New Year’s Resolutions (That I Will Inevitably Not Keep)

So, I’ve been looking back at my posts from this time last year and laughing at the resolutions I made and how I managed to totally fail to keep them.

It’s not for a lack of effort, or a lack of good intentions. I think the problem is, you make all these promises to yourself and set out to achieve them, but you have no idea where you’ll be in a week’s time, let alone by the end of the year.

Take, for instance, a promise I made to myself in october. Not a resolution, but something I had every intention of achieving. That was to edit my novel. I was going to do it over the Christmas break. It’s nearly the end of my christmas break now, and I’ve just about reached halfway through – and that’s more reading than editing. The reason? I bought a house. I had no idea I would be finishing that process now in October. So I have spent the past few days working my backside off, painting, decorating, cleaning and generally preparing the new place for moving in to. It rather eats in to the oodles of editing time I thought I would have.

I am going to make some New Year’s resolutions. It wouldn’t be a proper New Year without them. I make them in full awareness that my situation will change, things will happen that affect my priorities. But, it will be nice to look back this time next year (provided the world hasn’t ended) and see how much things have changed, and what unexpected turns my life has taken.

New Year’s Resolutions

• Get my house fully decorated (within reason – I am aware that it’s a long term project. I just want it so that there is one clear priority at a time, rather than the twenty or so we have at the moment.)
• Write novel 3
• Edit novel 2
• Read and return friend’s books (this was a resolution last year too… I returned two this month, but the were the first two in ages. Fail.)

Review: How To Survive A Robot Uprising by Daniel H. Wilson

Title: How To Survive A Robot Uprising: Tips On Defending Yourself Against The Coming Rebellion

Author: Daniel H. Wilson

Series: N/A

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Genre: Humour/Help Guide

Summary (from Goodreads)

An inspired and hilarious look at how humans can defeat the inevitable robot rebellion—as revealed by a robotics expert.

How do you spot a robot mimicking a human? How do you recognize and then deactivate a rebel servant robot? How do you escape a murderous “smart” house, or evade a swarm of marauding robotic flies? In this dryly hilarious survival guide, roboticist Daniel H. Wilson teaches worried humans the keys to quashing a robot mutiny.

From treating laser wounds to fooling face and speech recognition, besting robot logic to engaging in hand-to-pincer combat, How to Survive a Robot Uprising covers every possible doomsday scenario facing the newest endangered species: humans. And with its thorough overview of current robot prototypes—including giant walkers, insect, gecko, and snake robots—How to Survive a Robot Uprising is also a witty yet legitimate introduction to contemporary robotics. Full of cool illustrations, and referencing some of the most famous robots in pop-culture, How to Survive a Robot Uprising is a one-of-a-kind book that is sure to be a hit with all ages.

What’s Good About It

The illustrations. No, seriously. Get yourself a copy just to flick through the illustrations – they are hilarious.

But in terms of the actual writing, that was pretty funny too – there are a lot of pop culture references, and some completely random statements that illicit a snort of laughter. The advice seems pretty sound too – Wilson clearly knows his robots (as he should do with a Ph.D in them) and the descriptions of current prototype robots are fascinating – great research for any budding science fiction writer.

The ‘How to Survive the Uprising’ section was the best bit – there were some really funny ‘what to do only in a last ditch attempt’ sections based on popular films, which made me laugh. And you could really imagine some hardened survivalist actually doing some of the things suggested.

What’s Not So Good

A pedantic point, perhaps, but I didn’t like the size of the book. It’s supposed to be a pocket guide sort of deal, but the pages were quite stiff and difficult to read.

It was also a bit repetitive at times. As someone who has studied presentation of informative writing numerous times, I felt I could have given Wilson some tips on how to present his information. The old ‘Subheading-Information’ routine got a bit dry by the end. I wanted diagrams and tables and charts etc. But perhaps that’s me being a total nerd.

Rating: 3/5

Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

This is me posting for probably the last time until the new year. Yesterday we received the keys for our new house, and I’ve been busy cleaning ready to decorate. My hands are murder just typing this!! Scrubbed raw. After Christmas, we need to get the painting and moving our furniture done, before I go back to work at the start of January, so there will be very little time for writing blog posts, and I don’t know how quickly our internet will be back up and running once we’re in the new place. It’s all a bit up in the air.

But for now, have a very merry Christmas, and I will see you sometime in the new year!

