A miscellaneous collection of things
- My fandom stocking is up! I love Fandom Stocking so much; it's such a delightful, no-pressure fest. (And they're still taking signups, if you're interested!) I've been having so much trouble writing lately that this is clearly not going to be one of those years when I try to put something in the stocking of everyone I know, but since I haven't really been doing holiday fic exchanges the last few years, this is where most of my fic-gifting efforts take place.
Books:
- Stranger by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith is really fun, especially if you're more into the community-building aspect of post-apocalypse scenarios than the destruction aspects (which I am). There's a large ensemble cast and an overall hopeful, "most people are basically good at heart" vibe. One of the things I liked about the book is that for the most part, even the really unpleasant people in the group (the bigots, the snobs) are still fundamentally decent and willing to come through in a crisis; it's not a case of ~everyone who doesn't get along with the main characters is EEEEEVIL~, which I really appreciated. There's also a general sense that, while the book (being YA) is primarily focused on the teenagers, the adults have a really interesting backstory that I want to know more about! I'm looking forward to the sequel.
- Dresden Files: War Cry - Graphic novel which came in my Amazon order yesterday, and turned out to be an unexpected delight because I somehow missed that it's written by Jim Butcher and is therefore actual canon (it takes place between Dead Beat and Proven Guilty). And as well as featuring the Wardens, so we get to see the comics versions of Luccio and Ramirez, it's FULL OF THOMAS. Thomas and Harry snarking at each other, saving each other's lives, etc ... in case that's, you know, an enticement for anyone. :> You get quite a lot of Thomas's POV in this, too, which is something that's lacking in the novels since they're all in Harry's viewpoint. The cover art for War Cry #5 (the graphic novel is a collection of 5 single issues) is also Relevant To My Interests. Sadly this is not an actual scene from the comic. But it is still nifty.
In general I kinda can't get over how much Butcher obviously loves writing Harry and Thomas, and how fanficcy his side stories with those two tend to be. (Still not over the birthday story. NEVER OVER THE BIRTHDAY STORY.) War Cry also includes a scene where [spoiler]Harry is mind-controlled into attacking Thomas, who employs the Steve Rogers Solution(TM): don't fight back, he'll stop on his own when he realizes he's hurting you! Luckily, Harry being Harry, it works. (And also confirms a longstanding headcanon of mine that Thomas would literally rather die than hurt Harry.)[/end spoiler]
Something I was also thinking about, Dresden Files-related, is that the part of the series from approximately Blood Rites to just before Turn Coat is where my heart is anchored in that series. I don't know if it's just because that was the general time period when I started reading so I imprinted on it, and it's not that there haven't been plenty of things I've enjoyed in the books since then, but that's "my" Dresden Files, and it was really nice to have another story from that era.
This entry is also posted at http://sholio.dreamwidth.org/986012.html with
comments.
Books:
- Stranger by Rachel Manija Brown and Sherwood Smith is really fun, especially if you're more into the community-building aspect of post-apocalypse scenarios than the destruction aspects (which I am). There's a large ensemble cast and an overall hopeful, "most people are basically good at heart" vibe. One of the things I liked about the book is that for the most part, even the really unpleasant people in the group (the bigots, the snobs) are still fundamentally decent and willing to come through in a crisis; it's not a case of ~everyone who doesn't get along with the main characters is EEEEEVIL~, which I really appreciated. There's also a general sense that, while the book (being YA) is primarily focused on the teenagers, the adults have a really interesting backstory that I want to know more about! I'm looking forward to the sequel.
- Dresden Files: War Cry - Graphic novel which came in my Amazon order yesterday, and turned out to be an unexpected delight because I somehow missed that it's written by Jim Butcher and is therefore actual canon (it takes place between Dead Beat and Proven Guilty). And as well as featuring the Wardens, so we get to see the comics versions of Luccio and Ramirez, it's FULL OF THOMAS. Thomas and Harry snarking at each other, saving each other's lives, etc ... in case that's, you know, an enticement for anyone. :> You get quite a lot of Thomas's POV in this, too, which is something that's lacking in the novels since they're all in Harry's viewpoint. The cover art for War Cry #5 (the graphic novel is a collection of 5 single issues) is also Relevant To My Interests. Sadly this is not an actual scene from the comic. But it is still nifty.
In general I kinda can't get over how much Butcher obviously loves writing Harry and Thomas, and how fanficcy his side stories with those two tend to be. (Still not over the birthday story. NEVER OVER THE BIRTHDAY STORY.) War Cry also includes a scene where [spoiler]Harry is mind-controlled into attacking Thomas, who employs the Steve Rogers Solution(TM): don't fight back, he'll stop on his own when he realizes he's hurting you! Luckily, Harry being Harry, it works. (And also confirms a longstanding headcanon of mine that Thomas would literally rather die than hurt Harry.)[/end spoiler]
Something I was also thinking about, Dresden Files-related, is that the part of the series from approximately Blood Rites to just before Turn Coat is where my heart is anchored in that series. I don't know if it's just because that was the general time period when I started reading so I imprinted on it, and it's not that there haven't been plenty of things I've enjoyed in the books since then, but that's "my" Dresden Files, and it was really nice to have another story from that era.
This entry is also posted at http://sholio.dreamwidth.org/986012.html with
comments.