The Garden of Discordia

So I was going to do a nice, well-structured post on the German university system (because some of my former classmates from Sweden were curious) but that will have to wait a bit, since I'm feeling a bit too tired for that right now. My annoying almost-cold is beginning to become a real chest cold, which I am valiantly fighting with the help of fresh ginger tea, eucalyptus honey, hot steamy baths and a bit more actual shut-eye in the sleep/internet equation.

In the beginning of November, we'll go see the Norwegian all-female band Katzenjammer. According to our Katzenjammer-expert, they do "chaos pop with some folk-punk". It's fast, engaging and entertaining at least, and I think the concert might turn out to be really great - they seem like one of those bands that do extra well live.


One of my favorite songs, A bar in Amsterdam.

We bought the tickets today and, since we were at the ticket office already also got tickets for the musical Tanz der Vampire - one pair of plastic fangs included with the tickets!
Alas, it's based on the movie by Roman Polanski, him of serious skeevyness, and as such, I'm sure he'll get royalties. Otoh, I hope it's not too much, because Tanz der Vampire nicely filled some ticky-boxes on my mental "Stuffs I Must Do in Berlin This Exchange Year": Seeing some big-budget stage extravaganza, seeing a original German-language musical and vampires/gothy stuff. They'll show the Rocky Horror Picture Show here in Berlin too, in November, which works for ticky-box one and three, but since it will either be translated or in "denglish" (German talk, English songs) it moves to the second position.
Also, the stage images they have on the website look wonderful (eeeeeven though one of the posters has a bit of a Twilight-y vibe going on) so, uhm, I'll just be evil and go. Sorry.

A few days ago, I finished reading Walter Moer's Ensel and Krete: ein Märchen aus Zamonien. ( Bookblather goes here )

Basically, it's a take-it-or-leave-it book, though anyone who has a strong liking for Moer's style ought to have fun with it. It's also the first book where Hildegunst von Mythenmerz is introduced, which alone makes it worth a read.

When buying this one, I also noticed that the sequel to his Die Stadt der Träumenden Bücher had arrived: Das Labyrinth der Träumenden Bücher! Only out in hardcover so far, but I'm very much looking forward to reading it later :) And there's apparantly a third part coming out in about a year, swell!

So, I just finished Paolo Bacigalupi's Windup Girl which Wiki describes as a biopunk novel. Good description as any

Set in the 23rd century and taking place in the Thai monarchy, it's about Anderson, a "calorie man" who has come to Thailand to find their seedbank (and steal it, basically); Emiko, a manufactured human abandoned by her Japanese owner and now an illegal immigrant forced into sex work; Hock Seng, Anderson's local factory chief and a refugee, and Jaidee and Kanya, the captain of the Enviromental Ministry's ground troops the "White Shirt" and his second-in-command. While the plot starts out in Anderson's corner, it moves more and more to focus on the other characters, with some of them growing quite surprisingly in importance and depth of personality.

Except for Jaidee and, in a way, Emiko they're all a pretty unpleasant, toughened bunch (that's what makes this book biopunk as opposed to just enviromental sf, I guess) but it's still hard not to feel sympathy for them. Because the world in is completely rotten: a constant lack of food - it's a "calorie culture" and if the concept doesn't make you shiver yet, reading this book will change that. Most of the plant and animal life has been extinguished, with calorie companies holding the majority of the world in food-dependant slavery with sterile GMO crops, there are tons of (originally bio-engineered (?)) plagues sweeping through the population, they've got severe travel and democracy deficits as we would see it, and basically the world has gone to hell and humanity still hasn't learned anything.

The plot is full of political intrigue, betrayal, self-discovery, discussions about trade vs. isolationism and more. It chugs along at a nice pace, without ever becoming too messy to follow and the characters are also distinct.

What Windup Girl is really about, though, is the future society and the enviromental issues. And here, I must admit, that I found it failing a leeetle bit. Yes, the calorie corps and the proprietary, sterile GMO seeds is scary as are the biological weapons that have been let loose and now ravage the world. But, in stifling hot Bangkok, under constant threat from the risen sea levels, people sit around burning methan gas and (if they're really rich) coal. There's also the kinetic forces: GMO elephants and pure human labour having made great returns into everyday life, as well as "spring-kinks", super-wound springs which store kinetic energy. But cooking seems to happen mostly on gas and cooling the houses is either by building them self-ventilating or having a hand-cranked fan, if you're a bit more wealthy.

