Thomas Covenant Review

The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever by Stephen R. Donaldson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

If you don't know what these books are about, Thomas Covenant is a modern leper who has lost his wife and most everything else. After an accident, he finds himself in "The Land", a land of fantasy creatures and people threatened by Lord Foul (the names in these books are not that original). Thomas' wedding ring is supposedly a powerful artifact to combat Lord Foul. But Thomas believes it's all in his head and doesn't think his choices matter. The people all believe in him, but he doesn't want them to. I wanted to like the books, but the writing style was very hard for me. Maybe I'm used to different styles, but it was hard for me to follow what was going on, and at times I got bored. I struggled to finish the first trilogy and couldn't bring myself to read the second. There were some good ideas, like Thomas refusing to shave to see if he would have a beard in his own world, although he then shaves it off and defeats the purpose. The concept, that you're responsible for your actions, whether they really affect other people or not, is interesting. Does it apply to things like World of Warcraft? Anyway, the descriptions didn't help me picture The Land very well, and Thomas was always whining and feeling sorry for himself, so it was a tough read. But it does take a different angle to fantasy than Lord of the Rings, where every character is perfectly good or evil.

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Alcatraz review

Alcatraz Versus the Evil Librarians by Brandon Sanderson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This series is for young adults, but that shouldn't stop you. It is hilarious. The premise is that librarians are evil, and since they control all the information, they can brainwash. It's all a giant controversy, they even managed to hide away a continent of people who rebel against them. The main character, Alcatraz, finds out that his father is one of these rebels and that his family all has talents (his is to break things...really). Those with talents all have prisons named after them, hence Alcatraz (there are others, but my favorite was a girl named Australia). They fight against the librarians using their supposed talents, and Alcatraz becomes something of a celebrity among the rebels. Brandon Sanderson is really creative with this, like one chapter in one book where they just quote Hamlet when talking. There were several times I burst out laughing. My only real complaint is that the books ended somewhat abruptly, I would love to see more.

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Romance and Fantasy part 2

A good romance within fantasy makes characters worth caring about, gives them more to lose if they fail in their journey, and provokes powerful emotions from the readers. But it can be hard. There are many that are over the top, and become unbelievable. Or too low key. There are characters where you wonder why they fall in love, and don't really have any chemistry, so it feels forced. Personally, I didn't care for the romances in Harry Potter. They felt a bit forced, so that everyone would be together and related in the end. Ginny didn't feel like she had much personality; she was just there so Ron and Harry could be brothers-in-law. Same thing with Hermione and Ron; I had no idea what she saw in him, although maybe from a female perspective it would be different, that she loved his humor or whatever. In the end, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stay together, but the romance elements didn't feel real to me. Also Edward and Bella in Twilight…from the perspective of a man, there's no reason why Edward should be so obsessed with her. She might be beautiful (although I don't find the emotionless Kristen Stewart all that attractive), but you'd think a hundred year old vampire would be able to judge beyond something so skin deep. She's a weak character and isn't very appealing to me, which is probably why many men don't like it, aside from being mushy. Another thing that happens in a lot of stories, including fantasy, is that the man (or boy) falls in love with a woman out of his reach, someone strong and independent maybe, and is pining for her, but eventually, they get together, and suddenly she becomes submissive and loses her personality, letting her new man do everything for her. People shouldn't lose what made them lovable in the first place once they hook up or get married.
Some authors seem to think that sex is the same as romance, that if they include descriptions of sex, it will make the readers fall in love with the characters. Some male authors use fantasy books to write porn (females as well, but often they write their own porn in romance novels). I feel that if the characters have sex, the reader doesn't really need to see it. Give them some privacy, even if they are fictional, unless it really has to do with the plot. We usually don't see the characters in the restroom; we don't need to see them in the bedroom. Graphic sex will probably turn off as many readers as it will attract, and the author's reputation will be damaged. So it should probably be left out. Both men and women are guilty of this.
Something else that often doesn't get shown is married love and romance. Often the characters are coming of age and at the end of the quest, they get married and the end, they lived happily ever after. Disney is partially responsible for this mentality. So many times, love is shown as good before marriage, but after being together, married people hate each other. A lot of sitcoms are based on this idea. But there are many things about romance that can be explored within marriage. It is different than young love, but not necessarily weaker, just not so full of drama. More stable. More enjoyable, really. If dating is a roller coaster, marriage is a road trip. Maybe not as exciting or scary, but at least you can hear each other talk, and there is still the anticipation of going somewhere together, that you're still on a journey.
In fantasy, love can be influenced by things that don't exist in real life. Love potions, spells that compel, magic that binds two souls together. Usually magic doesn't influence love itself, but can provide a counterfeit. True love can be what breaks curses and saves the day, like in Shrek. But despite what can be done in fantasy, love usually needs to be realistic for it to believable. Fortunately, love is the closest thing to magic in this life, so there is no real need to embellish it with magic to make it exciting. It already is.
There are several lists of good fantasy romances, mostly including female authors, as if men can't write romance. There is some bias in this, as woman are the ones judging. Like I said earlier, men write romance within a larger context of an adventure or other type of novel. If they were only to write romance fiction, they would probably be ridiculed and not have many sales. So beware, not all good romance comes from women, but can be hidden within other stories. Hopefully this post will get people thinking more critically about the romances presented. People want connection, want relationships, and reading about it can be rewarding, if done right. Here's to my wife, who's my fantasy and who taught me what real romance is. Thanks honey.
Reblogged from http://sageeyesblog.wordpress.com/2013/02/15/romance-and-fantasy-part-2/

