunter (1992) Dennis L. McKiernan

If I remember correctly, this is the second Dennis McKiernan book I read–and the first novel. (The first book was the short story collection Tales of Mithgar.)

In The Eye of the Hunter, the Lastborn Firstborns Gwilly and Faeril, join with Riatha and Aravan to fulfill the oath to destroy the Baron Stoke, who killed Riatha’s brother, and Gwilly and Faeril’s ancestors.

I’ve read 78 books so far this year. Not including schoolbooks and cookbooks.

This also doesn’t count the books I’ve started and dropped for something else. (Michael Jecks The Merchant’s Partner, Stephen Lawhead Byzantium, Bite, David Liss A Conspiracy of Paper, Takashi Maisouka Cloud of Sparrows, John Matthews The Song of Taliesin. I haven’t abandoned these books completely though. Except Bite. That really wasn’t to my taste except for the Charlaine Harris story.)

For my information only…
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Into the Fire (1998) Dennis McKiernan
Book Two of the Hel’s Crucible Duology

The conlusion to the story started in Into the Forge, Phais, Loric, Tipperton, and Beau leave Mineholt North to continue Tip’s quest to take the coin to Agron. War continues to rage as Gryphon seeks to dominate Mithgar and its inhabitants.

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Into the Forge (1996) Dennis McKiernan

The first book in the Hel’s Crucible duology. Tipperton is awakened by sounds of battle outside his door, and thus is drawn into what is to become one of Mithgar’s great battles of good versus evil, as Gryphon seeks to dominate not just Neddra, but Mithgar and all its people.

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The Fencing Master (1988) Arturo Perez-Reverte
Translated by Margaret Jull Costa (1998)

I initially didn’t realize that this books were originally in Spanish, and was a little unsure when I realized they were translated, but then decided that it shouldn’t make a difference, and so happily read the book.

The Fencing Master is set in 1868 in Madrid, Spain. Don Jamie Astarloa is a fencing master, one of the last. Revolvers have taken the place of foils in dueling, and so fencing has changed from a gentleman’s skill, to something more akin to a sport, a way for gentleman to exercise.

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Burn Marks (1990) Sara Paretsky

V.I.’s aunt Elena shows up on her doorstop at 3 in the morning after escaping the fire that burned down the hotel where she was living. As an alcoholic deadbeat aunt is not the idea roomate, V.I. gives her 24 hours to find a new place and get out, but of course that isn’t the end of the story, and V.I. ends up investigating the arson.

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Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince (2005) J.K. Rowling

Finished.

And grr…

I liked the book up through the last couple chapters. Then it went exactly where I thought it was going to go. And I’m not happy about it.

Also, this had all the feel of a second book in a trilogy–minor points are resolved, but for the most part everything is left hanging, waiting for the final book.

I hate that.

Everything else I have to say is going to contain spoilers, so don’t read on if you haven’t already read the book and don’t want to know important plot points.

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