Where is the solar power in all this? Wind? Even if rare metals are almost impossible to find and much knowledge was lost in the first shock of the post-oil world (they call it the "Contraction"), you can make simpler solar powered devices that, while they can't drive high-energy machines work exceptionally well when you want to cool down a building. Windmills are pre-steel and electricity technology, and of course there are things like wave-power and other as-of-yet mostly experimental green sources. I find the lack of these things weird, not just from a science fiction-y POV, but also from the whole stratified social texture of the novel. If solar panels are rare, would using them not be even more fancy than a personal servant? If coal is such a scarse product, how can the government allow the pumps critical to Bangkok's survival to run solely on them? Especially when we know that there have been even more isolationist governments before the novel.
And of course, who wouldn't want some kind of air-conditioning that doesn't include bribing every White Shirt who passes by so they don't shut off your illegal gas...

This part, alas, doesn't really make sense to me, which unfortunately drags the book down. It's still a very good reading experience, but I get less out of the message when I'm distracted by the logical holes. Good ride, not much left after.

Also a word of warning: There is sexual violence in this book. For instance a rape scene that I found highly unpleasant, and I tend to have a strong stomach for disgusting fictional scenes.

Windup Girl reminds me in tone of Zoo City that I read a while ago, though I think I prefered that one. Zoo City, however, has a bit of magic in it, which might not be for everyone.

My life is increasingly packed up. Boxes in the cellar, bags of books with my grandmother, clothes in the big luggage, important papers in the folder... Everything of me is getting put away from here and I'm counting the days til I leave.

Meanwhile, I try to read through the stack of titles I haven't gotten to yet.

First out was Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine. I. I can't quite talk about this book yet. I think I have to look into it again. It's very upsetting (took me ages to read through, one nibble at a time), it's extremely interesting and I recommend everyone to pick it up! Give it time, take it slowly, but read it through carefully. Wiki article here, I do believe I will return to this book when I have a bit more energy. But it certainly made me think

Second was China Miéville's latest, Embassytown which I'm not quite certain if I liked? Think I did, yes, all right, but it returned a bit to what I have problem with in the early Miéville books; too much distance from the characters and events. Embassytown is all about language, the truth, and whether concepts that we cannot articulate can really be real for us. Very geeky, light and easy-to-read prose (containing some damn mindtwisty concepts, though) but ultimately not his most engaging work. But a good read at the moment, when I'm somehow trying to prepare for switching my own main language for a while, comparing and contrasting what I have, what I used to talk and what I might be talking and reading during my second Berlin visit ^_^

Also, mom and I are watching Battlestar Galactica and, about halfway through the second season, we both love it. Bit too much religious mumbo-jumbo from time to time, and why aren't they training up more doctors? but overall, excellent stuff. It continues to outshine my (high) expectations

I finally finished this book! For some bloody reason, I kept losing it! Put it down in a bookbag to read to work, forget the book on my desk, finally bring it home 3 days later, put that (different) book bag down and cover it with laundry or other stuff... rinse and repeat.

The book in question is acclaimed German YA novel Tintenherz / Ink Heart by Cornelia Funke. I'd borrowed it a while ago from my dear Miko-chan, to read as one of several attempts to de-rust my language skills. Since Miko-chan is visiting me right now and will leave early on Wednesday - and tomorrow we're seeing Gackt - it was read under a bit of time pressure, if I put it like that.

However, the end of the book went by quickly. Since it is a YA novel, the language level wasn't very challenging to me; what I had trouble with is that about the first half of the book feels like characters just hurrying back and fort without anything much happening. I already knew the "secret" of Zauberzunge (Silver Tongue in English), ( spoiler ) and while I am not usually very spoiler-sensitive, that annoyed me. Especially since the characters didn't much grip me either. Meggie is a believable little girl, but not very captivating (or active, for much of the book), her father annoyed me, Staubfinger (Dustfinger) started off as the most interesting person in the book but then just went betrayer-no-wait-maybe-not for too long... Basically, the whole thing dragged. It also consists of like eleventyhundred (ok, maybe not) chapters, which sometimes feel like they appear just so Funke can have a nice little quote from a much better children's book at the beginning.

Once they've been captured by the villain the second time, iirc, things finally start moving and the end is not bad at all. But the journey there? Too slow; I'm not planning on reading the sequels unless I'm really bored.

Next to finish: the comic Five Star Stories which have to be returned on Friday, and then Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine!

Yay! I made paella for the first time, and it turned out really well =) Chicken, beef, white fish & bell peppers where the main ingredients, with some peas and carrots to fill it out. But I really need a bigger pan, this one was filled to the brim even after I took out a bowl of rice and meats...

Also, readingness! Finished Elin Fahlstedt's comic album Umbra and was very pleasantly surprised. Atmospheric, often very good and magical drawings and a nice, tragicsweet plot! I'm not very good with art, but I think she's used either wet ink or aquarall technique for Umbra? Anyway, it's about a girl in some kind of convent, who manages to escape on the night of the bloodred moon, ending up in a strange, magical place. Maybe the stories about child-eaters serving the devil weren't just scary tales anyway?