Fantasy And Religion

This is an interesting topic, because there are so many way to approach this. I will only comment briefly for now, but I will try to provoke thoughtfulness. One way of showing religion in a fantasy story is having a religion, often times based off of Greek or other ancient myths, and having it be real. Gods are real, and they interact with humans, and they give humans powers. Like the Greek gods, they are imperfect, have their jealousies and wrath, and sometimes can be jerks. The people can decide which god to worship, or sometimes decide not to worship at all, because they are not worth worshiping, being imperfect, human. Basically these gods are powerful immortals. There was a series called The Tidelords by Jennifer Fallon that dealt with this idea. I'm a bit ambivalent about the ending, but the series was interesting. Other stories show these types of gods as representative of forces or ideas, again like the Greeks. American Gods by Neil Gaiman dealt with this idea, and if the people stopped believing, the gods lost strength. Others have done the same. Sometimes, there is no god, and the author is clear on that point. I personally don't enjoy the idea of fantasy telling me there is no god or supreme being, since there is magic and prophecy, which has to come from somewhere. Many authors who don't create their own gods imply that their world is like ours: most people aren't sure one way or another. Sometimes there are false gods, who deceive, or false priests.
There are many way to portray religion, but often the default, which in my opinion is entirely too easy and lazy, is to have the position of religion being bad, that the leaders are corrupt and want power, and sometimes the plot is about unmasking them. While there is no doubt that has been the case in our world many times, it is too simplistic to say that there is nothing good about religion and it is all false. Much good has come from religion, as well as bad, just like any other human (imperfect) institution. So portraying religion as evil or only for the foolish, when so many good and wise people in the real world believe devoutly, is foolishness in itself. There must be something good in the religions portrayed, or no one in the imaginary world would flock to them. Humans need to believe in something. Even science can be called a religion. Anyway, my point was not to offend anyone out there. you probably guessed I'm religious. I don't hate anyone for not believing, and I see why many people choose not to believe in any organized religion, but if you're writing a book and you want to include this topic, there should be some balance, even if you're an atheist. I hope this gets people thinking, at least.

Reblogged from http://sageeyesblog.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/religion-and-fantasy/

Sage Eyes

Welcome to Sage Eyes blog. What is Sage Eyes? It is a series of fantasy books, currently in progress, that I am writing (currently working on second draft of first book: REAWAKENING).
Here's what Sage Eyes is all about:

Snake Eyes. The most feared band of thieves in the kingdom of Mith. Named after revolutionary Sage Eyes, the group that banished the Dread Lords two millennia ago. Whether stealing from the rich or working with them against another noble, their skill and prestige have made them legendary. Arrogant even. Simon had the good life with them: feared, good company, a purpose in life, and no questions about his past. So it comes as a surprise when everything they had made for themselves comes crashing down because of a girl.

Princess Tiffany wanted to make something more of her life than living senselessly in a castle, having no real impact on the lives of her subjects. So she came up with a daring plan that she hoped would
rid the kingdom of a terrible thorn in its side. But when she gets involved with the wrong type of man for help, she soon loses everything she loved. Now she has to learn to redefine herself and her viewpoint of the world, on a journey that lets her experience firsthand what one of the least of her subjects has to go through.

Along with two elves, Mero, who would prefer to live away from his own kind, and Shiara, a quiet healer who is despised for the magic she wields, Simon and Tiffany cross the continent in search of a way to save Simon's life by finding ancient structures that hold a deep magic. But no one is sure they still work. Each of them has their own motives, but find themselves swept up in the bitter politics being played by a vengeful king. In the end, though, they'll all have to answer one question:

How much would you sacrifice to save a single life?

Reblogged from http://sageeyesblog.wordpress.com/2012/12/24/sage-eyes/