The Legend of Huma

Hello all! Last week, me and my wife just about recovered from a very strenuous week and half, and the weekend was not much better. On Saturday we got to go out with some good news and on Sunday I got to enjoy a quiet, NFL Sunday. So, on to this week’s post.

Books

I managed to finish The Legend of Huma, and I was reminded why I loved this book so much. From all of the Dragonlance series books I have read, I like this one better because it is darker, it has an air of despair, of hopelessness that the other books do not have. It also has well rounded characters and interesting plot points, giving us a glimpse into the Knights of Solamnia’s world, before the change of Age, filled with political intrigue and their fair share of backstabbing. But, most of all, the book describes the relationship between Huma, Kaz and Magius, an eclectic trio of heroes that for one reason or another, found themselves thrown head first into the battle against Takhisis.
Other Dragonlance novels are not quite up to par to Knaak’s superb narrative and it makes Huma stand out from the rest of the Heroes books.

Ugh, I need to give Pattern Recognition another shot because the book club is going to meet soon. I have never left a book I started and I won't start now.

I am halfway through the Black Company’s fourth book and I am still quite engrossed in the history and in the characters. I am one of those readers that truly identifies or antagonizes with the characters I am reading, thus I get truly involved in the whole reading experience. Croaker and Raven are the types of characters that I root for and that I am not likely to forget any day soon. Enjoying the book so far.

I also began the first book of the Mistborn Trilogy, Mistborn: The Final Empire, and as usual, the beginning of the book is interesting, enticing and maddening, all at the same time. He always dives into the world with no respite; no explanation, no warning and I just LOVE that! It is still too early to really tell if I ma going to like the book or not, but so far so good.

Also reading book 1 of the Chronicles of Amber series, Nine Princes in Amber and, while I only have a few chapters under my belt, the story flows quickly and I am still at that stage where I have absolutely no idea of what I am reading, but want to know more.

I have been in the mood for a good mystery novel, anyone has any suggestions?

Writing

Well, this past week I finally finished X’s Game, the short story I am going to submit to the contest. It is fairly short, for my standards anyway, a tad over 7,000 words, but I do feel that this one has a real shot being successful.

The Druid’s Grove is next, and I will tackle it this week. The chapters I have posted have been read quite more than I had imagined at first, and the reviews have not been that bad. What is evident is that they need to be proofread more thoroughly before being posted, and I will do a much better job of that from now on. There are a lot of typos and stuff like that that simply will not cut it.
The story of the novel is based on three characters, and we get to see the story told through the eyes of these three characters. The Elven, Human and Dwarven story. I am almost finished with the Elven story, but have not really worked on the Human and Dwarven story. So, I still have a lot of work to do.

The Scribes of Lore is finished, and will be edited and re-written (if needed) so that it will be ready for the contest as well. I found a few interesting websites where I can submit my work for cash prizes, but more importantly, for it to be read, so I will probably will be working in that as well, but the Grove is still the number 1 priority.

Games

Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWTOR) has now a definitive launch date: December 20, 2011. I cant tell you how excited I am for the release of this MMO, because, honestly, after World of Warcraft, there is a HUGE void of MMO action in my life.

I am planning on playing a Sith Warrior, more intent in generating threat and receiving damage than inflicting it, that is the original plan anyway. I am also truly excited because most of my real life friends will be playing this game, but we still need to convince a few more.

The site will still be updated on Mondays and if there is anything worth posting during the week, I will do so, but the Thursday update is now gone.

Have a great week guys!!!

Black Company Reloaded

Another week is in the books, and not too soon for me. It has been a pair of challenging weeks for me and my family, but thankfully, everything has been restored back to normal, and I hope that I can get back to updating the blog and posting more of my work on time.

This week I have been reading quite a lot actually, although not only books. For the last month I have experienced my first real attempt at reading comic books.

