(no subject)

[skygiants]

I am pretty sure most of my thoughts on Michelle West's The Riven Shield (fifth book in the Sun Sword series) are highly spoilery, so basically elspeth_vimes is the only one who will have interest in much of this entry. Suffice to say: the series is I think still getting stronger as it goes, and even though I occasionally get lost in all the politics of who is what is where is aligning with whom, I can finally see things building to some kind of conclusion. Also, this is the most amazingly culture-clash-y book yet, which I love! The most fascinating parts of the book for me were actually Valedan and his Northern allies/Northern-influenced Southern allies trying to interact with the Callestas, who are interacting based on an entirely different set of ground-rules, and how the book does not shy away from the consequences of those rules. I also love Alina manages to force the possibility of moving between the two worlds, which is why she is awesome. (And Telakas the Least Menacing Demon continues to be hilarious, if . . . possibly only in my head. "Shit, I didn't mean to actually wound her seriously! Um . . . crap.")

Also awesome: SERRA TERESA KILLING A DEMON DEAD. I find it hilarious that everyone else's battles with demons take about twenty or thirty pages minimum, and Teresa takes hers down in, like, a page. AND THEN GOES INTO A COMA. But I am convinced that she will recover! Otherwise she would have just been dead.

However, I will admit that I have pretty much no idea what was happening during the whole epic battle of epicness with rivers rising and demons popping up all over the place and Avandar and the stag freaking out and Kallandras and his elf-buddy having their epic bromance. There was some dramatic manipulation of the elements! I'm pretty sure Jewel/Avandar is now pretty much canon! Other than that, WHO KNOWS, let us get back to the complicated politics now. The kai Lamberto showing up at the last minute was pretty awesome, though.

IN OTHER NEWS: areyoumymemmy linked to this beauty last night, and I - I don't even have words. Andrew Lloyd Webber. Andrew. Lloyd. Webber. Everything points to a production beyond my WILDEST DREAMS OF RIDICULOUS. *_*


Meg shoots Christine dead in a jealous rage.

Meg shoots Christine dead. In a jealous rage.

LEAVING THE PHANTOM ALONE WITH HIS AND CHRISTINE'S FANFIC BABY.

BRB LAUGHING FOREVER AND EVER. (milliways_bar people, I am suddenly filled with PROFOUND SORROW that Meg is retired and this can never be bar-canon.)

Other comments/highlights: the Phantom lures the child to his lair in a scene filled with the gorilla automaton, walking skeleton and a hanging chandelier of 20+ Medusa like skulls that come to life in song

there are some good bits like when u first see the phantom. He's feeling up one of the christine dummies like in the first one and suddenly she is bathed in coloured lights and her dress spins up into the air and flies off

I can't even suspect it of being a joke, for lo, I know in my heart, it is ALL TOO REAL.

OKAY GUYS WHO IS COMING TO NEW YORK TO SEE THIS WITH ME *_* *_* *_* *_*

Comments

[skygiants]

Haha, yeah - that's one of the reasons I'm trying to read them pretty quickly, is because I know if I wait more than a few months I will have no idea what's going on. But yeah, the Jewel/Avandar thing is complicated! It amuses me because it's very clearly set up with the tropes of a paranormal romance - there's the Fake!Marriage Brand! and the Sworn to Protect! and he is Immortal and Full of Manpain! and she is Kind and Idealistic and Reminds Him He's a Person! - and then instead of falling into his arms she spends pretty much the whole time being incredibly pissed off at him.

Fortunately, my attachment to POTO is the kind that is full of ironic love and lulz anyways, so I am pretty okay with this. (AHHH RETURN TO THE SECRET GARDEN THOUGH. AHHHHH! I skimmed through several pages and now it sits on my shelf like a terror and accusation before I have the chance to pass it off on some other unsuspecting person.)

[lacewood]

I seem to recall Avandar being kind of annoyed by the whole thing too. XD I suspect I hadn't read quite as much urban fantasy back then, so I didn't fully appreciate the way Jewel's epic grumpiness PUNCHES all the romance cliches they got saddled with in the FACE. [makes note to reread the series when she gets back/steals the last two books back from friend]

(... omg, you didn't read the whole thing? I DID. In hindsight I REALLY DON'T KNOW WHY I DID THAT TO MYSELF AAAHHHH. /consoles self with Mary the Vampire Slayer fic)

[skygiants]

I kind of think so too, but on the other hand, it was occasionally hard to tell, seeing as Avandar is kind of cryptically grumpyface about everything. It is his default state! One can tell he likes Jewel because he tempers his grumpyface with mentally snickering from her. [You should! And then post about it. :D She's writing the sequel series now, I think.]

(NOT YET but someday, I know, I will give in and read it JUST TO KNOW and then I will HATE MYSELF FOREVER.

. . . Mary the Vampire Slayer fic does make everything better, though.)

[lacewood]

I have the first book of the sequel series, so am planning to read it, well, eventually. Sadly the original series is back home in Singapore, so I'm not going to be able to get them again for months. XD;

(QUICK, GIVE IT AWAY. THROW IT OUT THE WINDOW! Memory has mercifully blurred most of it in my mind, but - I can probably spoil you for a few bits, if you wanted. *cough* No one was happy in the sequel. D: Why, sequel author, why.

Mary the Vampire Slayer was the best sequel I never knew I wanted <333)

[skygiants]

Awww, I know that feeling. (On the other hand, that's what libraries are for . . .? >.>)

(I - I think I know the relevant parts? @_@ i.e.: suicidal Dickon, TERRIBLE FANFIC BABY of uncertain parentage, Colin pining over Dickon and bringing rentboys to the garden . . .

Vampires do not stand a CHANCE against Mary Lennox.)

[lacewood]

I'm in China, where the libraries... have no English books D:

(I see you have been well warned informed. Excellent! Wait, I don't seem to remember the terrible fanfic baby... probably that's a good thing)

[skygiants]

:(

(I have very vague memories of Mary not knowing whether the kid's father is Dickon or Colin . . . but THAT'S OKAY, because the kid sort of looks like both of them, so really it's like the spirit of their OT3ness. It's like they're both his father! BIOLOGY HAS NO PLACE IN RETURN TO THE SECRET GARDEN.)