The one big problem with Umbra was that several scenes felt rushed, like when the main character befriends a fox demon boy. On the other hand, there are some truly terrifyingly illustrated moments and the background of the main character is given in a very effectiv way.

Absolutely worth checking out for those interested in Swedish indie comics (and who, uh, speak Swedish)bo

Publisher's homepage here!

I finished Zoo City by Lauren Beukes today, and both began and finished Janet Evanovich's Smokin' Seventeen, the latest Stephanie Plum novel.

My impressions:
( Zoo City )

( Smokin' Seventeen )

Okay.

I really, really, REALLY liked the 13:th Dresden Files book, Ghost Story, by Jim Butcher.

Got it a few days ahead and wrote a little text for it, I'll link that later. But overall? Better tempo, more well-balanced and (despite the fact that Harry's friggin dead) less dark than several of the latest books. This is Butcher finding his voice again.

( A few small spoilers )

The non-spoilery verdict: Awesome! Get it on the 26th!

& it has a nice cover too, it looks a bit pale in online pics but the actual book (I have the US edition) was very pretty

My univeristy library has a lovely system which sends out mails approx 2 days before you need to return a book (and then you get increasingly stern mails that you should Really Return That Book, NOW PLEASE, once the date has passed). For some reason it's called millenium, so I have a bunch of mails from "millenium". It feels a bit like being in contact with a Dan Brown novel

Anyway! I borrowed a whole bunch of books for my paper and have re-loaned all the ones I'm still working with. However, since there is absolutely no room for anything more in the paper as it is and I have no time at all to read them, I am returning Maria Nikolajeva's books about the structure of childrens literature. I managed to read her first one - Barnbokens byggklossar (The Building Blocks of Children's Books) before the essay writing began, since it was included in the reading suggestion list for the essay course. It was really good! I've also got "Power, Voice and Subjectivity in Literature for Young Readers" here, but I'm gonna return it unread and hope to pick it up later some day.

She uses narrativism to pick apart and analyze the structure in children's literature. It interested me, because it's a much better approach to studing manga than many other lit science entrances I've seen - not as good as actual, y'know, mangastudies but there is still a lack of a good "comic analysiz + story tropes + solid step-by-step analysis - Orientalist exoticism = GOOD FRAME FOR MANGA ANALYSES" book. What I like about using a structure such as Nikolajeva's children's focused narrativism, is that you can get to grips with the text as such, and (I hope) not get tangled up in Western perceptions of Japanese culture. I am, anyway, more interested in How Manga Reads Here than But What Does it Mean There? At least when it comes to trying to do any work of my own, I loved Kinsella's study of the Japanese publishing industry in Adult Manga. But hey, I'm in lit science, not sociology plus I don't speak Japanese - it's not like attempting to update her study will ever be anything that I can or should do :)

Anyway! Nikolajeva: Easy to follow, very structured, I haven't actually tried to apply any of her stuff, but it seemed nice and comprehensible.

This, and the intimatopia idea put forward by Elizabeth Woledge are both tools/theories that really ring true to certain experiences I've had as a fandom-focused reader, writer and all-around participant.

So I finished another Torchwood book. That took only, what, eight months?

This one, Trace Memory by David Llewellyn was better in terms of characerization and mood moments than actual plot. The Torchwood team have an encounter with an involuntary time-traveler during multiple points of their lives.

It's actually quite a sweet and sad story, much like the fairy episode tried to be (and credit where credit is due, managed pretty well until the ugly CGI fairies turned up)

( Slight spoiler )

The monstruous aliens are pretty blaha, but on the cover of the book they look suitably creepy. What drags this book down a bit is that it rehashes a lot of Whoniverse tropes (exactly how many "one of the most ancient races of the universe!" species are there, exactly?) and the plot isn't very tight. Lots of timey-wimey, which is normally one of those things I love, but not structured to it's best way. Also, the resolution and all falls a bit flat, plotwise, though it has a nice emotional payoff.

Worth a read, though, especially if one likes Jack Harkness and wants to see him act a bit decent.

Also, have started to use Spotify a bit more. If anyone has recs for not immediately obvious music to be found there that sounds good, do let me know! My most recent find was a nice version of Puttin' On the Ritz which didn't come with the super long end part. Done by Alex Swings Oscar Sings and yeees, they're the ones responsible for the Dita von Teese visit during the Eurovision contest. And the sparkly silver pants, I know, I know. I still liked their song.