Comic Books

After talking about it with some of my well-versed friends on the matter, I decided that I was going to begin with Marvel’s Ultimate series, primarily the X-Men, Iron Man and Spider Man and the Avengers Series. I began with the Avengers series and just loved it. Then I began the X-Men series and have really enjoyed it so far. Both series are dark and brutal, there is no tiptoeing around the real issues that surround the characters. I was really surprised at how Xavier and Magneto are depicted, at the hard choices they have to make and the way they don’t flinch when taking said decisions. I hope this week I can read at least another 20 volumes of the series. Spider Man and Iron Man will have to wait.

Books

I just can’t seem to get around finishing Pattern Recognition. We just did not click. I seem to always wander off and I am forced to re-read the same page over, and over again. So, it is safe to say that I did not like it at all and to be honest, I have not enjoyed it one bit. The premise is interesting but I felt the world is too close to mine, if that makes any sense. I will finish it, I promise, I just don’t know when :P

I have a new literary romance: The Black Company. Yes, the Black Company is at it again, and I read books two and three of the series: Shadows Linger and The White Rose. I don’t why, but I have a soft spot in my heart for mercenary bands. The Captain, Elmo, the Lieutenant, Goblin, One-Eye, Raven, Otto and Croaker, who is the medic, and also official annalist of the Company. The second book is just a jewel of dark fantasy, as we follow two different stories: the Company’s passage to the north, filled with danger and doubts about the work they are doing for the Lady and her Taken, the latter also trying to get even with some of the Company’s members, and the one of an innkeeper and his strange guests in a cesspool called Juniper, and how his life will change once he manages to swallow his fears and restraint. The whole book is written under a somber cloak of grayness and despair and the magnificent story will not let you breath, let alone take a break.




The third book, The White Rose, is a bit less dark, and a bit more fantasy oriented. We still follow the Company as they make their way through the Desert of Fear and the Barrowlands. I don’t want to spoil the book if you are interested, so I will stop here with the review. However, I do encourage reading this fine series ASAP!




I also finished Hit List, the latest Anita Blake Novel. My wife, a complete Blake freak, er, I mean, fan, did not like it and now I can see why: It is not that good. I have felt that most of the elements that made this series as successful as it is, are missing. Anita is no longer Anita, not in the good way. I get that characters evolve, I did not know they devolved as well. She is careless doing her job, taking her care of her body and her needs. The story is convoluted and to be honest with you all, right at the end it makes no sense at all, and well, it is just not good. The book is filled with situations that are worn and tired, with moments that we have read before, over and over again. There is nothing new, and whatever novelty is offered it is bland, sexual and/or simply lacking. Let’s see if the next book is better and if not, well, I have enjoyed 19 books of the series, so it is not that much of a big deal.

I began two more books, The Legend of Huma, because frankly I need some epic fantasy and the first book of the Mistborn Trilogy. I hope I will have finished at least one of those books, because I am also reading book four of the Black Company series.


Games

It has been a while since I sat down and played a game. I am almost done with my play through of Final Fantasy VII, and because I know it by heart, it is not difficult to leave the game for a couple of months before continuing.

Guild Wars is on hiatus again, but I really like the subtle, and no so subtle differences between expansion packs. In fact, even though the setting is in the same world, the game playing changes and the distinct themes of each expansion makes you fell that you are playing a completely new game, and that is hard to do. The Prophecies campaign, the original, is great, but it requires a lot more of grinding to level up, while the Nightfall and Factions expansions do not. All in all, I think it is a beautiful game and I hope to have at least three toons level 20 before Guild Wars 2 hits the shelves. I am also intrigued at what I am going to do about GW 2, I don’t know if I want to buy it or not, because I know I want to play it! The problem is that with Star Wars coming out at the end of the year, and I have already pre-ordered the Collector’s Edition, I won't have much time to spare. I am excited about SW because most of my friends are going to play it as well, and that makes all the difference in the world, and because the game looks great. Still, GW 2 will not have a monthly fee, so that makes it also very attractive.