Character Study: Flynn Rider

Name: Flynn Rider (or Eugene Fitzherbert)

Book/Film/TV Show: Film

Personality: The most wanted man in the Kingdom – a thief, a rogue and a total charmer.

Why They’re A Great Character: I confess to being a total sucker for the ‘bad boy turned good by love’ archetype. It’s been a while since I watched a Disney film – in fact, I think Wall-E was the last one I sat down on purpose to watch – but the advantage of having younger siblings is that they have a steady supply of the classics and the new features. In a fit of ‘I just want to watch something nice and fluffy’, I borrowed Tangled.

The leading man Flynn Rider, or Eugene Fitzherbert as we later discover, is in no way a three dimensional, original character.  He is in every way the archetypal bad boy – attractive, charming, shallow, quick to betray his companions and interested only in how he can make lots of money, but with a hidden past that makes him appealing and conveniently explains all his flaws.

But, while he gains no points for originality, his character works because the story he exists in is so charming and ‘fluffy’ that you can forgive any two-dimensionality. Also, the fact that Zachary Levi voices him helps. He should read audiobooks. I would buy them, just to listen to his voice.

A lot of people talk about originality being very important. And while I agree to an extent, there is no such thing as a story never told before. Everything could be described as having roots in some mythology, a different story, or a piece of art work, music or anything. Writers accumulate things, store them in the back of their minds and regurgitate them later in various combinations when coming up with their own ideas. As long as there is enough of a twist, or an injection of freshness from somewhere, even the oldest, tiredest ideas can work well.

Case and point: Flynn Rider. Who I am a little bit in love with. But possibly not as much as I love Pascal the chameleon.

Review: Divergent By Veronica Roth

Title: Divergent

Author: Veronica Roth

Series: Divergent #1

Publisher: HarperCollins

Genre: YA Dystopia

Summary (from Goodreads)

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.

During the highly competitive initiation that follows, Beatrice renames herself Tris and struggles to determine who her friends really are—and where, exactly, a romance with a sometimes fascinating, sometimes infuriating boy fits into the life she’s chosen. But Tris also has a secret, one she’s kept hidden from everyone because she’s been warned it can mean death. And as she discovers a growing conflict that threatens to unravel her seemingly perfect society, she also learns that her secret might help her save those she loves…or it might destroy her.

What’s Good About It

I must confess, I do love a Dystopia. I love the way the world is never as it seems, the clues weaved into the narrative that things aren’t okay. I love the characters fighting to save their lives, fighting for the things they believe in, to change the world for the better. I love the forbidden romance that often blossoms.

So, I was unavoidably set up to like Divergent before I even started reading it. And that can go three ways: I enjoy it like I thought I would, it’s a horrible disappointment, or – the best option – it surpasses my expectations, and I love it more than I thought was possible.

Divergent went the third way. It was a perfect blend of everything good about Dystopia, and I loved every second of it – devouring it over the course of a couple of evenings.

Tris was a great character – strong and vulnerable at the same time. I loved that Roth wasn’t afraid to make her entirely unlikable at times – a product of her initiation trials and training. There’s never any real sense that Tris is going to turn evil, but there are a couple of moments where you see how she could become the same as the enemies she is working against, which I thought was very brave characterisation.

The idea of factions was interesting, and I loved the building sense of discord between them. There were a couple of factions that weren’t explored fully, but I get the sense that they will feature more heavily in later instalments.

What’s Not So Good

Some may not approve of some of the more graphic violence, I suppose, but it’s nothing beyond what’s common for the genre.

Rating: 5/5

Review: Fallen Grace by Mary Hooper

Title: Fallen Grace

Author: Mary Hooper

Series: N/A

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Genre: YA Historical

Summary (from Goodreads)

Grace Parkes has just had to do a terrible thing. Having given birth to an illegitimate child, she has travelled to the famed Brookwood Cemetery to place her small infant’s body in a rich lady’s coffin. Following the advice of a kindly midwife, this is the only way that Grace can think of to give something at least to the little baby who died at birth, and to avoid the ignominy of a pauper’s grave.

Distraught and weeping, Grace meets two people at the cemetery: Mrs Emmeline Unwin and Mr James Solent. These two characters will have a profound affect upon Grace’s life. But Grace doesn’t know that yet. For now, she has to suppress her grief and get on with the business of living: scraping together enough pennies selling watercress for rent and food; looking after her older sister, who is incapable of caring for herself; thwarting the manipulative and conscience-free Unwin family, who are as capable of running a lucrative funeral business as they are of defrauding a young woman of her fortune.