I'd like to preface that I am, actually, occasionally a mature and responsible adult. See, justs this week I met up with alitna to write. Alas, I was just exhausted after working a full day while still a bit ill and couldn't think of anything to write. But! Instead of faffing around on the net, I checked up things with CSN and filled in forms for my exchange year, quite responsible of me, yes?

And then there's times like yesternight, when I sat up to 03:33 (yep, exactly, I checked my clock) because I couldn't put down Elizabeth Moon's Kings of the North. No, I did not wake up at nine o'clock like planned to do laundry and go shopping early...

This is the second book in the Paladin's Legacy trilogy which is a sequel to the trilogy The Deed of Paksenarrion. The original trilogy is a real classic and a well-deserved one. Excellent female main character, manages to have religious themes and characters that don't bug the hell out of me, interesting plot, detailed world-building with a lot of attention to soldiers and more regular people (Moon has thought of how the plumbing works. Extensively) and enchanted me when I was a teen and still holds up very well for adult readers who have read several good works in the high fantasy genre.

And Paks - Well, Paks was just awesomesauce cool to my younger self. Her, and Kushana from Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind were what I wanted to be if I ever got transported to magic land and learned sword fighting XD (only, with less background angst than Kushana, plz)

The Paladin's Legacy books are... weeeell, the first one was nice but a bit confusing since we don't follow one focus character in the same way as in the first books. And Kings of the North? I'm sorry to say that, while I had no problem keeping all the people apart, the overall plot structure in especially the later half of the book disappointed me a bit.

When I can start to see patterns and guess what's going to happen past 02:00, you're heading into dangerously easily-solved territory, ok?

I mean, there are a lot of concepts in this book I like - how things were set in movement by Paks, and not neccessarily by those events that impacted her personal development the most. Dorrin is a great character, and a very unusual type! A somewhat older woman (40-45ish) who gains a great amount of power and yields it with power, compassion and cool logic. That she is the second most prominent character in this trilogy so far makes me very happy.
And then there's Phelan, whom I just adored in the original books. He then had slight hints of Vetinari's characterization around him, although not at all as brilliant and all-knowing. He also has a very interesting backstory and many faults, which of course really come into play here as the books focus a lot on him.

But. Exactly like with the end of the Serrano Legacy* things just... fall into place far too easily during the final. We get new characters who more or less drop into the plot and wrap things up, we get a very rushed romantic subplot and a character makes some weird good-to-evil/no wait!/heel-face-turn I don't even really know journey.

Take the romance, (which, all righ, was slightly hinted): But that minor hint somehow morph into an almost shoujo manga-esque Love at first sight!! thing. Take note, Moon and JKR: Just because you know the characters love each other, doesn't mean the readers do. Have them bloody interact a bit more. At least this couple talks on a few pages and have a practice fight)

( Spoilers ahoy )

The portrayal of the Pargunese was also a bit bwuh to me, but to be honest, I was too tired to properly consider the exact implications at that time.

Also, let's talk about the cover for a moment! Because, see, this is a rather high-profile fantasy book. Not quite as big as the latest Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson, but large enough that they ship an impressive stack of hardcovers. They're also for some unknown reason (which I much appreciate :) release the trade paperback at the same time, so I don't have to wait six months to read about Phelan and the others' adventures.

All that taken to mind, it really surprises me that they couldn't fix a cover which contains a character actually in the book. See the picture there? That's Aragorn It's definitely not Paks, nor is it Dorrin, seeing as how they are women. (though Dorrin is probably on the cover of book one, Oath of Fealty, at least it's close to her colors).
Taken together with the title, I would assume the cover to contain either the king of Lyonya or Mikeli, the king of Tsaia. The latter, alas, is a young man just grown into maturity and he doesn't do any fighting in this book. ( Spoiler for the Paksenarrion trilogy )

So, all right, I've whined a lot about Kings of the North now. However, Paladin's Legacy is still 2/3 into the series, absolutely among the better half of fantasy literature that's out there to read. It's not as good as the amazing first trilogy, but until the big wrap-up which contains a bit too much fixit moments for my taste, it is quite interesting. What Moon does well is, among others, that she does not forget the non-kingly characters - the soldiers, the servants, the elderly who remember things. We also meet characters like the Duke of Andressat again and, I have to say, I never expected to like the old snob as much as I did now. Actions from the past have consequences, such that can't be just removed with a bit of magic.

Will I buy the next book? Oh yeah. Will I rec this book series to people? Oh yeah - And I usually anti-rec the Gird prequel to Paksenarrion, because that is just dull in great bits. But, for all the faults here, there are still many great characters and an underlying highly interesting plot thread that I think might remake the world of these characters a great deal.

And now I really gotta go and buy a fuse because one blew yesterday and I have no light in my (windowless) bedroom.

*I only bought one of the omnibuses, dunno exactly which books it contains