Fallout 3 is also on hiatus, the world is simply too big for me to really compromise and finish it off, although it is really good and lots of fun. Someday I will get this one done!

Final Fantasy XIII is also on hold, although I do expect to finish it before the year is done. It is too linear for my taste, but the graphics, music and story are very good and I am enjoying the game when I do sit and play it. Final Fantasy XIII-2 will be out around January of next year, so yeah, I want to play that one also :D

This week, I played Mass Effect again, for the first time in two years. I really liked the game a lot but for some reason, I just did not finish it. I spent most of the weekend with my daughter, both of us confined to our home because she had a cold, so I decided to give it another go, to at least finish it before any more Mass Effects games are produced. Mind you, I am talking about the first one, and it is really good, but also, it is HUGE! The problem that I have with these games, the problem I currently have with Fallout 3, is that I will play it and complete everything there is to complete, I will chase down any side quest available, and complete it before moving on with the main quest. If I don’t do that, then I can’t play it, which is why it takes me so long to finish these types of games.

Writing

It has completely stopped. Real life is sometimes too hard for me to have time to do anything at all, and the past few weeks have not been fun at all. However, I did manage to write a poem to my son and also, I think that my X story is almost done as well. Yes, really, it is almost done. I swear. Ok, this time it is, almost done. :D
The Druid’s Grove is the one suffering the most with my time problems, but I intend to get back on track this week.
I will post link to a Druid’s Chapter I had not posted before, and I think that one goes well as Chapter 2.

See you all on Thursday, I am sure I will have something for the update. Really.

I would like to thank each and every one of you that supported me and my wife during our boy’s illness. You know who you are so big hugs going all around!

Emergency

This was a very crazy week for me guys, that is why the update is late, again.
Life is on hold for me right now, a family emergency has put every little thing I complain about in perspective.
A real update will hopefully be up next week, and today I will post a new link to Chapter 3, maybe.
Thank you for your understanding!

Poetry!

Hiya all.

I hope you enjoy this little update. I am navigating through the murky waters of ideas that are simply stuck inside my head. This is just one of the results :P

New Sex

Hot and trendy, not words but texts
Sweat is replaced by an avalanche of information
Bytes are not bits, parted lips are slanted picks
Moans and ring tones go hand in hand
Bloody autocorrect, it is an erection after all
Downloading orgasms, eclectic keystrokes
Shut off phone, battery ran out.
Rinse and repeat.

Books, Writing and RPG!

It has been a busy weekend and a very busy beginning of the week for me. Sorry about the post being a day late :D.

Well, the past week was weird one: too much work and too much stress. I was looking forward a quiet weekend at home, and then on Sunday to visit some good friends and draft my fantasy football team. It all went down as planned, but I am still feeling tired.

This week I did not finish any new books, I am reading three, almost done with two, still working on the third.

Books

William Gibson’s Pattern Recognition has been a lot of work. The first few chapters have not been kind to me and I am finding the book to be very interesting but very difficult as well. While Cayce is a very interesting character and her job is one I would like to have for real, the pace and tone of the book, the terminology and the fact that many of the references are from our time, from this world, are a bit unnerving, yet this is what I have liked the most of the book so far.

Hit List is the last Anita Blake novel written so far, and I am not enjoying it as much as I thought I would. The reason? Well, it is more of the same. I posted last week that some of the male authority figures in the series are just mean, racist, misogynist pigs. At first, you get the idea of the world Anita Blake lives in, but seriously, the mold of these types of characters are just too much for me. Also, the stories used to be good, there used to be a plot that was a part of Anita’s line of work, the investigations, the jobs of raising the dead, the many adventures with Death. However, those plot lines are weak and diluted, they are not as important as the sexual encounters. Anyway, I hope the book’s last 20% is better than what I have read so far.