What’s Good About It

I picked this up after seeing a friend rave on her blog. It’s not the sort of novel I usually reach for. There’s a distinct absence of magic and monsters. Despite that, though, I really loved Fallen Grace.

It wasn’t the most challenging of plots, and there was never really a sense that things wouldn’t turn out all for the best for everyone in the end, even when the situation of Grace and her sister was at its most dire, but it was a beautifully written book, perfect for whiling away a morning.

Victorian London was evoked brilliantly, and within a few pages, I was left really wanting to watch Young Victoria. I love books that make me fascinated with the subject matter and desperate to learn more about it. Victorian England is not a subject that has interested me before. I read Great Expectations for my GCSE and hated it, and that’s about the limit of my experience with the topic. But, as I said, I’m now filled with an urge to go out and find more books, films and immerse myself in the culture.

It was very easy to read, too. After working hard to make my way through a few books, it was so refreshing to read something that could just be absorbed and enjoyed. I doubt it will ever win awards for brilliance, but it was exactly what I needed. I devoured it in a few hours.

What’s Not So Good

As I said, the plot isn’t exactly full of threat. Grace does find herself in some difficult situations, but the overriding feeling was always that a huge pile of money or a forgotten relative was waiting round the corner for our heroine, even in the opening pages, before it becomes completely clear where the plot is heading.

There are a few too many coincidences and cases of ‘that’s a bit convenient’ to make it really elegant writing. Lyrical, yes, but when looking at plot rather than prose, there were one too characters connected to Grace and her plight in increasingly unlikely ways. In fiction you can forgive a couple of coincidences, but after that it just becomes laughable. Not laughable enough to reduce this below four stars, but too much so for it to earn any higher.

Rating: 4/5

Review: A Fistful Of Charms by Kim Harrison

Title: A Fistful of Charms

Author: Kim Harrison

Series: Rachel Mogan #4

Publisher: Voyager

Genre: Urban Fantasy

Summary (from Goodreads)

The evil night things that prowl Cincinnati despise witch and bounty hunter Rachel Morgan. Her new reputation for the dark arts is turning human and undead heads alike with the intent to possess, bed, and kill her — not necessarily in that order.Now a mortal lover who abandoned Rachel has returned, haunted by his secret past. And there are those who covet what Nick possesses — savage beasts willing to destroy the Hollows and everyone in it if necessary.

Forced to keep a low profile or eternally suffer the wrath of a vengeful demon, Rachel must nevertheless act quickly. For the pack is gathering for the first time in millennia to ravage and to rule. And suddenly more than Rachel’s soul is at stake.

 

What’s Good About It

Anyone who’s my friend on Goodreads may have noticed that this has been my ‘currently reading’ book for well over a year. I’ve been picking it up, reading a few chapters, putting it down again on and off for months and have only just managed to finish. The fact that I’ve managed to keep returning to it for so long is very telling about the quality of story is being told.

Rachel Morgan’s world is a richly imagined one, and populated with fascinating characters. The politics, the magical systems – the whole premise is detailed and enveloping. When I was reading it, I didn’t want to put it down. But this was one I was reading purely for pleasure. I’ve borrowed it off a friend who (I really really hope!) is in no rush to get it back, and I would often put it on the back burner when review books came through. Putting it down made it a less appealing prospect to read, as there was a lot going on, and I had to remind myself of everything each time I started again.

I wonder if I had read this in one straight stretch whether I would have given it five stars, rather than the four I’ve chosen. It has all the things I like – mystery and intrigue and romance played against a backdrop of the supernatural – but the fact that I did keep putting it down and coming back to it, rather than powering through, review books be damned, makes me think that it’s probably more deserving of the four stars I’ve given it: good, but not brilliant enough to hold my attention over everything else on offer.

There’s not a lot else I can say about the story without spoiling things if you haven’t read previous instalments. The Goodreads summary is spoilery enough. I will leave it at this: if you enjoyed Rachel Morgan books 1-3, then A Fistful of Charms is much the same fare. An enjoyable read.

What’s Not So Good

I don’t know… I just don’t enjoy Kim Harrison’s books as much as I enjoy Kelley Armstrong’s. I guess it’s just a matter of personal taste, as there isn’t really anything ‘wrong’ as such with Rachel Morgan and pals. Just not my favourite urban fantasy writer or series.