Shadow’s Linger is the second book of the Books of the North trilogy, written by Glenn Cook. So far so good. I really like this book, especially because I am enjoying the characters. The idea of an honor bound mercenary band has always been appealing to me, especially in a fantasy setting, and that is what the Company is. If you mix these supernatural beings, the Ten Who Where Taken and the Lady, and the unique type of magic they possess, with a fast paced and interesting story, then you have a winner in my books!

Writing

For the past couple of week I have been writing more articles than the novel, or the short story I am working on. That will stop this week. I do enjoy making top ten lists and other types of articles, but I waste too much of my time doing just that. I wrote a Travel Guide, and two book lists, as well as an introductory piece on fantasy, a poem and a flash fiction story. The lists are fun, the travel guide was not. The poem and the flash fiction story were pretty good exercises on reminding me that I can I write other stuff. I also posted the Prologue and Chapter 1 in their new homes. So, I don’t think this is working for me. Why? Well, I do not have time to write an article a day, or a week for that matter, and use what little time I have to write my novel and short stories. I am not good at that either, so I won’t continue. The top ten guides and lists are fun and will continue to write them when and if time permits. Also, I like sharing my work on other sites, like HubPages, where I can create unique pages for each chapter of the book. The problem that I have encountered though is that I get too caught up on page views and not enough on the content. I have not edited these first drafts, and I guess I need to. I like being read, but I like writing more, so I will focus on that this week.

The Druids’ Grove is still stalled on Chapter 13 of the Elven story.

Now, X’s game is done, but I will rewrite it today and probably tomorrow as well. It was just too long and not fast enough, at least in my mind. It will be ready to be sent this week.

The freelance writing thing, well, I am not sure I am cut out to write hundreds of articles on topics I do not know much of, or are not that interested to begin with, so I will focus more on the creative aspect of freelance writing, submitting poems, stories and such to online magazines. Hope this goes better.

RPG Thursday

Last week, we played a survival type RPG, where zombies will nom, nom your brains out. It was great! The setting was the ZM’s (Zombie Master) house, so even though I have been inside the house many times, I had not noticed that the house SUCKS for a zombie apocalypse. Ynoz will get us killed, I have no doubts on that, Emo Dorne will get himself killed, and JP, the Spider and I will survive against all odds, even if the ZM is intent on killing us. (Note to the ZM….chill out my friend! This is not a game of us against you, it is more of a game about us against you! LOL).

Updates

I used to update the site on Thursdays with my work, I will still be able to do so, although I have no clue as to what type of content it will include.

Have a great week!

Changes

Hello all! I hope you are all having a great week so far.

Well, I am going to be implementing some changes to the blog, specifically with those concerning my work. The Druid's Grove and the Short Stories pages are going to be deleted, because I am posting these works in other sites. Why? Well, I felt that the format of reading a while story or the escalating pages of the novel was becoming a tiresome and unpractical endeavor. I am going to post my work in a much friendlier format and I will make the links available to you once they are up and running. Right now, you can enjoy the Prologue of the novel in one of the links posted under the "My Other Links" header.

The Freelance writer adventure is well under way, I have been able to post interesting articles and some of the work I don't usually share, like my poetry or the flash fiction stories. I am sure that you have already read/tweeted/buzzed/digged/ all of the links, and if you haven't, well...what are you waiting for? The challenge of writing is to be able to create interesting content for you and I will try to share some of mine.

For the past 5 months I have been fortunate enough to be able to open a window of my life, to bare a bit of my soul with the world, and I intend to continue doing just that; however, I do want to get the blog back on track to the original purpose of sharing my work, books, book reviews, movies, T.V. series, webcomics and other things I enjoy. So I promise that there will be less personal epiphanies and tragedies, and more interesting content.

Have a great week and don't forget to visit the links!

P.S. Chapter 1 of the Druid's Grove will be up on Monday in its new home, the Scribes of Lore might be up by tonight, hopefully, in its new site as well.