Rating: 4/5

Review: Ashes by Ilsa J. Bick

Title: Ashes

Author: Ilsa J. Bick

Series: Ashes #1

Publisher: Quercus

Genre: YA Dystopia

Summary (from Goodreads)

Seventeen-year-old Alex is hiking through the wilderness when it happens: an earth-shattering electromagnetic pulse that destroys almost everything.

Survivors are divided between those who have developed a superhuman sense and those who have aquired a taste for human flesh. These flesh-hunters stalk the land: hungry, ruthless and increasingly clever…

Alex meets Tom, a younge army veteran, and Ellie, a lost girl. They will fight together and be torn apart, but Alex must face the most difficult question of all: in such a vastly changed world, who can you trust?

What’s Good About It

There are a lot of reviews on Goodreads that say this book is amazing for the first 250 pages or so, and then it goes dramatically downhill. While I can see what they are saying – and I did take considerably longer to read the second half than the first – I think these people are overlooking a number of merits Ashes has throughout it’s entire length because the story took a turn they didn’t favour.

Without giving away too much of the plot, things happen in the second half of the book that perhaps don’t fit in with the reader’s idea of ‘happy ever after’. And while those things that the reader desires aren’t closed off completely – and with two more books in the pipeline, Ilsa J. Bick has plenty of time to write her way back around to the ending her readership so desires – I think it was very brave of the author to deviate from the comfortable line.

I confess, I didn’t want the drama of the first half to end. Much as certain individuals (again, can’t be too specific or things will be spoiled) irritated the hell out of me, there was a nice, familial tone of ‘things might not be so bad in the post apocalyptic world after all’. But therein lies the problem that Bick so elegantly solved by ripping the nicely constructed setup apart once again – comfortable is boring. If things had carried on as they were doing for another 200 pages, we would have been bored. It’s a zombie apocalypse people! Stuff happens. Bad stuff.

I liked Alex as a character – the whole idea of the brain tumour lends creeping uncertainty and fear to the every day, on top of all the overt flesh eating zombie horror. The aptly named settlement of Rule, with their sinister obsession with young people and survivors, was a realistic vision of what society could become in post apocalyptic days. All the gore, the survival, the illness and death were sometimes painfully real – particularly the bit where a young man bitten by something has his wound go septic and maggot infested. It was a truly grisly set piece that highlighted the fragility of life, even in a place with some structure and semblance of society.

And that’s the key thing about dystopias. You can’t feel too comfortable. There has to be ever present threat of death or at least dismemberment. And I’m not saying that because I’m some sort of sociopath… I know. I’ve double checked.

What’s Not So Good

Despite the aforementioned good points about the midway break in the narrative path, there is something to be said for the fact that the second half isn’t as intense. Perhaps it’s the fact that Rule is safer, or just that I wasn’t as interested in the characters that populated it, but something made the second half drag more than it should have. Which is why this earns a comfortable 4 stars, but can’t go any higher, despite the excellent beginning.

Rating: 4/5

Sunday Recap, 11/12

The weeks seem to be shooting by at the moment. I can hardly believe it’s the 11th of December already. I’m feeling quite pleased that I’ve got the majority of my Christmas shopping done already, including my work secret santa.

It’s been a good week for writing too, with a new idea inspired by a book I read (been doing a lot of reading – three reviews next week!) and the start of an old idea inspired by a random thought in the car. I’ve written well over my target 1000 words, and although they aren’t on the story I intended to add them to, I’m going to chalk this one up as a win.

I think next week will be another week of reading and hopefully a bit of writing too. When I’ve excised the new idea from my head by getting the details typed up and saved, I will return to the story opening and see if I can blitz out the first chapter or so. Then I am off for Christmas for a couple of weeks and I’m hoping to start editing and writing in earnest before I go back to work in January.

Very exciting times!

Target For Next Week

• Type out story plan
• Finish chapter one of new story

Inspiration

Sometimes, all it takes is a line. The floodgates open, and the ideas are pouring onto the page.

Before yesterday, I’d barely written a word beyond some planning notes. I’d tried to write a short story, but was lacking the drive and the ideas. Then, as I was driving to work, a line popped into my head. The line was this:

The application form looms between us, but I don’t think Mother sees the significance.

That was it. A single line. Now I am writing again, just in time for the Christmas hols.

And it feels good.